LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

Paul Braun

A House committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would delay the implementation of the “Raise the Age” law requiring 17-year-olds to be prosecuted as juveniles instead of adults.

Plans for the change had passed the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2016 and were set to take effect July 1.

But concerns have arisen about the financial impact since it costs more to house people in juvenile facilities, which are focused on rehabilitation, than in adult jails.

The new bill, sponsored by Ronnie Johns, R- Lake Charles, would push back the start date for the change to March 1, 2019 for nonviolent 17-year-old offenders and March 1, 2020 for 17-year-old violent offenders. It passed unanimously in the Senate last week.

Read the rest of the story in The Minden-Press Herald.

Kaylee Poche and Devon Sanders

Top officials in Governor John Bel Edwards’ administration have scheduled a press conference for Wednesday to discuss 20,000 eviction notices that the Louisiana Department of Health plans to send on Thursday to nursing home residents across the state.

Health Commissioner Rebekah Gee and Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne will handle the press conference.

Over 37,000 individuals would no longer be eligible for Medicaid under the budget passed recently by the Louisiana House, and 20,000 of those would be forced out of nursing homes, according to Robert Johannessen, the Health Department’s communications director.

Read the rest of the story in KALB.

 

 

 

Drew White

The termination of pregnancy by illegal interference and feticide may soon become “crimes of violence” under Louisiana state law.

A House panel approved a bill 8-4 on Tuesday to prohibit the use of physical force or threats of violence against “the person or property” of a pregnant woman with the intent to compel her to undergo an abortion against her will.

“A former abortion clinic security guard testified before our legislature that the greatest threat to women at abortion clinics were the men that accompanied them,” said Alex Seghers of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation, an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.

Read the rest of the story in Gambit Weekly.

Kaylee Poche and Devon Sanders

A bill that would allow school employees to pray with students during school hours is one step closer to becoming law, advancing out of the House Education Committee on Tuesday by a 10-4 vote.

The so-called “permission-slip-to-pray” bill would only apply if all students present during the prayer obtained permission slips from their parents allowing a certain teacher or coach to pray with them. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last month.

Read the rest of the story in KPLC.

Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, proposed the bill that would allow Louisiana students to wear bulletproof backpacks. (Photo: Ashley Wolf)

Brianna Jones-Williams and Martha Ramirez

Considering bulletproof backpacks for your children?

The state Legislature is close to approving them as optional school gear, and they are easy to find online from companies with names like Bullet Blocker and Guard Dog Security. The backpacks typically cost from $100 to $400 and come in a variety of colorful styles and prints.

But can they really stop a speeding bullet?

The suppliers say tests show that their backpacks, which contain panels of the densely woven Kevlar fiber used in bulletproof vests, can withstand shots from handguns and shotguns. But ballistics experts say the backpacks are no match for bullets from assault rifles, like AR-15’s, that have been used in recent school shootings and that strike the most terror in parents’ hearts.

Read the story in The Shreveport Times.

By Mary Chiapetta

WASHINGTON — By now you’ve probably all heard the popular buzzwords “fake news,” but would you recognize fake news if you saw it?

Eighty percent of Americans in a nationally representative sample express confidence in their ability to recognize fake news, according to recent research from the Public Policy Research Lab at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication. Yet, many remain vulnerable.

Read the story in The News Star.

By Joby Richard and Kaylee Poche

In an 8-4 vote along party lines, the House Education Committee on Thursday approved a bill limiting the ability of universities to set time, place and manner restrictions on First Amendment speech and assembly.

The bill, proposed by Sen. Rick Ward, R-Port Allen, requires universities to develop written policies regarding free expression on campus and make annual reports to the Legislature.

Read the story in The Daily Advertiser.

By Joby Richard

The House Education Committee pushed four bills this week to the House floor, two involving TOPS scholarships and two focused on student safety.

The committee on Wednesday passed a bill to create a TOPS Second Chance Award for students who are succeeding at four-year universities even though they did not score at least a 20 on the ACT in high school.

Read the story in KALB-TV/kalb.com.

By Drew White

Louisiana lawmakers made progress Wednesday toward allowing voters to determine whether felony cases should require unanimous verdicts, a change that supporters say would preserve defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.

Louisiana is one of two states — joined by Oregon — that allow non-unanimous verdicts to decide the outcome of felony cases. Only 10 votes on a 12-person jury is now required for a conviction.

Read the story in The Louisiana Weekly.

By Joby Richard

The House Education Committee on Thursday approved a proposal that provides students at two-year vocational and technical colleges with a path for transferring to four-year universities.

Senator Mack “Bodi” White, Jr., R – Baton Rouge, proposed creating the “TOPS-Tech 2Plus2 Award” to help a small number of students who did not qualify for TOPS in high school but performed well in community college.

Read the story in the Gonzales Weekly Citizen.