After an emotional debate on the House floor, Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, presented a bill that would put an end to the death penalty in Louisiana, but ultimately shelved the bill.

Landry presented the bill by detailing how he personally evolved on the issue of the death penalty, and how the system is flawed.

“It is flawed to the extent that I am convinced today that we sent innocent people to death by wrongful convictions,” Landry said. “I am convinced that this law is not making us any safer than we want to be and we need to be.

“I just don’t know in my heart believe that one wrongful death is worth having a penalty that is the ultimate penalty in life. I do believe that God gave us life and it’s His gift to humanity and to us all, and i just dont believe we have risen to that level. I don’t care if it’s in the streets, in war and I certainly don’t believe it’s in the death chambers of Angola.”

Landry also outlined the expenses associated with the cost of the death penalty, and also mentioned that only one Louisiana resident has been put to death after a conviction since 2004.

“(It’s cost Louisiana) $100 million since 2004 with one execution and that was voluntary. He dropped all of his appeals,” Landry said.

Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston, opposed the measure, and asked where the justice would be for families who had been the victim of a heinous crime. Mack also said the death penalty is left to the discretion of local district attorneys, and electing a D.A. who opposes the death penalty is already a viable option.

“If you don’t like the death penalty then you vote for a district attorney who doesn’t want to impose it, you have that in law now,” Mack said.

Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, supported the bill by saying he had always been “pro-life,” and was only being consistent in wanting to abolish the death penalty.

After the debate had ended, Landry dropped his request for a vote, returning the bill to the calendar.