|
Year of Reenactment
(since 1972 suspension) |
1973 | |
|
Year of First Execution
(since reenactment) |
1983 | |
|
History
|
1884-1939: hanging |
|
|
Current Method
|
Lethal injection | |
 |
|
|
Louisiana has life without parole. A jury decides the sentence. The Governor has the authority to act on the advice of the Board of Pardons. The Governor needs a favorable recommendation in order to grant clemency. However, the Governor is not bound by that favorable recommendation. The Governor also has the unlimited and absolute power to grant reprieves.
As of January 2009, there have been eight exonerations. In 2003, John
Thompson was exonerated when a retrial allowing him to present evidence
supressed by the state during the original trial in 1985. Also in 2003,
Herbert Welcome was granted clemency following the United States
Supreme Court decision in Atkins v. Virginia which banned the execution
of the mentally retarded. Dan L. Bright and Ryan Matthews were both
exonerated in 2004.
