Signed bill makes hanging a noose illegal

Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. -- A bill making it a crime to try to intimidate people by using a hangman's noose, long a symbol of racial lynchings in the Old South, was signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, his office said Thursday. The bill by Rep. Rickey Hardy was passed unanimously in the Senate and House during the legislative session that ended June 30. The measure, which takes effect Aug. 15, makes it a crime for anyone to place a hangman's noose, or an image of one, on another person's property or on public property with "the intent to intimidate." Conviction could bring fines up to $5,000 and up to a year in prison. Hardy, during a committee hearing on the bill in May, noted the noose's history as a symbol of racial lynchings. He also touched on a 2006 incident at Jena High School in central Louisiana, where three... [read full story]