AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF LOUISIANA, RELATIVE TO THE CRIMINAL LAWS OF THAT STATE. APPROVED 10 FEBRUARY 1820. WHEREAS it is of primary importance, in every well regulated state, that the code of criminal law should be founded on one principle, viz. the prevention of crime; that all offences should be clearly and explicitly defined, in language generally understood; that punishments should be proportioned to offences; that the rules of evidence should be ascertained as applicable to each offence; that the mode of procedure should be simple, and the duty of magistrates, executive officers and individuals assisting them, should be pointed out by law and whereas the system of criminal law, by which this state is now governed, is defective in many, or all of the points above enumerated, therefore: Section 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the state of Louisiana in general assembly convened, that a person learned in the law shall be appointed by the senate and house of representatives at this session, whose duty it shall be to prepare and present to the next general assembly, for its consideration, a code of criminal law in both the French and English languages, designating all criminal offences punishable by law; defining the same in clear and explicit terms; designating the punishment to be inflicted on each; laying down the rules of evidence on trials; directing the whole mode of procedure, and pointing out the duties of the judicial and executive officers in the performance of their functions under it. Section 2. And be it further enacted, that the person so to be chosen, shall receive for his services such compensation as shall be determined by the general assembly, at their next session, and that a sum of five hundred dollars shall be paid to him, on a warrant of the governor upon the state treasury, to enable him to procure such in A 2 formation and documents relative to the operation of the improvements in criminal jurisprudence, particularly of the penitentiary system in the different states, as he may deem useful to report to the general assembly in considering the project of a code: he shall account to the general assembly, in what manner the said five hundred dollars has been disposed of. IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF LOUISIANA. 13 FEBRUARY 1821. WE, the undersigned, secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives of the state of Louisiana, do hereby certify, that on the thirteenth of February in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Esq. was elected and appointed by the joint ballot of the general assembly of said state, to draw and prepare a criminal code. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands. J. CHABAUD, CANONGE, Clerk of the House of Representatives. New-Orleans, March 28, 1822. RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF LOUISIANA. 21 MARCH 1832. RESOLVED by the senate and house of representatives in general assembly convened, that the general assembly do approve of the plan proposed by Edward Livingston, Esq., in his report, made in pursuance of the act entitled "an act relative to the criminal laws of this state," and earnestly solicit Mr Livingston to prosecute this work, according to said report; that two thousand copies of the same, together with the part of the projected code thereto annexed, be printed in pamphlet form; one thousand of which shall be printed in French and one thousand in English, under the direction of the said Edward Livingston, Esq., of which five copies be delivered to each member of the present general assembly, fifty copies to the governor, one copy to each of the judges of the supreme court, the district judges, the judge of the criminal court, the attorney-general and district attorneys, the parish judges, two hundred copies to the said Edward Livingston, Esq.; and that the balance shall be for the use of the state, of which one half shall be deposited in the hands of the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives, and the other half in the office of the secretary of the state. And be it further resolved, that the governor be requested, and it is hereby made his duty to contract for the printing of said work, and to pay for the same out of the contingent fund. And be it further resolved, that a sum of one thousand dollars be paid to Edward Livingston, Esq., on his warrant, out of the treasury of the state, to be on account of the compensation to him allowed, when his work shall be completed. A. BEAUVAIS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Approved, March 21, 1822, J. POYDRAS, President of the Senate. T. B. ROBERTSON, Governor of the State of Louisiana. REPORT MADE BY EDWARD LIVINGSTON TO THE HONOURABLE THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONVENED. IN PURSUANCE OF THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE CRIMINAL LAWS OF THAT STATE." HAVING been honoured by an appointment at the last session, to perform the duties required by "an act relative to the criminal laws of the state," I have thought it necessary to report to the general assembly, the progress that has been made in the work, and the reasons which have prevented its completion. In undertaking those duties, I relied much on the aid which I expected to derive from the other states; for, although none of them has framed a code on so comprehensive a plan as that contemplated by our law, yet most of them have established the penitentiary system, which is intended to form the basis of our legislation on this subject. Before I could avail myself of the advantage which those experiments afforded, it was necessary to know, with precision, their results. This information could only be obtained by collecting the returns and official reports of the different establishments, and inducing men of eminence and abilities to communicate their observations on the subject. Knowing also the advantage to be derived from a comparison of the opinions of eminent jurists and statesmen on other leading principles, which must be embodied in the system, I addressed several copies of the annexed circular letter to the governors of each state, with the request, that they might be put into the hands of men, from whom the desired information might be expected: these, as well as a number of similar applications, I did hope, would have procured a body of information useful not only to me in framing the work, but to the legislature in judging of it. This hope has, however, as yet been but partially realized. I have |