Provides relative to sentencing of defendants who are survivors of domestic abuse, human trafficking, or sexual assault. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 91 creates a new sentencing framework for defendants who are survivors of domestic abuse, human trafficking, or sexual assault by enacting Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 881.8 and 890.4 and Code of Evidence Article 707. Article 890.4 establishes that courts must consider survivor status as a mitigating factor at sentencing and, upon motion and contradictory hearing, must reduce sentences by specified amounts if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant was a survivor and that the abuse or trafficking was a substantial contributing factor to committing the offense. The reductions are tiered based on the original sentence length, ranging from reducing life without parole to no more than thirty years down to reducing eight-to-fifteen-year sentences to no more than five years. Article 881.8 provides a retroactive mechanism allowing defendants sentenced before August 1, 2026, who are still serving sentences on or after that date to file motions for resentencing under the new criteria. The bill defines survivor based on existing statutory definitions of domestic abuse from R.S. 46:2132, human trafficking from R.S. 14:46.2 and 46.3, and sexual assault from R.S. 46:2184, regardless of whether the conduct resulted in arrest or conviction.

The bill affects several groups of people and institutions. Incarcerated individuals who are survivors of domestic abuse, human trafficking, or sexual assault become eligible for sentence reduction if they meet the evidentiary requirements, with particular benefit to those serving lengthy sentences. District attorneys are impacted through the notification requirements and their participation in resentencing hearings as advocates for the state's position on whether reduction criteria are satisfied. Trial courts must conduct contradictory hearings, make clear and convincing evidence findings, issue written factual determinations, and impose reduced sentences within the prescribed ranges. Defendants convicted of crimes of violence face additional burdens, requiring proof that the victim perpetrated the abuse against them or that the abuser compelled their participation through fraud, force, or coercion. However, certain categories of defendants remain ineligible: those convicted of sex offenses requiring registration, capital offenses, and terrorism-related convictions under R.S. 14:40.1, 14:128.1, and 14:128.2.

This legislation operates within Louisiana's existing criminal sentencing framework and intersects with multiple areas of statutory law. The definitions of domestic abuse, human trafficking, and sexual assault incorporate by reference statutes in the Louisiana Revised Statutes, linking the sentencing provisions to their legal definitions throughout the Criminal Code and family law provisions. The bill functions alongside existing sentencing guidelines and departure provisions while creating a mandatory consideration requirement in Article 890.4(B) that courts treat survivor status as a mitigating factor. The resentencing motion procedure under Article 881.8 follows the structure of post-conviction relief mechanisms in Louisiana procedure. The evidentiary rules regarding what corroborates survivor status and the authorization of expert testimony in Code of Evidence Article 707 create expansions in what may be admitted in sentencing proceedings, including testimony from mental health professionals, social workers, and advocates specializing in survivor trauma. The bill applies prospectively to sentences imposed on or after August 1, 2026, while Article 881.8 provides limited retroactive application to those sentenced before that date but still incarcerated afterward, creating a discrete class of beneficiaries under the transitional provision.