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By approving
House Bill 223, Blagojevich made Illinois the first state in the
nation to require by statute that police record all custodial
interrogations and confessions in homicide cases. Two other states,
Minnesota and Alaska, were forced to adopt similar requirements in
response to court decisions.
"It is our moral duty to restore the
integrity of the criminal justice system as we know it today in
Illinois," said Blagojevich. "The bills I am signing today will help
make our system more transparent."
The new interrogation and confession
recording requirement comes in the wake of 13 exonerations of death
row inmates in Illinois, some resulting from substantiated claims of
forced coercion and police brutality. The new law removes questions
about coercion by giving judges and juries an opportunity to hear a
defendant's responses and witness a defendant's physical condition
and mental state during the interrogation and confession process.
"This new law addresses two serious
problems," the governor said. "It will help reduce the number of
allegations of police misconduct and false confessions, and it will
prevent statements which were obtained illegally from being used
against someone in court."
Under the new law, all custodial
interrogations -- of juveniles and adults -- that are conducted in a
place of detention must be recorded electronically. Statements that
are not recorded or are taken in violation of the law will not be
admissible in court. The law allows courts to admit unrecorded
statements by a preponderance of the evidence if the statement was
voluntary and reliable based upon the totality of the circumstances.
Law enforcement units have two years from the day the law was signed
to develop and implement their recording procedures.
"As many of you know, as a former
prosecutor I had some serious reservations about mandating taped
interrogations. However, when you have a system that can allow an
innocent person to be sent to death row based on a questionable
confession, we are obligated to intervene," the governor added. "I
salute Senator Barak Obama, Representative Monique Davis, the law
enforcement community and the other hardworking legislators who
negotiated tirelessly to craft a bill that will remove many doubts
and suspicions surrounding our criminal justice system."
Another significant piece of the new
criminal justice package is
Senate Bill 30, sponsored by Sen. Barak Obama and Rep. Monique
Davis. The bill is intended to end the practice of racial profiling
by helping law enforcement assess the extent to which race may be a
factor in police stops. Recent high-profile lawsuits in several
Illinois communities called attention to unfair practices by which
some officers target racial minorities for traffic stops and
searches and pressured local police to institute racial data
collection procedures to prevent racial profiling.
Illinois joins 14 other states in
mandating that law enforcement agencies statewide collect data on
racial profiling. Under the new law, officers will be required to
document the perceived race of every individual pulled over for a
traffic violation. The
Illinois Department of Transportation will be responsible for
collecting and analyzing the data. The new requirement goes into
effect Jan. 1, 2004. IDOT will release its findings every July,
starting in 2005 and ending in 2007.
In addition, the law provides for
enhanced cultural diversity training and sensitivity training in
relation to racial profiling during traffic stops.
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"Racial profiling is an insidious form
of racism," said Blagojevich. "Simply being a member of a minority
group is not justification for suspicion. We will not tolerate the
unfair harassment of law-abiding minorities. With this study, police
supervisors will now be able to measure and eliminate racial
profiling on their forces."
The third bill Blagojevich signed
Thursday resolves a loophole in current law that creates a double
injustice for people who are found to be innocent after having been
convicted. In the rare instances when individuals are found to be
factually innocent of a crime for they've been convicted, the arrest
and conviction records stay with the person until he or she has
applied for and been granted expungement, which can make it
difficult or impossible to secure housing or employment.
Senate Bill 423, sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford and Rep.
Larry McKeon, requires local law enforcement units to automatically
expunge the arrest record of a person who is found to be innocent
after having been convicted and requires the
Illinois State Police and
courts to seal all proceedings and prior decisions related to the
overturned conviction. In addition, the new law establishes an
expungement program through the state appellate defender's office
that will provide information about the expungement process to
individuals who may qualify to have their records cleared or sealed.
"A critical piece of this criminal
justice reform puzzle is helping people reclaim their lives and
reputations if they are found innocent after being wrongly convicted
of a crime," said Blagojevich.
The governor signed another bill
Thursday dealing with sealing records.
Senate Bill 788 allows offenders who have been arrested for
misdemeanors and then acquitted, sentenced to supervision, or had
their conviction reversed to ask the court, local police and state
police to seal their records after three years if they are not
convicted or put on supervision for other offenses during that time.
Those convicted of misdemeanors can have their records sealed after
four years of good behavior.
"Rep. Connie Howard has been working
diligently for years to help ex-cons rebuild their lives and become
productive members of our society. The measures I'm signing that
give convicts a reasonable second chance once they've proven that
they've turned their lives around are testament to her persistence,"
the governor commented.
House Bill 3316, sponsored by Rep. Arthur Turner and Sen. Rickey
Hendon, requires the
Department of Human Services to include the
Department of Corrections
in their efforts to help hard-to-place individuals, including
ex-offenders, find jobs. The new program is intended to reduce the
rate of recidivism among ex-offenders by helping them find steady
employment.
House Bill 569, sponsored by Rep. Mary K. O'Brien and Sen. Barak
Obama, creates procedures for certificates of relief and good
conduct which ex-offenders can use to demonstrate to potential
employers or licensing authorities in 15 specific professions that
he or she is viewed to have good conduct and should be relieved from
disabilities relating to his or her crime. The bill also extends the
law prohibiting attempted disarmament of a police officer to cover
correctional institution employees.
"Each one of
these six pieces of legislation stands as an important improvement
to our criminal justice system," said Blagojevich. "But taken
together, they represent a huge step forward in recognizing the
rights of defendants and helping offenders re-enter society after
they've served their terms. Again, I'd like to thank the sponsors of
these bills and representatives from the law enforcement who
recognized the problems our justice system faces, and came up with
solutions we all agree will make the system stronger."
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
