 Some want to resume
executions, while others support the state's decade-old moratorium
on the death penalty. Some think it's smart to save money by
releasing nonviolent inmates from the state's overcrowded prisons;
others see that as a threat to public safety.
The two major Democrats, Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes,
say they support the death penalty but would maintain the moratorium
that Republican Gov. George Ryan began in 2000 over concerns about
innocent people being put to death, according to their answers on an
Associated Press candidate questionnaire.
"It is not conscionable that an innocent person could be put to
death in Illinois," Quinn said.
Neither offered details about what additional safeguards are needed.
Most of the seven Republican candidates favor lifting the
moratorium, though some would want more safeguards in place first.
One wants the death penalty abolished.
"Our justice system is presided over by fallible human beings, no
matter how well-intentioned. If we wrongly imprison someone, we can
rectify that mistake on some level, however incomplete. There is no
remedying the wrongful taking of a life," said Dan Proft, a Chicago
public relations consultant.
Ryan stopped executions for similar reasons after 13 people who had
been condemned to die were found to have been wrongfully convicted.
He later used pardons and commutations to empty Illinois' death row.
Prosecutors have continued to seek the death penalty even though the
moratorium has been in place.
GOP gubernatorial candidates Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington,
businessman Adam Andrzejewski of Hinsdale and DuPage County Board
chairman Bob Schillerstrom said they would end the moratorium and
resume executions.
"The death penalty should be a punishment available to prosecutors
for the extreme and heinous crimes in society today," Brady said.
But others were more cautious. Andy McKenna, a Chicago businessman
and former Illinois Republican Party chairman, said he would
consider lifting the moratorium only after a "thorough review" of
the capital punishment system. Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale said he
would lift the moratorium if all the death penalty reforms he
sponsored in the Legislature were in place.
Some reforms have been enacted since the moratorium, including
requiring videotaped interrogations in potential death penalty cases
and establishing a fund to help the accused in such cases pay for a
defense with expert testimony and other evidence tests.
Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan said he wouldn't lift the
moratorium until Illinois had a more restrictive system of capital
punishment, including reducing the number of factors that can
trigger the death penalty.
"I will work with prosecutors, law enforcement officials, judges and
those opposed to the death penalty to draft a more narrow and
accurate system of capital punishment," he said.
Democrat William "Dock" Walls and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney
said they want to abolish the death penalty.
[to top of second column] |
 Candidates for governor also differ on letting nonviolent offenders
out of prison early to ease the state's growing budget problems.
Quinn defended his administration's plan to release about 1,000
inmates up to a year early to save about $5 million, saying they
would be electronically monitored and weren't in prison for crimes
against people.
Whitney backs Quinn's plan and said legalizing marijuana and
decriminalizing possession of some other narcotics could help reduce
jail overcrowding.
But nearly all the Republicans assailed early release, as did Hynes,
a Democrat, who called it "another example of a piecemeal budgeting"
that doesn't consider the "safety and best interests of Illinois
communities."
Brady said it's too risky, Ryan called it "inappropriate," and
McKenna doesn't like it either.
"I am especially troubled that this decision is driven by budget
concerns, not public safety priorities," McKenna said.
Andrzejewski said the state wouldn't be in this position if it
managed its budget properly.
Dillard and Schillerstrom said there likely are other ways to save
money, like cutting Department of Corrections administrative
expenses or other programs started by ousted former Gov. Rod
Blagojevich that they say are contributing to the state's financial
troubles.
"Public safety is one of the top priorities of government and not
the place to cut spending," Schillerstrom said.
But Proft said he is open to early release programs as long as there
are support services available for those former inmates. He also
said the state needs to look at ways to deal with nonviolent drug
offenders.
Walls said the state should reassign 15,000 nonviolent inmates to
community-based programs where they can get counseling and skills
training.
[Associated Press; By DEANNA BELLANDI]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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