BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has
filed a lawsuit to block the Governor from short-circuiting the rules and
procedures of the Board of Pardons. In his court filings, the Attorney General
noted that eligibility and notice rules were ignored, timeliness requirements
were unlawfully waived, necessary steps in the process were skipped, and
proceedings outside of the public eye were conducted when clemency hearings for
death row inmates were scheduled.
“The Board of Pardons should not sacrifice the rule of law, the
rights of victims, and the public’s participation simply to achieve the
Governor’s political objective,” said Attorney General Landry. “The laws on our
books must be enforced and proper procedure must be followed.”
“The court must ensure our clemency process advances in a legal
and transparent way,” added Attorney General Landry. “The victims of Willie
Tart, Larry Roy, and other murderers deserve truth, transparency, and justice;
I am fighting to deliver that for them.”