Illinois lawmakers vote to scrap death penalty
CHICAGO: Lawmakers in Illinois on Tuesday voted to abolish the death penalty, which would cap a decade of debate in the midwestern state on wrong convictions and the fairness of capital punishment.
The state Senate voted 32-25 to formally end executions, following the lead of state's House of Representatives, which voted last week.
The bill now moves to Governor Pat Quinn, a newly elected Democrat, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.
"Governor Quinn plans to review the legislation once he receives it and they have 30 days to get it to us and we have 60 days to review it," said his spokeswoman Annie Thompson.
Quinn has supported capital punishment in his career, but he has acknowledged the state's troubled history with the death penalty.
"The governor has said in the past that it is important that we do not put innocent people to death, which is why he will be taking such a close look at this bill," the spokeswoman said.
Since 2000, Illinois has had a moratorium in place for the death penalty after a series of people sentenced to death were ultimately found to be not guilty of the crimes after investigations by students at the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.
That moratorium has remained in place and Quinn has indicated he has no plans to end it.
In January 2003, then-governor George Ryan, just before leaving office, commuted the sentences of all 167 prisoners then on death row to life sentences. There now sit 15 people who have been sentenced to death in Illinois.
Senators on both sides of the issue made impassioned speeches Tuesday with proponents of the measure pointing to the people who were exonerated for their crimes. Other senators did not believe the practice should be in place any longer.
"If we were to continue to go eye for an eye and tooth, we will become a blind, toothless society," said Democratic Senator Willie Delgado.
Still, proponents of capita! l punish ment continued to make their arguments that certain crimes should still be punishable by death.
"I think there's still a place for the death penalty for the worst of the worst of our society," the Chicago Tribune quoted Senator Kirk Dillard as saying during the debate.
If Quinn signs the measure, Illinois would become the 16th state in addition to the District of Columbia to ban the practice.
"This vote demonstrates a growing concern about the death penalty and public willingness to replace this punishment with alternative sentences," said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center, which seeks to abolish the practice.
"The problems of the death penalty are not unique to Illinois. Widespread frustration with capital punishment and its high costs have led to a sharp decline in its use."
According to the group, Illinois has carried out 12 executions since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
In the same period, 20 inmates have been exonerated from the state's death row, the second highest number in the United States.
The center said New Mexico and New Jersey voted to abolish the death penalty in 2009 and 2007, respectively, and that New York's death penalty law was declared unconstitutional in 2004.
The state Senate voted 32-25 to formally end executions, following the lead of state's House of Representatives, which voted last week.
The bill now moves to Governor Pat Quinn, a newly elected Democrat, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.
"Governor Quinn plans to review the legislation once he receives it and they have 30 days to get it to us and we have 60 days to review it," said his spokeswoman Annie Thompson.
Quinn has supported capital punishment in his career, but he has acknowledged the state's troubled history with the death penalty.
"The governor has said in the past that it is important that we do not put innocent people to death, which is why he will be taking such a close look at this bill," the spokeswoman said.
Since 2000, Illinois has had a moratorium in place for the death penalty after a series of people sentenced to death were ultimately found to be not guilty of the crimes after investigations by students at the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.
That moratorium has remained in place and Quinn has indicated he has no plans to end it.
In January 2003, then-governor George Ryan, just before leaving office, commuted the sentences of all 167 prisoners then on death row to life sentences. There now sit 15 people who have been sentenced to death in Illinois.
Senators on both sides of the issue made impassioned speeches Tuesday with proponents of the measure pointing to the people who were exonerated for their crimes. Other senators did not believe the practice should be in place any longer.
"If we were to continue to go eye for an eye and tooth, we will become a blind, toothless society," said Democratic Senator Willie Delgado.
Still, proponents of capita! l punish ment continued to make their arguments that certain crimes should still be punishable by death.
"I think there's still a place for the death penalty for the worst of the worst of our society," the Chicago Tribune quoted Senator Kirk Dillard as saying during the debate.
If Quinn signs the measure, Illinois would become the 16th state in addition to the District of Columbia to ban the practice.
"This vote demonstrates a growing concern about the death penalty and public willingness to replace this punishment with alternative sentences," said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center, which seeks to abolish the practice.
"The problems of the death penalty are not unique to Illinois. Widespread frustration with capital punishment and its high costs have led to a sharp decline in its use."
According to the group, Illinois has carried out 12 executions since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
In the same period, 20 inmates have been exonerated from the state's death row, the second highest number in the United States.
The center said New Mexico and New Jersey voted to abolish the death penalty in 2009 and 2007, respectively, and that New York's death penalty law was declared unconstitutional in 2004.
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