The Voice of Southwest Louisiana July 2017 Issue

SWLA news
By Derrick D. Kee, Esq.
Criminal Reform
Legislation
It is no secret that the state
of Louisiana incarcerates
more of it’s citizens, per
capita, than anywhere else
in the WORLD. During the
last legislative session, there
were significant changes to
Louisiana’s criminal laws.
These changes in legislation
come as a result of the
recommendations from the
impact study conducted
by the Louisiana Justice
Reinvestment Taskforce
from 2007. It is suggested
these changes will reduce
the prison population in
Louisiana by 13%, saving
taxpayers up to $305 million
over the next 10 years.
Some critics of the legislation believes
that it failed to comprehensively address
pivotal issues related to, among others,
offenders who battle mental illness and
substance abuse, the lack of uniformity or
standards for setting bonds (which forces
some to accept plea deals simply because
they cannot afford to bond out and
defend their innocence), and, of course,
the controversial topic of abolishing
capital punishment (whether for fiscal or
moral purposes).
Certainly this article cannot describe in
detail the numerous pieces of legislation
that were enacted to achieve the cause of
criminal justice reform. However, below
you will find some of the highlights. The
majority of the 2017 reforms will become
effective as of November 1, 2017.
Sentencing Guidelines
• Allows deferral and suspension of
sentence for third under the same
circumstances for certain third noncapital
offenders.
• Mandatory minimums reduced for
drug and property crimes
• Sentences for drug distribution
reduced
• Misdemeanor Theft and property
damage crimes dollar value raised
from $750 to $1000
• Reduced sentences for property
crimes of theft and burglary
• Probation and suspension of
sentence allowed for simple burglary
of an inhabited dwelling
• Removes the offense of illegal use
of weapons, mingling of harmful
substances and extortion from the
list of violent crimes
Habitual Offender
• Reduces the cleansing period from
10 to 5 years
• Reduces the maximum sentence
from 3 times the maximum sentence
to 2 times; and reduces the minimum
sentence from one-half to one-third
the sentence.
Release/Medical Needs and
Non-violent
• Crimes of violence time to parole
from 75% to 65%
• Non violence offense time to parole
from 25% for first time felons, 33%
for 2nd time felons
• Good time eligibility for violent
offense reduced from 85% to 75%;
40% to 35% for non-violent felonies
• Parole eligibility for juveniles
sentenced to life for 2nd degree
murder
• Expansion of good time for voluntary
participation in prison programs
which allows for back-end early
release
Supervision
• Maximum probation for non-violent
offenses reduced from 5 to 3 years
• Additional probation credit of 30
days for each month of compliance
while on probation
• Probation technical violation term
adjusted to 15/30/45/90 for first,
second, third and subsequent
violation, as opposed to normal
90 days jail time for most technical
violations
• Expands Alternatives to Incarceration
• Probation eligibility for 1st time
violent offenders where the offense
6 July 2017 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 4 • Number 10