Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Louisiana to Resume Executions After 15 Years
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
State seal of Louisiana
Read Next
Small, white rat (genus Rattus) on a glass table. (rodent, laboratory, experiment)
Cruel and Unusual Punishments: 15 Types of Torture
Discover
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)
New Seven Wonders of the World
Statue of Liberty in front of the skyline of Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Who Was the Woman Behind the Statue of Liberty?
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Close up of periodic table, focus on nickel, copper, zinc, palladium, silver, cadmium
When Was the Periodic Table Invented?
World Data Locator Map: Australia
Is Australia an Island?
World map. Continents. Oceans. Mendel thumb ok
Just How Many Oceans Are There?
State seal of Louisiana
State seal of Louisiana Should the death penalty be legal?

Louisiana to Resume Executions After 15 Years

ProCon headline
print Print
Please select which sections you would like to print:
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.
The Editors of ProCon
Last Updated: • Article History

ProCon debate: Should the Death Penalty Be Legal?

ProCon Issue in the News: After 15 years with no executions, the state of Louisiana has scheduled one for March 2025.

Jessie Hoffman (age 46), convicted of murder in 1996, is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia on March 18. Christopher Sepulvado (81) was scheduled to be executed a day earlier, but he died on death row on February 22. A third man, Larry Roy, was scheduled to be executed in March, but his execution has been removed from the calendar because he has not exhausted his appeals. Hoffman’s attorneys are challenging the use of nitrogen hypoxia, the first new method of execution in the U.S. since 1982, when lethal injection was introduced. In this new execution method, prisoners inhale nitrogen gas, which deprives them of oxygen and causes death.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry approved the use of both nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution in Louisiana in 2024. Only three other states allow the new method: Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Alabama has carried out the only four nitrogen hypoxia executions in the United States so far, three in 2024 and one in 2025.

Discussion Questions

  • Should the death penalty be legal? Why or why not?
  • If legal, which methods of execution should be allowed? Explain your answer.
  • Should states be allowed to set their own death penalty laws or should the federal government set the law? Explain your answer.

Sources

  1. Meghan Friedmann, “After 15 Years Without Executions, Louisiana Ready to Resume Them Using Gas, Jeff Landry Says” (February 10, 2025), nola.com
  2. Greg LaRose, “With Louisiana Leaders Intent on First Execution Since 2010, DA Obtains Death Warrant” (February 11, 2025), lailluminator.com
  3. Greg LaRose, “Louisiana Schedules Back-to-Back Executions for Next Month” (February 13, 2025), lailluminator.com
  4. Greg LaRose, “Louisiana’s Road to Resume Executions Likely Goes Through Federal Court” (February 19, 2025), lailluminator.com