A coalition of national civil rights organizations is urging Louisiana officials to consider mass clemency for death row inmates. The plea comes as these groups highlight the systemic racial biases and frequent errors that plague the state's death penalty system.
The letter, dated September 25, 2023, specifically calls on the Louisiana Pardon Board and Governor John Bel Edwards to set hearings for and ultimately grant clemency to 55 individuals currently on death row. The clemency grant would reduce their death sentences to life in prison.
Prominent civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Louisiana, Amnesty International USA, Color of Change, Death Penalty Action, Faith Leaders of Color Coalition, Justice Roundtable, Prison Policy Initiative, and Vera Institute for Justice, have all signed onto the plea.
Cassandra Stubbs, Director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, criticized the death penalty as "racist" and unable to protect the innocent. Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, emphasized that abandoning this "cruel punishment" would be a step toward a more just future.
One of the primary concerns raised in the letter is the stark racial disparities within the Louisiana death penalty system. While Black individuals make up only a third of the state's population, they account for over 67% of its capital cases. The sentencing rate is particularly high in cases involving Black defendants and white female victims, further highlighting the historical use of the death penalty as a tool for racial oppression.
Additionally, the letter points to a troubling error rate in Louisiana's death penalty system. Over the past 47 years, nearly 30% of those placed on death row were later exonerated. Of the eleven individuals exonerated, eight were Black.
The coalition of civil rights organizations is urging Governor Edwards and the Pardon Board to seize this opportunity to address the racial violence and injustice embedded in the death penalty system. They invoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about bending the arc toward justice.
The plea for clemency has garnered support from organizations such as Color of Change, Death Penalty Action, and the Vera Institute for Justice.
As the debate over the death penalty continues, these civil rights organizations are advocating for a more just and equitable criminal justice system that acknowledges the systemic biases and errors that have plagued the capital punishment system in Louisiana.
