The 2026 legislative session is over; however, its impact on our youth is not. This year, lawmakers debated bills affecting nearly every stage of a young person’s interaction with public systems. From schools and courtrooms to detention centers and police interrogations, some proposals would have expanded punishment while others would have weakened due process protections.
This session, LCCR worked to improve legislation affecting youth across Louisiana. From reducing unnecessary time in pretrial detention to protecting in-person review hearings for incarcerated youth, our advocacy made a meaningful difference.
Our Successes
Not every victory comes from defeating legislation. Sometimes the most important work happens in committee rooms and negotiations where advocates like LCCR and its allies fight to reduce harm before a bill goes up for a vote.
HB 140: Juvenile Court Trial Timelines
One of the most concerning youth justice bills filed this session was HB 140, which proposed expanding the amount of time children could remain in the juvenile court system before their cases reached trial. The bill ultimately advanced through the Legislature.
For children, delayed proceedings mean prolonged uncertainty, increased trauma, disrupted education, strained family relationships, and extended involvement in the legal system.
LCCR worked with lawmakers and stakeholders throughout the process to narrow the bill’s most harmful provisions. As a result, proposed timeline expansions were significantly reduced, and additional confidentiality protections were secured for children’s arrest photographs and intake records.
The final bill passed, and although it is not what we would have written, it’s considerably less harmful than the original.
SB 396: Review Hearings for Incarcerated Youth
Originally, SB 396 would have eliminated in-person review hearings for incarcerated youth, which makes it easier for children to remain confined without regularly appearing before a judge.
LCCR successfully negotiated amendments requiring children in custody to receive an in-person review hearing at least every six months and ensuring confidential access to counsel before virtual hearings.
HB 283: School Expulsions
HB 283 expanded mandatory expulsions and legislation imposing mandatory minimum penalties on children accused of certain school-related conduct. LCCR worked to narrow those proposals, helping preserve alternative educational opportunities for expelled students and maintain judicial discretion in cases involving youth accused of battery of a school employee.
The principle behind this is simple: children should be held accountable for misconduct, but accountability should not come at the expense of education and opportunities for growth.
HB 133: Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Youth
HB 133 initially proposed mandatory minimum penalties for children accused of battery of a school teacher.
Mandatory minimums strip judges the ability to consider individual circumstances, developmental factors, trauma histories, disabilities, and other critical information about a child’s case.
Through advocacy and negotiations, LCCR helped remove the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, preserving judicial discretion and allowing courts to make decisions based on the facts of each individual case.
The Fight Ahead
SB 201: Expanding Life-Without-Parole Sentences for Children
SB 201 rolled back Louisiana’s 2017 juvenile sentencing reforms by once again allowing prosecutors to seek life without parole for children convicted of second-degree murder. The law removes the requirement that life without parole be reserved for the rarest and most aggravated juvenile homicide cases, allowing prosecutors to pursue the sentence for children convicted of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. During the legislative session, the Governor also amended the bill to make imposing life-without-parole sentences easier, further weakening protections for children. The bill ultimately passed and was signed into law.
Life without parole is one of the harshest punishments our legal system can impose. It tells a child that no matter how much they grow, mature, change, or rehabilitate, they will never have an opportunity to demonstrate that transformation.
HB 1106: Custodial Interrogations of Children
Should a 15-year-old be allowed to waive their constitutional right to an attorney while sitting alone in a police interrogation room? Under current law, children aged 15 and younger can waive their constitutional right to an attorney during police questioning.
HB 1106 would have required these children to have access to an attorney during custodial police interrogations if statements obtained during questioning were later going to be used against them in court.
The problem is that many children do not actually understand those rights. They are also far more vulnerable to pressure, suggestions, authority figures, and coercive interrogation tactics. According to a 2016 study cited by the Innocence Project, 42% of exonerated children had falsely confessed (compared to 13% of exonerated adults).
An attorney’s presence protects everyone involved. It protects children’s constitutional rights as well as the integrity of investigations.
LCCR is committed to pursuing reforms as every child deserves a just justice system that recognizes their age and protects their rights. Although the bill’s author, LCCR and lobbyists all agreed to pull HB 1106, the plan is to pursue it in the following years.
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