Illinois becomes 3rd state in 4 years to ban the death penalty
Today, with the signature of Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois became the 16th state to abolish the death penalty, and the third state to do it in four years. The Governor also commuted the sentences of the 15 men currently residing on Illinois’ death row. In addition to Governor Quinn, State Senator Kwame Raoul and State Representative Karen Yarbrough were key players in making death penalty abolition a reality in Illinois. Please take a moment to thank them for their leadership.
No state has made a greater effort to “fix” their broken death penalty than Illinois. A ten year moratorium on executions was established in January 2000, and since then various commissions and studies have attempted to grapple with the challenge of imposing an irreversible punishment in an error-prone system. After over a decade of trying, Illinois politicians came to the conclusion that it simply cannot be done – that capital punishment in Illinois is beyond repair. The system will always be prone to error, and the punishment of death will always be irreversible.
Chicago Breaking News: Quinn signs death penalty ban, clears Death Row