Facts About the Death Penalty in Illinois

Our first task, if we are to convince others of the need for reform of the death penalty in Illinois, is to educate ourselves. Fortunately there is a abundance of material available on the web. If you study it, you will certainly gain the respect of your legislators.

  • The best single reference is the booklet, "What's Wrong with the Death Penalty?" produced by the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (successor to the Illinois Moritorium Project). If you are more comfortable with a paper version, contact the Coalition at:

    Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
    Suite 2300
    180 North Michigan Avenue
    Chicago, Illinois 60601
    Phone: (312) 849-2279
    Fax: (312) 201-9760
    E-mail: Jane Bohman

    They will be delighted to send you one or more copies.

    For more information, consult the links available on the ICADP web site. In addition to the general information about the death penalty, our experience is that Illinois legislators are especially concerned about public opinion and the practical consequences of the replacement of the death penalty.

  • Public opinion: A poll of Illinois residents by Roper Starch Worldwide in October, 2000 found the following:
    * Given a choice,Illinois residents are more likely to choose life in prison with no chance of parole (47%) as the more appropriate penalty than to choose the death penalty (33%).
    * Support for death penalty is much lower among women than men (23% vs 43%) and among African-Americans than whites (12% vs 37%).
    * Three quarters (76%) of Illinois residents say they are "a great deal" or "fair amount" concerned that innocent people may have been executed in Illinois for crimes they did not commit.
    * Seven out of ten residents of Illinois approve of Governor Ryan's moratorium on executions until the death penalty is thoroughly explored.
    * Nearly two thirds (63%) of Illinois residents say that a candidate's stand on death penalty is at least fairly important, relative to other issues.
    * (Chicago Sun-Times, 1/26/01. See notes on methodology below.)

  • Consequences of the replacement of the death penalty:
    * HB 576, pending in Illinois House of Representatives, replaces the death sentence with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
    * Life without parole in Illinois means just that...life.
    * No person in Illinois history has had a life without parole sentence changed.
    * The only person authorized by law to commute life without parole is the Governor and there is no reason to expect any Governor to take this step in the future just as none have in the past.

    Notes on Methodology:
    * The survey was conducted by telephone from September 25 to October 17, 2000.
    * A Random Digit Dialing (RDD) sample of 702 adult residents of Illinois (18 years or older) were interviewed.
    * All interviews were conducted by well-trained, experienced interviewers in Roper Starch Wordwide centralized telephone interviewing facilities.
    * This report was prepared for the Illinois Death Penalty Education Project.

©2002 Illinois Coalition to Abolish The Death Penalty