The Louisiana Legislature recently approved a constitutional amendment that would make it easier to send children to adult jails. Current law already allows prosecutors to charge juvenile offenders as adults for certain violent crimes. Amendment 3 would expand that discretion to any felonies. State voters will decide whether to enact the new policy on Saturday. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Joni Hess explains the concerns from juvenile justice advocates: 

[Daughter of Incarceration’s Renee] Carthan said she fears that if Amendment 3 passes, lawmakers might add theft to the list of felony crimes for which teens may be prosecuted as adults. “A lot of people don’t realize that the threshold for a felony is not high at all, especially theft,” she said. In Louisiana, adults hit with theft of an item valued between $1,000-$5,000 can serve up to five years in prison. Others say Louisiana’s prisons are not always equipped to follow federal law for housing children in adult jails. … “Irrespective of what Louisiana wants to think, we’re talking about children,” Rome said. “Adult systems are not equipped to provide resources juveniles need.”

Click here to learn more about the harms of Amendment 3. 


Justices seem likely to uphold fair districts

A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to uphold Louisiana’s second Black-majority congressional district. Justices heard oral arguments on Monday on whether state lawmakers relied on race to draw the new map, which is forbidden by the 14th amendment. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times explains how politics was the driving force behind the new political boundaries: 

“Louisiana would rather not be here,” the state’s solicitor general, J. Benjamin Aguiñaga, told the justices. Mr. Aguiñaga was adamant that politics, not race, led to the current map. He asked the justices to look at “the larger picture” for lawmakers, who were facing pressure from a federal court to add a second majority-Black district. He said they were concerned that had they allowed a court to draw the map, judges could have drawn districts that made it difficult for high-profile lawmakers to be re-elected. Among them: Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House. “We made the politically rational decision,” he said. “We drew our own map to protect them.”

DOGE is destroying Social Security

The Social Security program, which administers earned benefits to more than 70 million retirees and their survivors and the poor and disabled, is breaking down under the weight of DOGE. Cuts from Elon Musks’ government dismantling agency have led to website crashes, jammed phone lines and left field offices without basic supplies such as paper, pens and headsets. Lisa Rein and Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post report on the chaos and political arson ravaging Social Security:

But current and former officials, advocates and others who interact with the agency — many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution — said Social Security has been damaged even further by the rapid cuts and chaos of Trump’s first two months in office. Many current and former officials fear it’s part of a long-sought effort by conservatives to privatize all or part of the agency. “They’re creating a fire to require them to come and put it out,” said one high-ranking official who took early retirement this month.

How shifting demographics affect state finances 

The pace of population growth across U.S. states has grown at slower rates than previous decades, a trend that is projected to continue. This deceleration has serious implications for state coffers, as aging populations will produce less income and sales tax revenue but require higher pension and health care costs. Pew’s Joanna Biernacka-Lievestro and Alexandre Fall explain: 

A shrinking or slow-growing population can be both a cause and an effect of weakened economic prospects. Less economic activity can limit state revenue collections. And although a smaller population can lead to a reduction in some spending, it also means fewer residents are available to help cover the costs of long-standing commitments, such as debt and state employee retirement benefits. On the other hand, more people usually means more workers and consumers contributing to economic activity as they take jobs and buy goods and services—which generates more tax revenue. A growing economy, in turn, can attract more workers and their families. 

Didja Know? Podcast 

On Saturday, March 29, Louisianans will weigh in on four harmful amendments to the state constitution. Ashley Shelton, Founder, President, and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and attorney William Most join the podcast to discuss the proposals, including the unusual outcome of a lawsuit challenging a misleading tax amendment (Amendment 2). Listen here.

Number of the Day

20.78% – Percentage of Louisiana residents who got at least 25% of their personal income from government aid in 2022. (Source: Economic Innovation Group via Axios)