Bill Seeks To Resurrect The Death Penalty For Some In Illinois

Illinois Republicans have their sights on undermining the premise of the recently-signed bill banning the death penalty in the state. On March 9, Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill, after much deliberation, ridding the state of the death penalty under all circumstances. But some Illinois Republicans say the punishment should be an option for those deemed the most heinous of offenders.

Yesterday, State Rep. Dennis Robeletti (R-Elmhurst) was able to get his bill passed out of the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee. The bill (HB 1519) calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty in some cases including those that involve the murders of corrections officers, police officers, or firemen as well as those who have allegedly committed multiple murders.

In an editorial in the Chicago Tribune today, State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) touted a bill he's sponsoring, SB 2277, which would allow the state's attorney's office to determine which accused criminals should be eligible for the death penalty in certain first-degree murder cases, like those committed against law enforcement, children, and state's witnesses. Dillard writes that his bill would create a review board that would prevent discrimination when determining who should be eligible for the death penalty:

Senate Bill 2277 would establish a statewide review committee charged with reviewing and approving a state's attorney's decision to seek the death penalty. The panel would ensure that there is a uniform process and equitable standards for seeking the death penalty, eliminating the gender, geographical and racial biases that may have existed in previous capital cases.

The assertion that a bill could spark the creation of a committee that will right the wrongs of Illinois' clearly-flawed death penalty and criminal justice system is preposterous. If the wrongly accused were sent to death row in the past for the wrong reasons, what is Dillard's proposed committee really going to do to assure that doesn't happen again? To think that biases can be removed from the process is naive and undermines the years of work death penalty reformers have done to try and reconcile those biases before determining that there really is no way to truly fool-proof the system.

For now, prosecutors can still seek the death penalty in Illinois until the ban goes into effect on July 1; judges and juries are allowed to hand down the punishment until that date as well.

Source: Progress Illinois, March 18, 2011
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