In his first six months in office, Gov. Jeff Landry has pushed a wide range of conservative policies that are changing Louisiana’s cultural landscape, from abortion rights to criminal justice to education.
That work culminated this week with him signing a first-in-the-nation law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms in every public school in the state.
“If we want to respect the rule of law, we have to start with Moses, the first lawmaker,” Republican Landry said at a bill signing ceremony in Lafayette on Wednesday.
The move has drawn criticism from Democratic lawmakers and already drawn threats of lawsuits from civil rights groups over its constitutionality, but it was previously unlikely in Louisiana, even eight years ago, when Republican Bobby Jindal last served as governor.
But now Louisiana is moving to the forefront of a culturally conservative wave typically seen in states such as Florida and Texas, said Pearson Cross, a political science professor at Monroe University in Louisiana.
“Landry understands this cultural war. He’s a culture warrior,” Cross said. “He’s comfortable with it and thinks it’s a good thing to be attacked or have to be on the defensive on certain issues. The fact that he’s taking on the woke left shows his integrity.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who endorsed Landry’s campaign during last year’s election, posted on his social media platforms on Friday that the entire country should follow Louisiana’s lead and allow the Ten Commandments to be implemented in public schools.
Political observers say Landry’s agenda came to fruition after a significant shift in statewide politics in early 2023, when Democrats in northeast Louisiana switched parties to the Republican Party, giving Republicans a supermajority in the House of Representatives. Republicans already had a supermajority in the Senate, and Landry, a former state attorney general and representative, was elected governor last fall, solidifying their control of the executive branch and both houses of the Legislature with veto-proof majorities.
“It’s unusual in Louisiana politics to have a very conservative Republican elected governor and with supermajorities in both the House and Senate,” Cross said. “We’ve had a Democratic governor for the last eight years, and now we’re seeing a growing demand for conservative reforms that we haven’t been able to pass before.”
Landry replaced Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who reached term limits after winning in 2015 and 2019.
During his campaign, Landry was vocal in his support of the state’s near-total abortion ban and vowed to crack down on crime with tougher laws, and in his first weeks as governor, he called a special legislative session focused on criminal justice reform.
Among the controversial bills he signed into law were ones that would allow the state to use nitrogen gas as a form of capital punishment, repealing “raise the age” laws to treat all 17-year-olds charged with crimes as adults, effectively abolishing parole with some exceptions, and allowing residents over the age of 18 to carry concealed handguns without a permit, which takes effect next month.
Another bill that Governor Landry signed into law this week would allow judges to order surgical castration for certain sex offenders who commit crimes against children — a first for any state in the nation. The law goes into effect in August. Chemical castration is legal for certain sex offenses in other states, including Louisiana.
The bill was introduced by Democrats, but was overwhelmingly opposed by Democrats and supported by Republicans.
And in another move that continues to put Louisiana in a unique position, Governor Landry signed a bill last month placing two drugs used to induce abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol, on the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances.
The law provides for a maximum prison sentence of five years for possession of these drugs without a valid prescription or instruction from a medical professional. Although the law does not allow pregnant women who obtain the drugs for their own consumption to be prosecuted, medical professionals have criticized the law, noting that the drugs are also used for abortion care, to induce labour, treat miscarriages and prevent gastrointestinal ulcers.
In a statement, Landry said the legislation was “just common sense” and would “protect women across Louisiana.”
But legal experts say creating more crime in new ways won’t deter crime or reduce the prison population in Louisiana, which has the highest incarceration rate in the country, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, and which disproportionately affects black people.
“Special crimes boards are about punishment, not about preventing crime in the first place,” said William Snowden, an assistant professor at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. “Governor Landry is trying to open new doors with old keys, even though we have examples of how to best advance public safety in the state.”
It is not just social and cultural issues that are of concern.
Stephen Procopio, president of the nonpartisan Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council, which advocates for fiscal responsibility and government transparency, said groups like his council are concerned after a bill was proposed that would limit access to the governor’s office’s public records.
But the bill was withdrawn last month by its Republican senator, who authored it, due to concerns about government transparency.
Procopio said the massive public outcry helped change course and showed how lawmakers can be swayed.
“People were really upset about what seemed to be a widespread attempt to undermine the public record,” he said.
Procopio said he still has concerns, such as Landry’s control over the State Ethics Commission, but that the governor’s attempt to overhaul the state constitution is a positive one. Still, he hopes Louisianans will continue to take an active role in state government.
“People need to know what’s going on to voice what they like and dislike, but when things are done in secrecy, democracy begins to break down,” Procopio said. “These changes to ethics and public records are actually bipartisan policies. If you can’t comply, you can’t successfully lobby your government.”
