EQUAL JUSTICE MATTERS

This petition will be used to advocate for post-conviction relief for a young couple from Louisiana who were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole following the death of their premature infant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Their young son suffered from a rare genetic disorder and his parents did not have access to proper baby formula.

Tiffany Woods (25) and Emmanuel Scott (18) were a poor Black couple living in New Orleans with four small children when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Their youngest, little Emmanuel, was just two months old.

The baby had a rare genetic disorder, MCAD deficiency, which prevents the body from properly converting certain fats to energy. Babies with this condition require frequent feedings; without proper care, they risk malnutrition, dangerously low blood sugar, and sudden death.

Emmanuel was born prematurely and spent 41 days in intensive care before being discharged weighing just five pounds. While he had been fed around-the-clock with fortified formula in the hospital, Tiffany was never formally instructed or documented on how to continue this specialized feeding schedule at home. The discharge paperwork did not clearly note the need for very frequent feeding despite his metabolic vulnerability. In medical practice, if instructions are not documented, it is often assumed they were never given.

At discharge, Tiffany was provided with a case of infant formula—Similac and Enfamil—and WIC vouchers to obtain additional formula. Those vouchers were her only means of accessing fortified formula, which was kept behind the counter at stores and only available for purchase with vouchers.

When Hurricane Katrina forced the family to evacuate, they were displaced to Shreveport. In the chaos of displacement, Tiffany lost access to her vouchers and eventually ran out of formula. Because she was now outside of her original parish, she could not obtain additional WIC vouchers. She later learned that stores were restricting formula purchases after the hurricane, possibly due to shortages, and without vouchers she could not obtain more.

Desperate to feed her baby, Tiffany gave him organic cow’s milk, which is unsafe for infants under 12 months—especially a premature baby with significant medical vulnerabilities. Within weeks, Emmanuel Jr. tragically died of malnutrition.

Tiffany did not intend to harm her child. She was navigating extreme disaster conditions, poverty, displacement, bureaucratic barriers, and the care of four small children without proper medical instruction for her medically fragile infant.

When Tiffany was arrested, her three remaining children bounced between foster care and relatives. No one appeared to consider the devastating impact on those children when both parents were taken and sentenced to life without parole.

Her attorney at the time was relatively new. Prosecutors offered to remove the death penalty from consideration if Tiffany agreed to a bench trial instead of a jury trial. Her lawyer advised that this could be advantageous, believing a female judge might be sympathetic to her circumstances. Ultimately, Tiffany waived her right to a jury trial and was sentenced to mandatory life without parole.

Since her incarceration, she has demonstrated rehabilitation, participated in educational programs, and remained committed to her remaining children.

We urge the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole and the Governor of Louisiana to review Tiffany Woods’ case for clemency or parole. Compassionate review can correct a disproportionate punishment, acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances that led to this tragedy, and give Tiffany the opportunity to reunite with and support her family.

The tragedy was caused by a perfect storm of circumstances: prematurity, a metabolic vulnerability, inadequate discharge instruction for a medically fragile infant, loss of WIC vouchers, disaster displacement, post-hurricane formula restrictions, and extreme poverty. Tiffany Woods’ choice to use cow’s milk was a desperate attempt to feed her baby—not intentional neglect or malice.

Louisiana has long had one of the highest homicide rates in the nation, but the law contains an unusually sweeping definition of second-degree murder that includes some deaths without intent to kill. Despite the wide variety of circumstances that can produce a second-degree conviction, the sentence is always the same: mandatory life without parole. Judges have almost no discretion.

More than half of the people serving life in Louisiana were convicted of second-degree murder, including three-quarters of the 124 women serving life. Yet data suggests Louisiana may not be applying punishment equally. Despite Black people making up roughly one-third of the state’s population, approximately 70% of people serving life without parole are Black and 66% of those imprisoned in Louisiana are Black.

Let us compare this tragic story to a white Ohio woman named Brooke Richardson, who was found guilty of abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of her newborn daughter and sentenced to just seven days in jail and three years of basic supervision. Or the white daycare worker in Minnesota named Nataliia Karia, who pled guilty to attempted murder after hanging a 16-month-old boy from a noose in her basement and received just 20 months in prison and 10 years of probation.

Considering the circumstances, do these outcomes reflect equal justice? Should a disaster-displaced mother of a medically fragile premature infant receive life without parole for a tragedy rooted in systemic failure and poverty?

Locking both parents away in prison without hope of parole and placing their remaining children into foster care was a miscarriage of justice. Although Tiffany’s sentence was eventually overturned and reduced to life with the possibility of parole, she has now spent nearly two decades incarcerated. She recently lost her first parole hearing by a split vote—two members voted in favor of her release and one voted against it, but the decision must be unanimous. As of September, she will have served 20 years in prison. Signing this petition will help Tiffany Woods and Emmanuel Scott continue their fight for relief and work toward reunification with their family.

• Sign this petition to support Tiffany Woods
• Share her story on social media to raise awareness
• Contact the Louisiana Governor and Parole Board to advocate for her release

#JusticeForTiffany #HurricaneKatrina #CriminalJusticeReform #MothersInPrison #SecondChance