By Quin Hillyer at NRO’s The Corner;
Deroy Murdock and I wrote last October about the death by cancer, at age 50, of our dear friend Kevin Kane, who founded Louisiana’s Pelican Institute, a conservative think tank, to help guide the state and city of New Orleans back after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.
Now the Louisiana House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution honoring Kevin. Watch this wonderful video.
While Kevin did great work on budgetary matters, on energy, and especially on school choice, he devoted most of his final few years to building a coalition for a package of sentencing reform bills — to keep tough laws against violent offenders, while reducing the prison population (and horrendous costs associated with it) and promoting human capital — that promote alternative sentencing and rehabilitation for minor, non-violent offenses. Again and again I have heard and read people say that the effort would not have, could not have, succeeded without Kevin’s patient work with legislators of all ideological persuasions……