An attempt to bar the death penalty as punishment for...

An attempt to bar the death penalty as punishment for capital crimes for anyone under the age of 18 was rejected by the full House, falling 10 votes short of what it needed to pass. Rep. Cheryl Gray, D-New Orleans, said she wanted Louisiana to follow the lead of 32 other states that require a person to be 18 years old before being eligible to be executed for a crime, saying that was the age of adulthood in civil law. State law does not set a minimum execution age, but court rulings have set it at 16. Gray's bill failed on a 43-49 vote, effectively killing it for the session (see also may 19).