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Outgoing Democratic Governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, has granted pardons to 56 inmates, including 40 convicted murderers, since October this year. Despite Edwards’ attempts to address the state’s notorious incarceration rate, critics argue that his latest clemency decisions may have gone a step too far. Critics argue that releasing individuals convicted of serious crimes poses a risk to public safety and undermines the justice system. The anti-prison governor has been at the helm of criminal justice reforms in Louisiana with the aim of shedding the state’s label as “the world’s prison capital.” During Edwards’ tenure, Louisiana has faced scrutiny...

Freshman Republican: Obama’s timing on Libya ‘intentional’By Russell Berman - 03/25/11 04:22 PM ET The head of the House Republican freshman class is accusing President Obama of intentionally waiting until Congress adjourned to deploy U.S. military forces to Libya without its consent. “Why did he wait until the day after we adjourned Congress [to launch military strikes]?” Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), the president of the 87-member GOP freshman class, said in a phone interview on Friday. “I believe that timing was intentional by the president.” Congress adjourned for a scheduled recess on March 17, hours before the United Nations Security...

As Republicans circle the wagons around Donald Trump, a key member of the House Intelligence Committee says the multiple Democrat-led probes of the 45th president from New York to Georgia resemble more of a hunt than the fair administration of justice. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., urged liberal champions of civil rights to speak out against the weaponization of law enforcement after Trump’s unprecedented indictment this week in Manhattan or risk having the tables one day turned. “They have hunted Donald Trump and his family for years and years and years,” Scott said Friday on the Just the News, Not Noise...

Representative Austin Scott (R-GA) informed Just The News that House Republicans were considering removing prosecutorial immunity if they engaged in misconduct like bringing politicized charges. The Georgian lawmaker remarked that “I think you’re going to have to look at prosecutorial misconduct and whether or not prosecutors in this country should be exempt from liability.” The Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), hinted that his colleagues were looking for ways to hold the Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accountable for his political prosecution of Donald Trump. Representative Scott suggested that Republicans should build on the move to end...

@JakeSherman 🚨NEWS -- REP. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia has filed to run for the GOP nomination for speaker. It will be SCOTT vs. JORDAN.

Jim Jordan has been officially nominated as the Republican’s choice for Speaker, beating out Steve Scalise ally Austin Scott of Georgia.

SCOTT ANNOUNCED FRIDAY, WITH HIS DEEP TIES TO BLACKROCK AND THE UNI-PARTY, IS ENTERING THE RACE FOR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. FEDERAL RECORDS REVEAL SCOTT IS BACKED BY BLACKROCK.AMERICANS SHOULD BE ADVISED THAT SCOTT: • FOUGHT AGAINST 2020 ELECTION INTEGRITY EFFORTS. • Deep State politics wants him placed in the Speaker’s Chair to maximize Ukraine kickbacks, Chinese takeover activities, and sway congressional committees to pass laws that fill their pockets via stock market investments and other corruption.

Former President Donald Trump on Friday urged Republican voters to rally behind Louisiana GOP Attorney General Jeff Landry to become the state's next governor. On Saturday, voters of all stripes in the Pelican State will head to the polls to vote in a jungle primary. Fifteen candidates are running for the job, according to Ballotpedia. The top two vote recipients, regardless of their party, will move on to the general election. Such a runoff could be avoided, however, should any candidate receive more than 50% of the vote. "Louisiana there is a big election on Saturday ... and I need...

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has vetoed a bill that was meant to protect children from transgender gender-change surgeries and other procedures like giving kids cross-sex hormones.House Bill 648, known as the “Stop Harming Our Kids Act,” was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature along party lines in early June.The bill sought to prohibit hormone treatments for minors as well as puberty-blocking drugs and gender reassignment surgery, such as giving girls who identify as boys double mastectomies, which critics have decried as a form of mutilation.“If HB 648 doesn’t become law, we will be sending a horrible message...

