SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- An Illinois House committee voted
Thursday to abolish the death penalty, raising the stakes in the
long debate over how to respond to flaws in the state's capital
punishment system.
The 8-4 vote by the judiciary committee
sends the bill to the House.
The vote followed
dramatic testimony from men who were sentenced to die for crimes
they said they did not commit.
Aaron Patterson, one of four
men pardoned in January by then-Gov. George Ryan, described being
given electric shocks and suffocated by Chicago police until he
signed a false confession.
Ryan halted executions in
Illinois in 2000 after 13 men on Illinois' death row were found to
have been wrongly convicted. Before leaving office, the Republican
governor granted clemency to everyone facing executions, effectively
clearing death row.
Lawmakers have not acted on the sweeping
changes that Ryan recommended for Illinois' death penalty system,
and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has said he supports the death penalty.
Democrats now control both legislative chambers, increasing
the chances that a bill to abolish the death penalty could reach the
governor's desk. But that does not mean passage is likely. Even many
Democrats who see flaws in the death penalty system may have doubts
about eliminating it entirely.
Some supporters of the death
penalty say it provides justice for the victims of horrible crimes,
while some critics argue that the system cannot be fixed and the
death penalty should be eliminated.
"It is just outrageous,"
said Gary Gauger, one of the four men pardoned by Ryan. "The death
penalty has no useful business in a civilized society." |
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