As Louisiana's attorney general last year, Jeff Landry pushed back hard against efforts to commute the sentences of the state's death row inmates. As governor, the Republican signed a bill this week to allow two more execution methods in the state, NOLA.com reports. "This is what I ran on," he said Tuesday as he signed a bill to allow executions by nitrogen gas and electrocution as well as injection. The state retired its electric chair, known as "Gruesome Gertie," after a 1991 execution but has had difficulty obtaining execution drugs in recent years. The state has only executed one inmate since 2002, a murderer who waived his appeals and was executed in 2010.
Ohio is also considering using nitrogen gas for executions, a method first used in Alabama in January. The execution bill was one of 20 bills Landry signed this week, calling them "tough on crime," after they were passed by the GOP-led state legislature in a special session focusing on crime, per Courthouse News Service. One bill requires inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before they can get time off for good behavior, ABC News reports. Another one fully eliminates parole for anyone convicted of a crime after Aug. 1 this year. Another new law allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit and lowers the age for legally carrying a concealed firearm to 18 from 21. (More Louisiana stories.)
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