How Louisiana's extreme laws may push Southern states further to the right
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Louisiana is leading red states pushing the legislative envelope: first to mandate the Ten Commandments in schools; first to criminalize the possession of drugs used in abortions; and now, first to legalize surgical castration for sex offenders.
Why it matters: When Louisiana replaced its Democratic governor in January with Trump ally Jeff Landry, state lawmakers rushed to catch up on a number of conservative policies vetoed by the previous administration. Now, Louisiana is setting trends other red states are likely to follow.
Catch up quick: Former Gov. John Bel Edwards was the Deep South's only Democratic governor between 2016 and this past January.
- In that time, he vetoed bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth, expanded Medicaid, created an aggressive plan to tackle climate change and oversaw a massive criminal justice overhaul in a state that had been known as America's "prison capital."
- The state tilted into deep red territory after Landry easily won the race to replace Edwards in October, then took office in January backed by Republican supermajorities in the statehouse.
Case in point: It started with a criminal justice-focused special session that undid many of Edwards' reforms. Legislators effectively eliminated parole, expanded the death penalty and lowered age limits for juveniles to be tried as adults.
- Landry also signed anti-LGBTQ+ bills, and Louisiana joined other states in suing the Biden Administration over Title IX guidance preventing sex-based discrimination in schools.
- Landry has also sent Louisiana National Guardsmen to support Texas border patrols and signed a bill empowering local law enforcement to arrest people who enter the country illegally.
Then came the policies on which Louisiana was the first mover — courting Democratic outrage, and likely testing the courts.
- Civil rights groups have already filed suit over the law Landry signed last week requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in all classrooms in schools with public funding, including universities.
- President Biden and Vice President Harris were among the Democrats who condemned the May passage of a law to reclassify drugs used for abortions as controlled substances, with potential jail terms for those possessing them. Louisiana already has one of the country's strictest abortion bans.
- Then last week, Landry signed the nation's first law to legalize surgical castration as a sentence for sex offenders who commit some crimes against children under 13. Courts will likely have to decide whether that constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."
What they're saying: As the "firsts" have stacked up, Landry has established himself as "one of the most ambitious new governors," in the words of Governing magazine — though not all of his priorities have cleared the legislature.
Zoom out: Louisiana is one of a handful of states — Texas and Florida among them — that seem to be testing the limits of federal power and judicial precedent, perhaps emboldened by a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
What's next: It's likely other states will follow suit and explore similar legislation to Louisiana's.
- An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union told the New York Times she would not be surprised to see a "huge influx" of Christian-backed bills filed next year.
