Much like the President on the federal level, the Governor has the authority to pardon or commute the sentences of persons incarcerated for various crimes in Louisiana. During his first term, Gov. John Bel Edwards campaigned on the promise of prison reform to help reduce Louisiana's "highest in the nation" incarceration rate. He did increase significantly the number of commutations in comparison, of course, to former Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, who commutated only 3 persons during his eight years in office. Gov. Edwards has pushed for and secured various reforms already, and I believe many more commutations will be forthcoming. Public awareness, I believe, would be helpful for any person seeking commutation, especially where the sentence being served is or appears to be unjust. Looking forward, I personally believe the Governor will use his popularity to contest one of Louisiana's republican U.S. senators when his second term, which he has just started, comes to an end. If such were to occur, and if he were to win, prison reform should remain at the forefront of Louisiana politics for a while, and this would be good for Louisiana's incarcerees. .