Louisiana secession Orleans. Two days before the city surrendered in April 1862, Moore and the legislature abandoned Baton Rouge as the state capital, relocating to Opelousas in May 1, 1862. Governor Moore began to organize military resistance at the state level, ordered the burning of cotton, cessation of trade with the Union forces, and heavily recruited troops for the state militia. However, despite a brief check at Baton Rouge, Union forces continued to advance into Louisiana and up the Mississippi, and the capital was moved again to Shreveport. New Orleans, Louisiana, the largest city in the entire South, was strategically important as
Capital punishment in Louisiana Capital punishment in Louisiana Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana. When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury. In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial). The governor may commute death sentences with advice and consent of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole. He doesn't need such consent for issuing a mere stay of execution. The male death row is at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in