UPDATE: Quinn Abolishes Death Penalty, Commutes Sentences

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3539 today, abolishing capital punishment for the state.

In making the decision, Quinn said, "I have found none to be as difficult as the one I made today." It is a reversal from his earlier position during the campaign last year, when he said he was in favor of the death penalty. 

The governor also decided to commute the current 15 death convictions. The law is not retroactive, and would not have covered convictions before July 1, when the law takes effect. 

Quinn noted that after conferring with former prosecutors and judges, "with decades of experience in the criminal justice system," he is convinced "that it is impossible to devise a system that is consistent, that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, geography or economic circumstance, and that always gets it right."

The governor also said he heard from family members of the victims who said "maintaining a flawed death penalty system will not bring back their loved ones, will not help them to heal and will not bring closure to their pain."

In a statement sent to Skokie Patch, State Representative Daniel Biss said, "Given the growing evidence of persistent errors in application of the death penalty, I support Governor Quinn's decision to sign Senate Bill 3539."

Biss represents the 17th District, which includes all or parts of the communities of Skokie, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Golf, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Wilmette, and Winnetka. The bill was passed just before Biss took office as the new state representative. 

Evanston's St. Nicholas Church Pastor Emeritus Robert Oldershaw said Quinn's decision is "long overdue." "I think it's a long time coming. It's a blessing for Illinois and for our country," said Oldershaw, following Ash Wednesday mass.

"We do not teach people not to kill by killing," he said, while adding that he continues to "pray" for families  for "what they have suffered."

During the previous legislative term last January, the Illinois House voted narrowly to abolish death penalty.  The Illinois Senate followed. 

The death penalty has been in effect in Illinois since 1977. Since then, a total of 12 convicts were executed in Illinois, until former Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium of all executions in 2000 amid reports of numerous wrongful convictions. 

With the abolition of the law, Illinois would become the 16th state to ban the death penalty, joining other states like New York, New Jersey and New Mexico. Washington D.C. also bans the death penalty. The penalty is lawful in 34 other states, including California, Texas and Florida.

Of the 298 men and women sentenced to death in Illinois since 1977, 20 people were proven to be innocent and released from prison, according to Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions.

Northwestern's Center on Wrongful Convictions, founded in 1998, helped proved the innocence of 13 death row inmates in Illinois, including the celebrated case of Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez. Cruz and Hernandez were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in DuPage County. 

Shortly before his term ended, Governor Ryan pardoned four men on death row and commuted the sentences of all other inmates facing the death penalty in 2003. 

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who opposed the abolition of the law, had said the death penalty is "an appropriate punishment" for "heinous" crimes and in cases" where there have been multiple murders.