Bid to ban death penalty in Louisiana rejected by senators

BATON ROUGE (AP) - Louisiana's senators overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to end the state's use of capital punishment.

Republican Sen. Dan Claitor proposed to abolish use of the death penalty for any offenses committed starting in 2021 - if voters agreed in the 2020 election.

Only 13 senators backed the idea Monday, while 25 opposed it. The legislation needed support from 26 senators to pass.

Claitor, a former prosecutor, says the death penalty doesn't work as a deterrent and is morally wrong.

Republican Sen. Gerald Long, who opposed the measure, says the legal system provides checks and balances and uses the punishment rarely.

Louisiana's last lethal injection was in 2010. The corrections department says it can't obtain lethal injection drugs because companies don't want to be associated with executions.