Reform advocates condemn raft of measures expected to pass under new far-right governor

Louisiana’s Republican-dominated state legislature is poised to enact a swathe of new criminal justice measures as a special legislative session convenes on Monday, leaving reform advocates concerned about soaring rates of incarceration that may follow.

The session, called by the state’s new far-right governor, Jeff Landry, will consider two dozen items including broad restrictions on parole eligibility, measures to resume executions, the lowering of the age limit for adult prosecutions, and changes to post-conviction procedures often used to remedy wrongful convictions or excessive sentences.

The results are likely to undo hard-won bipartisan reform efforts in 2017, which helped shrink the state’s prison population by about a quarter and led to Louisiana losing the title of America’s most incarcerated state, with the rate of imprisonment slipping below Mississippi’s in recent years.