Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds Black Man’s Life Sentence For Stealing Hedge Clippers 20 Years Ago

A black man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Louisiana Supreme Court refused to amend his life sentence after he attempted to steal a pair of hedge clippers almost 20 years ago. In a corrupt justice system where rapists and murderers can get away with no time at all, this case is simply unjust.

Fair Wayne Bryant, 62, was convicted in 1997 on one count of attempted simple burglary for a failed attempt at stealing hedge clippers. In his appeal, his lawyer, Peggy Sullivan, argued that Bryant “contends that his life sentence is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive.”

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However, just last week five white male judges denied his appeal.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson was the lone dissenter, a black female judge. In her dissent, Johnson referred to Bryant’s sentence as “excessive and disproportionate to the offense.”

“Arrested at 38, Mr. Bryant has already spent nearly 23 years in prison and is now over 60 years old,” she said. “If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr. Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers.”

Johnson compared Bryant’s sentence to a “modern manifestation” of “pig laws,

“Pig Laws were largely designed to re-enslave African Americans,” Johnson added. “And this case demonstrates their modern manifestation: harsh habitual offender laws that permit a life sentence for a Black man convicted of property crimes. This man’s life sentence for a failed attempt to steal a set of 3 hedge clippers is grossly out of proportion to the crime and serves no legitimate penal purpose.”