Report makes abolition even more imperative

The Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment concluded its careful review of the Illinois death penalty system and presented its report to Governor George Ryan at a packed press conference at the State of Illinois Building on April 15. In the report, the Commission bluntly told the governor that no system could be put in place that would guarantee an innocent person would not be sentenced to death. The commission's recognition that no system can be devised to ensure an innocent person would not be executed is strong support for replacement of the death penalty with the existing sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A majority of the members of the commission also voted to support ending the use of the death penalty in Illinois. However, this vote was not made into a formal recommendation. In addition, the commission recommended 85 wide-ranging reforms that it considered necessary to improve the fairness and reliability of the system. A link to the report can be found on the ICADP web site at www.icadp.org.

Legislation introduced

Governor Ryan has now introduced legislation to enact the reforms suggested by the commission. Various legislators are beginning to question the need for even some of the reforms. Before any action is taken, there must be full debate on the merits of whether to continue our flawed and wasteful death penalty system. We must inform our elected officials, candidates for public office, our friends and family and communities through letters to the editor that the findings of the Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment make it more necessary than ever that Illinois consider alternatives to the flawed and unjust death penalty system that currently exists. It is just too flawed to fix!