John Bel Edwards on Crime

I am calling on the legislature to end the death penalty

Need to do more to hold few bad police officers accountable

Create an Office of Human Trafficking Prevention

Reduce highest incarceration rate in the nation

In fact, Louisiana had the highest incarceration rate in the nation until this year, when it fell below Oklahoma's. Edwards explains how he shed that distinction by releasing some nonviolent offenders early and then reimagining the whole system. As a result, he says, "we were able to save 12 million dollars last fiscal year alone, and we're going to reinvest eight million of that into making sure that people are successful upon re-entry" into society. Edwards has also restarted the process of commuting sentences; as of October, he has approved 119 of the 164 pardons recommended by the state's Pardon Board during his term. (His predecessor, Bobby Jindal, had approved only 23 pardons during the same point in his first term.)

No executions until better lethal drugs found

Reduce incarceration rate of non-violent offenders

Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and we lock people up at a rate of nearly twice the national average. But our crime rates are comparable to other southern states. As elected officials, we have an obligation to acknowledge when an aspect of our government is broken and we must work together to find a solution.

In 2015, we made a commitment to re- If adopted into law, this package will safely reduce our prison population by 13%, and it will save taxpayers over $300 million over the next decade.

Blue Lives Matter: targeting police officer is a hate crime

[Two Louisiana shootings were captured on video, on which] "police killed a black man who was minding his own business," says the director of ACLU-LA. But it was the civil rights of police officers that Edwards was concerned about in May, as if theirs were being routinely violated.

The new law places police officers, firefighters, and EMTs under protection from hate crimes: A defendant convicted of a felony could get an extra five years in prison with hard labor and a $5,000 fine.

End tax giveaways but keep funding for first responders

Edwards said he's not against more flexibility in the budgeting process, but that "more flexibility alone won't fix the structural problems in our budget that have led to the sweeping of these dedicated funds by Bobby Jindal, and the drastic cuts he has made to higher education and healthcare."

As to solutions to the current budget conundrum, Edwards pointed to a recent study that examined the question of whether all of the current $7 billion in annual tax giveaways are productive for the state's economy. "It is time to invest in our people. We can start by reducing or eliminating the parts of tax giveaways that just aren't producing what they promised," said Edwards.

Let New Orleans police itself; remove state police soon

"No great city is going to be great for long if it doesn't have the adequate ability to police itself," said state Rep. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic candidate running for governor.

Edwards, Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne agreed the extra state troopers in the French Quarter are needed now. But New Orleans should probably provide the additional law enforcement itself eventually. Edwards was the most emphatic about establishing a timeline for state police withdrawal. Dardenne and Angelle were a bit more speculative about when the troopers should be pulled out of New Orleans.

Rehab for criminals; enforce hate crime & white collar crime

Edwards indicated support for the following principles regarding crime.
• Support programs to provide prison inmates with educational, vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
• Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
• Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
• Impose stricter penalties for those convicted of corporate crimes.