2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 150
BY SENATORS BARROW, ABRAHAM, BOUDREAUX, CLOUD, DUPLESSIS,
HENRY, JACKSON, KLEINPETER, FRED MILLS, ROBERT MILLS,
MIZELL, SMITH AND TARVER
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana State Law Institute to study and make recommendations
on the general provisions of justification and use of force or violence in defense as
applied to survivors of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual
violence.
WHEREAS, the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana has committed to preventing
the wrongful conviction of survivors of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and
sexual violence; and
WHEREAS, society and the legal system have historically lagged in understanding
the dynamics of domestic violence; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Supreme Court, in State v. Curley, exonerated a woman
based upon defense counsel's failure to investigate and present expert testimony regarding
"battered woman's syndrome"; and
WHEREAS, survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, childhood trauma,
sexual violence, and human trafficking are often criminalized and incarcerated for acting in
self-defense, for protecting their loved ones, and for actions they take under the coercion of
an abuser; and
WHEREAS, there are three Louisiana statutes defining justification as a defense to
criminal acts; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 14:18 allows a defendant to assert the defense of justification when
the offender's conduct is authorized by duties of public office, or a reasonable
accomplishment of lawful arrest, or authorized by law, or reasonable discipline of minors,
or a failure to perform an affirmative duty that is physically impossible, or when compelled
by threats, except when the crime is murder; and
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WHEREAS, R.S. 14:19 provides a defense when the defendant uses force or violence
to prevent a forcible offense against the person or prevent trespass against property, except
when a homicide occurs; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 14:20 provides that a homicide is justifiable when committed in
self-defense against imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, or preventing a violent
offense against another; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana laws do not take into account the dynamics of intimate
partner violence where an abuser coerces a victim to participate in criminal activity after
long-term abuse and manipulation; and
WHEREAS, survivors are then left without a meaningful choice whether to
participate in the criminal activity, but the appropriate defense is also unavailable to them;
and
WHEREAS, changes in sentencing of domestic violence survivors in Louisiana
would help restore humanity and justice to survivors of trauma and abuse who act to protect
themselves and their loved ones, and would bring long-overdue relief to survivors who have
been incarcerated for many years.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby request the Louisiana State Law Institute to study and make recommendations
on the general provisions of justification and use of force or violence in defense as those
provisions apply to survivors of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual
violence.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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