Louisiana Justice for Survivors Act

This year the state of Louisiana will consider the Justice for Survivors Act (SB 215). The Justice for Survivors Act addresses gaps in the legal system through prevention and relief:

  1. It provides for a justification defense for conduct that is a direct result of intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, sex trafficking, or sexual violence, with clear constraints on the use of such a defense and the elements that must be proved to use it,

  2. It allows for the presentation of expert testimony as to the effects and dynamics of intimate partner violence, and the circumstances of entrapment and coercive control resulting from abuse,

  3. It offers pathways to potential relief for incarcerated survivors who were wrongfully convicted or excessively sentenced.

More information about the Justice for Survivors Act can be found at Promise of Justice Initiative, which also produced this video Support the Justice for Survivors Act. Additional information can also be found through this article Domestic Violence Survivors Seek a Pathway out of Louisiana Prisons.