Illinois Ends Death Penalty

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill Wednesday ending the death penalty in the state. Photo/Wikimedia.

After months of nail-biting, opponents of capital punishment were breathing easier today.

Yesterday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, took the final step in ending the death penalty and replacing it with a sentence of life without parole.

The law also requires that state funds used for the death penalty be transferred to a fund for murder victims' services and law enforcement.

The ban on capital punishment comes after an eleven-year moratorium on executions declared by former Republican Governor George Ryan, and makes Illinois the 16th state to repeal the death penalty. It also marks the lowest number of states with the death penalty in more than thirty years.

"The Illinois repeal is an indication of a growing national trend toward alternatives to the death penalty, and an increased focus on murder victims' families and the prevention of crime," said Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

"In light of our current economic climate, the public has increasingly recognized that resources used for the death penalty could be diverted to higher budgetary priorities, such as law enforcement and victims' services."

rest at http://pubrecord.org/nation/9039/illinois-ends-death-penalty/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=illinois-ends-death-penalty