BATON ROUGE, La. — Criminal justice reform advocates took Louisiana lawmakers to court in Baton Rouge on Friday, claiming time limits on public comment during some of the hearings on tough on crime legislation are unconstitutional.
They petitioned the court to force legislators to pause debate on four bills approved by the House Criminal Justice Committee this week during the special session on crime.
“I think the very nature and the definition of the word public, means public,” said Emily Posner who represented the petitioners in court. “Everyone is allowed to speak who wishes and desires to speak and that is not what has been happening in the Louisiana Legislature in the last week.”
According to the temporary restraining order petition, the criminal justice committee and its chair Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, limited public comment on four key bills.
They include measures that would restrict post-conviction relief, expand the methods by which Louisiana carries out the death penalty and Villio’s bills to eliminate parole in most cases and limit good time credit.
The debate was cut to three minutes per witness and one hour per side, pro and con because of the large number of people wanting to testify.
The TRO petition was filed Wednesday by Norris Henderson, Executive Director of Voice of The Experienced, Ronald Marshall, VOTES’s Chief Policy Analyst, and Erica Navalance, a staff attorney with The Promise of Justice Initiative.
“The legislature creates these laws, but to do so without having to hear from the constituents they represent doesn’t feel like a representative democracy to me,” Navalance said.
Judge Beau Higginbotham listened to arguments on both sides and determined the committee had the authority to put time constraints on the public hearing.
He then denied the petition.
House Speaker Pro Temp Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, who serves on the criminal justice committee said members did hear a diverse mix of opinions.
“I think the court’s ruling was correct because of the fact that we have acted in good faith and good effort to try and hear the people and make decisions based upon opinions and information that we had available to us.”
Johnson maintains there will be more time for public comment when the bills are taken up on the Senate side.
“Because we have two houses, there’s multiple opportunities for the public to have input, as well as individuals with the legislators,” Johnson said.
The Senate is expected to consider the bills next week.
The petitioners now plan to seek a court ordered injunction to keep those same bills from moving forward. No hearing date has been set.
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