For the first time in the state’s history, Republicans have a supermajority in Louisiana. Republicans now have a 70-vote supermajority and can override a veto by the state’s Democrat governor John Bel Edwards. On Friday, the longest-serving Democrat in the Louisiana state legislature Rep. Francis Thompson announced he was switching parties. Thompson has served in the legislature since 1975. This action by Thompson doesn’t come as much of a surprise as his voting record shows that the had been caucusing with the Republicans. Thompson gave a statement after announcing the switch, “Let me clear. Nothing has changed, there are values...

Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson, after nearly 50 years of elective service as a Democrat, switched parties to become a Republican on Friday giving the GOP a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature which gives them the power to override vetoes by Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. With the switch, Republicans gain a two-thirds, 70-vote supermajority in Louisiana’s House and Senate in a huge win for conservatives, according to CBS affiliate WAFB. Thompson becomes the 70th Republican member in the state House. Today, along with the GOP supermajorities in the legislature, both of the state’s US senators are...

Proposed carbon capture projects continue to draw controversy and public backlash in Louisiana, but Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards remained adamant this week that the practice is a “safe” way to reduce the state’s industrial emissions. About 50 Louisiana residents traveled to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to speak in opposition to a global gas supply company’s application for a test well permit in Lake Maurepas, where they plan to store carbon dioxide underground, The Advocate reported. Most speakers at the hearing demanded that the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources pause approval of Air Products’ project until the company releases an...

Attorney General Jeff Landry has made his bid for governor official, kicking off what is expected to be a hotly contested campaign to succeed term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards next year. Landry, who is in his second term as attorney general, released a nearly 7-minute long video detailing his biography and hitting on several campaign issues that have become standard fare for Republican candidates, including crime and what he calls “liberal school boards and radical school leaders.” Landry, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, is expected to face Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and Treasurer John Schroder, among others....

NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Tony Spell, the Central Pastor who continued to hold church services in defiance of restrictions Gov. John Bel Edwards imposed to stop the spread of COVID. Overruling lower courts, the justices ruled that the restrictions on gatherings and the stay-at-home mandate Edwards imposed were unconstitutional. They ordered the charges against Spell quashed. Justices John Weimer and Scott Chrichton dissented on the ruling.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards faced a chorus of criticism and questions this morning following an Associated Press report showing he knew about the death of Ronald Greene following a violent interaction with State Police hours after it happened in 2019, USA Today Network reports. Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said in a statement that if the Democratic governor was complicit in a State Police cover-up it “would demonstrate gross misconduct and the highest level of deceit on behalf of the governor and others.” But the questions about the timing and extent of the governor’s knowledge about the Ronald Greene...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet’s temperature rise. At least a half dozen state governors — all Democrats — plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nation’s climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren’t official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States’ approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy. Governors slated...

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) extended the statewide mask mandate on Tuesday yet again, declaring “masks have been proven to help slow the spread” of the Chinese coronavirus. The Democrat governor initially implemented the indoor mask mandate, which applies to those five and older, on August 4. It was originally set to expire on September 1, but the governor extended the rule until September 29. Then, the day before it was set to expire, he extended yet another month. Now it will remain in place until “at least” October 27:

President Joe Biden told Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to 'just holler' for help on Monday after Hurricane Ida ravaged the gulf coast and referred to his senior adviser, former Rep. Cedric Richmond, as 'boy.' Biden introduced Richmond, a New Orleans native who quit Congress to serve in the White House, by a term that some see as derogatory. Richmond joined Biden on the virtual call with governors, mayors and officials from the states impacted by Hurricane Ida, which has killed at least one person and left millions without power. Biden announced Richmond would be the administration's point person on...

President Biden called a Black adviser "boy" during a Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) briefing on Monday. The president used the term while introducing his senior adviser Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana congressman. "I'm here with my senior adviser and boy who knows Louisiana very, very well and New Orleans, Cedric Richmond," Biden said at a press briefing with FEMA after Hurricane Ida rocked Louisiana.

The order requires face coverings for everyone age 5-or-older or enrolled in kindergarten New Orleans-Louisiana is reenacting a statewide mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents across all indoor locations, including schools and colleges. Governor John Bel Edwards anouncement Monday...