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Death penalty in state a costly travesty
Op-Ed by Judge Kathleen Kallan
Illinoisans are all too familiar these days with waste and frustration in state government. But there is one lesser-known example of a flawed program with deep costs and nothing to show for it: the death penalty.

Illinois spends at least $12 million a year to prosecute and administer death penalty cases, yet only one person was sentenced to death in Illinois last year, and no one has been executed in more than a decade. That's $12 million wasted, tossed into lawyer fees, legal proceedings and precious court time for a handful of executions that may never take place.

Read more at: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/opinions/2567890,4_4_...

Randy Steidl: Turn a death-row tragedy into a collective triumph
Op-Ed by Randy Steidl
I survived Illinois’ death penalty. I’m living proof why it needs to end.
I was the victim of the system needing a scapegoat for the tragic murders of the Rhoads family in 1986 in central Illinois. I was convicted on no evidence and sentenced to death, then spent 12 years on death row before the Center on Wrongful Convictions helped prove my innocence.
Read more at: http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x553800647/Randy-Steidl-Turn-a-death-row-tr...

Quinn favors death penalty moratorium; Brady would lift it
Written by Doug Finke
Gov. Pat Quinn would maintain Illinois’ 10-year moratorium on the death penalty while his Republican opponent, state Sen. Bill Brady, would lift it, the two candidates’ campaigns said this week.
Read more at: http://www.sj-r.com/carousel/x1307016254/Quinn-favors-death-penalty-mora...

Finke: Poll takes deeper look at death penalty
Results show voters prefer alternatives, but critics question findings
Written by Doug Finke
Gov. Pat Quinn would maintain Illinois' 10-year moratorium on the death penalty while his Republican opponent, state Sen. Bill Brady, would lift it, the two candidates' campaigns said this week.
Their comments come at the same time as the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty released the results of a poll it commissioned showing that a majority of Illinois registered voters prefer some penalty other than death for the crime of murder.
Read more at: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x999357427/Finke-Poll-takes-deeper-look-at-de...