Illinois becomes 16th state to ban death penalty
 

Decision by Gov Quinn to sign legislation, becomes law July 1st. All 15 people on death row have their sentences commuted by Governor. Third state to ban death penalty in last two years behind New Mexico and New Jersey.

that sucks

I think we should kill a lot of people. 1st degree murders & 1st degree sex criminals... If the DNA is there, off with your head.

A hot button issue of course...since Capital Punishment was reintroduced in the US in 1977, 15 people have been executed (none since 1999) in Illinois. During that time, 20 people have been released from prison as new evidence proved they were wrongly convicted. Two thirds of the nations on earth have banned the death penalty.

The only people the death penalty should be applicable for are politicians, the people who control politicians, and assholes like the ones that let the whole gulf oil spill happen.

Them, and maybe that Zen-yatt-ah chanter in that video from TVG.

I put a lot of faith in DNA evidence. I dont think people should get executed for he said / she said evidence.

I DO think that people like OJ Simpson should be executed. and the appeal time and costs need to be lowered. a bullet should do the trick.

honestly, cold blooded killers and people who rape kids dont deserve the use of oxygen.

But such feelings were not shared by Rachel Williams, who still has bullet fragments in her skull from the night in 1996 when Daniel Ramsey shot her in the head, killed her 12-year-old sister, raped and killed her best friend, and wounded two toddlers.

Williams was so determined to see her former boyfriend receive the death penalty that she relived the gruesome details of the shooting before a jury twice — the second time after the Illinois Supreme Court ordered a new trial. On Wednesday, Williams said she was reliving that night all over again, knowing that Ramsey's life would be spared while her sister's was not.

"Nobody knows what it's like to hear your sister say, 'Don't shoot me,'" said Williams, 32, of Peoria. "Why should he be able to sit there in prison until he turns over and dies? It's not fair."

But Roger Schnorr, whose sister, Donna, 27, of Geneva, was abducted, raped and murdered by Dugan in 1984, called Quinn's decision "quite aggravating." Schnorr said he met with Quinn for two hours a few weeks ago — along with prosecutors and other victims' relatives — and said the governor seemed "quite uninformed."

"There are 15 guys who are celebrating in prison today," Nicarico said. "And all of them took a life, at least one, and some took more than one. What Gov. Quinn did is he gave them their lives back."


Gov. Quinn owes every family suffering and now suffering more an apology. Maybe he can invite the group of 15 over to his house and feed and shelter them. IDIOT!!!!

I bet there are quite a few on death row who hope their sentence DOESN'T get changed to life. Much worse in my mind and much more of a punishment than death.

Always an emotional issue and it's hard to say that some folks don't deserve being put down as their actions make them monsters but there are two major issues: first, there are people on death row who are innocent, the justice system makes mistakes and usually, the more resources a defendant has, the better his chance of a fair deal. DNA and other advances may help level the playing field but still, many people are convicted of terrible crimes on evidence that is questionable. Secondly...what exactly is the reason to take a life? Is it justice or revenge? That is where emotion comes in....and it's an individual point of view. If you are the victim of a violent crime or have lost a friend or relative to a savage attack, nobody can blame you for wanting to see the perp punished. Does seeing someone put to death help you heal, to move on? That seems to depend on the individual. Does the death penalty deter future violent crimes...well, to be sure the person being put to death won't re-offend but does it really effect the behavior of others? Most violent crimes are either acts of passion or cold, calculated, planned in advance acts...it is doubtful that in either case being caught is paramount in the perp's mind. And even if it is...is it moral to kill a person to effect another person's acts? Difficult questions and the answer differs from person to person.

If life without parole is a reality, then I believe the death penalty should be done away with. Life behind bars without the prospect of freedom? To me, that's a fate worse than death.

The legal process before someone actually gets put to death costs many times more than it does to lock that person up and throw away the key.

Cost is an issue often raised, but should it be a factor in a moral decision? Insurance companies often use cost as their reason for denying treatment, Hitler found a cost effective method for exterminating millions etc.

No, cost should not be an issue. I only brought it up because a lot of people think incarcerating someone for life costs more than executing them.

That was the prevailing public opinion for years until research on cost factors revealed the truth. The irony is that this then led many pro death penalty folks to call for reduction in cost factors such as appeals etc....a slippery slope if ever there was one.

Note the comments posted below the article...the common theme, limit the appeal process, kill them faster!

We don't often agree, but the above is absolutely correct I feel.

It may be what the pro-deathers want, but it's not going to happen. States are going for the cheaper way.

But, that was not my reasoning. Take someone like Robert Hanssen who is in max. security 23 hours a day for the rest of his life. He plea bargained to escape the death penalty. I wonder if he thinks he made the right decision. I just can't imagine what his life must be like, but maybe he thinks living longer is better than meeting his maker. Supposedly, he was a deeply religious man. LOL!

Yeah, there is no way of knowing which punishment is worse, I suspect that again it depends on the individual...some folks can probably adapt to being confined to a cell while others will quickly find themselves praying for death. I saw evidence of this in my years working in prisons. I wonder though, what does it say that folks who are against the death penalty feel obligated to argue that they are supporting a worse fate?

Excellent decision. If the rich can't die for their crimes, which imo are far worse, then the poor shouldn't die for theirs.

Another interesting question....who is the bigger monster, a person who makes a decision which he/she is aware will result in suffering, perhaps death for many, or the street thug who savages one? The way a society deals with one compared to the other says much.