SB 125 VETOED!

Recently, Louisiana had an opportunity to take a small but meaningful step toward justice for people who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Instead, Governor Jeff Landry vetoed it.

SB 125, authored by Senator Gerald Boudreaux, would have modestly increased compensation for innocent people who lost years - and in some cases decades - of their lives to wrongful convictions in Louisiana.

The bill passed unanimously at every stage:

36-0 in the Senate

98-0 in the House

32-0 on Senate concurrence

It also moved through four committees without objection and had 78 bipartisan co-authors.

In today's political climate, unanimous agreement on almost anything is rare. Yet Governor Landry made SB 125 the ONLY bill he vetoed this session.

Not because it lacked support.

Not because it was extreme.

But because he chose to override unanimous bipartisan consensus and deny modest accountability to innocent men whose lives were devastated by failures within our justice system.

These are not abstract policy debates. These are human beings who collectively lost 211 years of freedom for crimes they did not commit.

When every legislator who voted on a bill supports it, a governor should think very carefully before substituting his personal ideology for the unanimous voice of the Legislature and the people they represent.

Louisiana can - and must - do better!