Committee approves tougher negligent‑homicide penalties in cases involving young victims
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Summary
Senate Bill 156 would raise the maximum term for negligent homicide and create enhanced penalty carve-outs for cases involving young victims; the attorney general’s office described proposed age‑ and behavior‑specific penalties, and criminal-defense groups objected. The committee reported the bill with amendments.
Senate Bill 156, carried by Senator Klein Peter, would increase the maximum allowable sentence for negligent homicide in certain cases involving child victims and add specialty circumstances where higher penalties (up to 20 years) could apply.
The attorney general’s office representatives, including Larry Freeman and Natalie Laborde, described the bill as intended "to protect the most vulnerable folks" and explained that the measure would raise the general maximum (from 10 to 15 years in some cases), change mandatory minimums tied to age, and allow up to 20 years in narrowly defined, age‑ and behavior‑specific circumstances involving neglect or mistreatment that led to death.
Criminal‑defense counsel Kelly Cormino, speaking for the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, objected to the increased penalties and argued the amendments risk treating negligent conduct as intentional in practice: "We even despite the amendments... we still have the same objection...you're treating this crime now as an intentional crime versus a negligent crime," she told the committee.
Amendment set 1534 was adopted and the committee reported SB156 favorably with amendments; the bill will proceed to the Senate floor.
