Illinois Governor Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment released the long-awaited results of its two-year review of the state’s death penalty system on April 15. News about the report’s findings is having a ripple effect around the country.
The majority of the 14-member commission voted to abolish Illinois’ death penalty either on moral grounds, because no system is free of human error, or – fitting for its tax day release – because the financial and social resources needed to “fix” systemic problems outweigh the benefits of retaining capital punishment. Unanimously, the commission concluded that Illinois seeks the death penalty too often, which feeds in mistakes.
The panel reviewed all capital cases through the initial investigation, the trial, and the appeals process. The report makes 85 recommendations to insure that the death penalty is applied fairly and does not risk executing an innocent person. But, it warns that full implementation of its recommendations will not guarantee that Illinois will never execute innocent people.
What happens next?
The legislature is charged with reviewing the study and implementing changes that address the commission’s recommendations. This is likely to take time and many observers are doubtful that the legislature will implement all of the recommendations.
Governor Ryan has declared that the moratorium will stay in effect at least until he leaves office in January 2003. Ryan became the nation’s first governor to impose a moratorium on executions on January 31, 2000. He appointed the commission soon thereafter. The moratorium has become one of the defining issues of Ryan’s career, and he is carefully reviewing the report. Some believe that he will commute all pending death sentences in the state before leaving office.
A gain for the movement
Illinois activists are calling on the legislature to abolish the death penalty, while pressuring gubernatorial candidates to support a continuation of the moratorium. The report is keeping the issue alive in the press.
Nationwide, news of the 200-plus page report has made its way into national, regional, and local newspapers, is informing hearings on Capitol Hill, and will likely prompt other states to consider reforms informed by its recommendations. Many of the systemic flaws the study highlights are not unique to Illinois. In fact, many states – notably California and Florida – have been found to have even higher error rates.
As U.S. Senator Russell Feingold, the chief sponsor of federal moratorium legislation, noted, “this is actually the first comprehensive analysis of a death penalty system undertaken by a federal or state government in the modern death penalty era.” Our job is to make sure that the Illinois Commission’s work does not go silently into the history books! It is an invaluable tool for educating state legislatures and governors across the county as we press to halt executions.
Recommended Reforms
- abolishing the death penalty for the mentally retarded
- videotaping initial interrogations with police
- reducing the number of death eligibility factors
- creating a statewide panel to review prosecutor’s request for the death penalty
- reducing the use of single eyewitness and jailhouse informants
- earlier access to a public defender
