The special legislative session dealing with congressional redistricting has come and gone, and another special session dealing with crime is expected to be called by Governor Jeff Landry in the coming weeks.
Although lawmakers approved a map with two majority-Black districts during the first special session, that new map could find itself at the center of a lawsuit.
"There are already some folks that are talking about a legal challenge to the map, including freshman State Representative Mike Bayham of St. Bernard (Parish)," LA Politics.com publisher Jeremy Alford said. "He doesn't like the way that district carves up St. Bernard right down the Chalmette line and divides a known community."
Alford told WWL's Tommy Tucker that the issue of Louisiana's congressional districts could be tied up in court for a while.
"So it looks like the litigation on this issue, at least, may continue," Alford said.
Meanwhile, Governor Landry is preparing to issue his call for a second special session dealing with crime. That session, Alford says, could begin as early as mid-February.
"I think Jeff Landry is probably going to target a lot of these criminal justice reforms from the last few years, including mandatory minimums and judicial discretion and things like that," Alford said.
Alford added that the business community and state legislators have their own agendas for the crime session.
"Women legislators, in particular, want an agenda item for survivors of crime," Alford said. "Senator Beth Mizell of Franklinton is pushing for more serious penalties for sexual assault and how those cases are handled. Representative Nicky Muscarello is pushing for an agenda item for folks who are identified with mental health issues in the legal system, having them do some type of treatment plan.
"For the business community, it's a quality of life issue," Alford continued. "I'm not sure what they're asking for, but I'm sure they have a voice at the table."
Those added voices, Alford says, could lead to an extended special session.
"This would be a longer session than what we just had," Alford said. "I would imagine that we would be looking at a pretty aggressive agenda. The call was pretty broadly drawn for the election session, so we could see that again."
