By Kenneth Cooper

A Disturbing Vision for Louisiana

Governor Jeff Landry has a dream. In it, cell blocks overflow with kids serving maximum sentences in state prisons.

Preferably, those kids are Black and deprived of well-paid teachers, fluoride, and basic support. (Stay tuned for another article on that.)

Landry would also prefer that juveniles be locked up within earshot of adults. Voters, however, just rejected that part of his dream.

Still, Landry is undeterred. He remains determined to fill state prisons with kids, no matter the political cost.

Enter SB74: Another Attack on Juvenile Justice

Landry’s latest weapon is SB74. It is a disastrous attempt to make his dark vision a reality.

Under SB74, any juvenile 15 or older who commits a felony will bypass juvenile court entirely.

Instead, criminal district court judges will decide their fates. No more “kiddie gavels” or juvenile protections.

The hope? That adult court judges will deliver harsher sentences simply because they handle adult cases.

That logic barely holds up.

Murrill’s PR Spin

Attorney General Liz Murrill has become the bill’s public relations face.

Like Landry, Murrill has offered no evidence that criminal court judges are harsher than juvenile ones.

In fact, some criminal judges have been accused of issuing weak sentences and letting violent offenders walk free.

Murrill claims SB74 is just a “venue change.” She’s only half right.

It’s another blatant attempt by the state to expand its control over local matters.

First came Troop NOLA. Then D.A. Jason Williams allowed the state to co-opt his office. Now, local courts are the next target.

The Slippery Slope

SB74 is dangerous because it conditions the public to stop thinking of kids as juveniles.

It conditions them to see all young offenders simply as criminals.

Once that shift happens, Landry’s final move becomes easier:

• Juveniles commit crimes like adults.
• Post-SB74, they’ll be tried alongside adults.
• Therefore, lock them up in the same prisons.

That is the endgame. And it starts with blurring the line between juvenile and adult offenders.

Related: How Many Kids can Louisiana Fit in Adult Prison

Voters Have Already Spoken

SB74 is slowly creeping through the Senate. Unfortunately, voters will not get a direct say over its passage.

However, voters made their feelings clear last month when they overwhelmingly rejected Amendment 3.

That amendment was Landry’s first attempt to erase distinctions between juveniles and adults in our justice system.

Hopefully, legislators will listen to their constituents and reject SB74 as well.

If not, Landry’s nightmare could become Louisiana’s reality.