Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry calls for special session, focused on tough-on-crime policies

By SARA CLINE
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry officially called for a highly anticipated crime-focused special legislative session on Thursday that could overhaul the state’s current criminal justice system, reversing hard-fought and historic reforms that happened under Landry’s Democratic predecessor. Among the two dozen tough-on-crime-related items on Landry’s broad agenda are expanding methods to carry out death row executions, restricting parole eligibility, harsher penalties for carjackings, “immunity from liability” for law enforcement based upon a certain criteria and publicizing some juvenile court records. The Republican has long vowed to crack down on crime in Louisiana — a state that in recent years has had one of the highest homicide rates in the country.