 The Illinois State's Attorneys Association held a news conference on
Tuesday urging lawmakers to vote against
Senate Bill 3539."(I) just would hate to see this legislature
rush through something without giving consideration. They could
abolish the death penalty tomorrow," said Steve Ferguson, Coles
County state's attorney.
State Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, who is sponsoring the measure,
cites 10 years of studies that demonstrate a broken criminal justice
system.
"There's got to be a point where you try and solve a problem,"
said Raoul. "I think it's high time the Illinois justice system
catch up."
In 2000, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan placed a temporary
moratorium on the death penalty, which has since been upheld. Three
years later, two days before leaving office, he commuted the
sentences of 167 death row prisoners.
Sheldon Sobol, Grundy County state's attorney and president of
the Illinois State's Attorneys Association, said the legislation was
rushed through committee and that victims didn't get a chance to be
heard by lawmakers.
"When this bill is taken by the Legislature, they have not heard
from the most important people that are impacted by this decision,"
said Sobol.
Jamie Boyd, Kankakee County state's attorney, who also has served
on an Illinois Supreme Court committee on capital cases, said
legislators have based their decision on saving money as the state
faces a budget deficit of at least $13 billion.
"(Let's) talk about the cost of the 18 murders that don't occur
every time someone is executed because we have the death penalty.
Those are costs we're saving," said Boyd.
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However, despite arguing that costs should not be an issue, local
state's attorney offices hold a financial interest in maintaining
the law as it is. The Illinois Capital Litigation Trust Fund, which
offers resources to defense attorneys and prosecutors to cover the
cost of litigating death penalty cases, reimburses about $500,000 to
$700,000 per case. The trust fund was created by the General
Assembly.
Raoul agreed that cost is a valid concern and would rather see
the fund's money diverted to the Criminal Justice Information
Authority, a state agency dedicated to streamlining the
administration of criminal justice, rather than support a punishment
that hasn't been in use for about 10 years.
Legislators expect to vote on Senate Bill 3539 by the end of the
week.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU]
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