This morning, Cassandra covered the legal and moral aspects of last night’s execution at Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. This afternoon, I’m filling in some of the political blanks about the state of capital punishment in the Gret Stet of Louisiana.

The national coverage of the gassing of Jesse Hoffman has focused on it as the first execution in 15 years. The pause has been even longer: between 2002 and 2024, there was only one execution in Louisiana.

A combination of factors led to this de facto moratorium. In the early 21st Century, there were widespread concerns about the why and how of executions, which led to fewer executions in states not named Florida or Texas.

Here’s an extended quote from a post I wrote about the death penalty in Louisiana after Landry became governor last year:

“There is no painless and civilized way for state sanctioned murder to take place. Gov. Clownfish is a bad Catholic, his church opposes the death penalty. That’s one reason why executions stopped in Louisiana: former Gov. John Bel Edwards is a good Catholic and opposes capital punishment like Pope Frank. Unfortunately, he’s anti-choice like Pope Frank as well.

Gov. Clownfish sabotaged efforts by Edwards on his way out of office to commute 56 death sentences to life without parole. So much for being pro-life. Landry digs death. Anyone surprised? I thought not.

Bob Mann points out the biggest problem with capital punishment in a recent blog post. The title says it all: A Killing Machine Fueled By Racism.

Of the 57 inmates on death row, 38 are Black. Anyone surprised? I thought not.

Louisiana has not executed a white person for a crime against a Black person since 1752. Anyone surprised? I thought not.”

That still goes. The scarcity of executions in Louisiana since 2002 was a point of pride for this denizen of the Gret Stet as we moved from a purple-ish state in national politics to a ruby red MAGA bastion. Make that blood red.

Two of the governors during the pause were Catholics who followed the teaching of their church on the issue, Democrats Kathleen Blanco and John Bel Edwards. Neither Republicans Mike Foster nor Bobby Jindal were death penalty enthusiasts like The Clownfish DBA Jeff Landry who I called The Lord High Executioner of Louisiana in the aforementioned post. He’s living up to the name.

We’re entering an era in which SCOTUS will rubber stamp executions. Hoffman’s lawyers crafted their arguments in a way they hoped would appeal to the right-wing majority, but it was all for naught.

The featured image of the American and Louisiana flags at half-staff dates from the death of Bush the Elder, not yesterday’s execution. It fits my mood today: The Hoffman execution is a sign of the times in which we live. It’s also an example of the impact individuals can have on the system. John Bel Edwards attempted to empty death row by commutation near the end of his second term. Then Attorney General Landry thwarted Edwards’ efforts because he wanted executions to resume. He finally got his wish. There will be more to come.

The last word goes to Muddy Waters: