ENROLLED
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 56
BY REPRESENTATIVE BAGLEY
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of
Criminal Justice to compile data and information with respect to homicide offenses
committed in the last five years in Louisiana, including information on the offense
charged, any plea agreement, and dismissal, to determine the number of persons who
had an active criminal justice status or prior criminal history at the time of the
commission of the offense, to use this data and information to develop theories or
trends with respect to a person's active criminal justice status or prior criminal
history and its impact on the likelihood of the person's subsequent commission of a
homicide, and to evaluate current bail and parole policies in order to focus greater
attention and action on habitual violent offenders.
WHEREAS, according to a recent study of FBI statistics from 2013 through 2017,
Louisiana has the highest murder rate in the United States with an average of over eleven
murders per one hundred thousand people in the state; and
WHEREAS, according to the same study, four of the metropolitan areas with the
highest murder rates were in Louisiana – New Orleans-Metairie, Baton Rouge, Lafayette,
and Shreveport-Bossier City – with each city having a murder rate twice the national
average; and
WHEREAS, in light of these statistics on Louisiana's highest ranking homicide rate,
it is imperative that the Louisiana criminal justice system develop a better understanding of
the nature of these homicide offenses specifically with respect to a person's prior encounter
or involvement with the criminal justice system and the role a person's active criminal justice
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status plays in the likelihood of the person's commission of a subsequent homicide offense;
and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration
of Criminal Justice (LCLE) is the state agency primarily charged with criminal justice policy
planning and with conducting research on crime and the criminal justice system in
Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Policy Planning Section of LCLE is charged with the identification
and analysis of crime and criminal justice related problems and the development of a range
of alternative solutions for consideration by criminal justice and legislative policy makers;
and
WHEREAS, the role of the Policy Planning Section is to provide policy makers with
objective, research-based information which can be used both in policy consideration and,
by identifying costs and possible sources of success or failure, policy implementation; and
WHEREAS, Voice of the Experienced is a Louisiana non-profit organization
founded by formerly incarcerated people, who consistently partner with researchers and
other policy experts regarding mass incarceration, providing a unique wealth of insight and
experience regarding criminal offenses, including homicide offenses; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of
Criminal Justice to compile data and information with respect to homicide offenses
committed in the last five years in Louisiana, including information on the offense charged,
any plea agreement, and dismissal, to determine the number of persons who had an active
criminal justice status or prior criminal history at the time of the commission of the offense,
to use this data and information to develop theories or trends with respect to a person's active
criminal justice status or prior criminal history and its impact on the likelihood of the
person's subsequent commission of a homicide, and to evaluate current bail and parole
policies in order to focus greater attention and action on habitual violent offenders.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Criminal Justice shall report its findings, including any legislative and
policy recommendations, to the legislature prior to the convening of the 2022 Regular
Session of the Legislature.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Criminal Justice may seek input, data, and information from criminal
justice agencies and other relevant entities as is necessary to accomplish its purpose.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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