Bid to ban the death penalty in Louisiana advances in Senate

BATON ROUGE (AP) - The latest effort to end capital punishment in Louisiana was sent to the full Senate for consideration but faces the same hurdles to passage that previously have stalled the ban.

The proposal by Republican Sen. Dan Claitor, of Baton Rouge, would abolish use of the death penalty for any offenses committed starting in 2021.

The constitutional amendment would require two-thirds support from the House and Senate and from voters in the 2020 presidential election to take effect.

A Senate judiciary committee voted 4-2 Tuesday to advance Claitor's legislation.

House lawmakers spurned similar proposals for the last two years.

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 publicly associated with executions.