BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana House passed a bill Friday to expand execution methods during a crime special session, sending the legislation to State Senate.
The bill passed 71 to 29. Five members had been absent during the vote.
"At the discretion of the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections ... every sentence of death shall be by one of the following methods," HB 6 reads. "Intravenous injection ... Nitrogen hypoxia ... Electrocution."
"Today was a big win for victims, Louisiana families and our law enforcement," Gov. Jeff Landry said on social media of HB6 and other bills passed during the crime special session.
Although, Rep. Nicholas Muscarello Jr., R-Hammond, said lethal injection is Gov. Landry's preferred method of execution.
Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge was one of the bill's vocal opponents.
"I oppose this bill ... for the Emmett Tills of the world, and the countless and endless others who did not get that presumption of innocence." Rep. Jordan told NOLA.com on Friday. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old from Chicago, who in 1955, was tortured and lynched by white men in Mississippi.
Criminal justice reform advocates had argued in court that the time limits on public comments had made the entire crime session unconstitutional. The judge in that case denied their motion on Friday.
The bill also said the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is the only place in the state permitted to carry out an execution.
In 2010, Gerald James Bordelon, 47, was the most recent person executed in Louisiana. Bordelon was killed with a lethal injection. Bordelon was the state's first voluntary execution after he had refused a death sentence appeal for kidnapping and murdering his 12-year-old stepdaughter Courtney LeBlanc.
Andrew Lee Jones, 35, was the last person executed by electrocution. He was seated in the infamous electric chair "Gruesome Gertie" in 1991. Jones had been convicted of murdering 11-year-old Tumekica Jackson.
The crime special session started on Monday with a speech by Gov. Landry, advocating for stricter crime laws. The session's wrap-up has been scheduled for March 6.
"Everyone in this room is aware that crime has put a national spotlight on our great state," Landry said to the legislature on Monday.
Other bills passed by one chamber of the legislature since then have been a senate bill on expanding permit-less concealed carry of guns and lowering the age accused criminals can be tried in adult court from 18 to 17.
