Illinois ends executions
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Up until a few years ago I was a staunch proponent of the death penalty, even though I knew that it had no deterrent value. The fact is I wanted revenge against those who would commit such heinous crimes and I believed that death was the perfect revenge.
As I got older, and became more educated, I realized that death was too easy for some of these inmates. Even though they wait on death row often up to 20 years before the appeals are exhausted and they are finally executed, I realized that just wasn’t enough.
It costs more to execute an offender than it does to incarcerate one for life. I don’t want to spend any of my hard earned money more than necessary and certainly not on a criminal. The second part of the equation rests in the fact that death is the end of punishment, and yet the families of the victims must live with the pain and suffering caused by killers for the rest of their lives. Well so should those killers. Incarceration in an 8×10 cell until the day you die is more fitting and it’s cheaper.
I applaud Illinois for its actions. Here is the story from Care2:
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) took the historic and humane step and abolished the state’s death penalty. While Quinn is on record as personally supporting the death penalty when properly implemented, after months of consultation he decided to sign the measure sponsored by state Rep. Karen Yarbrough and state Sen. Kwame Raoul.
The repeal will take effect July 1. Prosecutors would still be able to seek the death penalty and juries could still impose it until the law took effect.
Illinois last execution was in 1999, a year before then-Republican Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on capital punishment after the death sentences of 13 men were overturned. Before leaving office in 2003 Ryan commuted the death sentences of the remaining 167 inmates to life in prison.
This adds Illinois to the 15 other states and the District of Columbia to abolish the death penalty.
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Gee Mike, you forgot to mention that if we wrongly convict someone we can correct that if they are still alive. If they are dead all we can say is OOPS! and I am sorry to that persons family. Those 13 people on death row were found to be factually innocent though at least 4 had confessions beaten out of them by Chicago police. With either penalty the person dies in prison, but with one society choose to kill the person.
It is also interesting to note that when compared to other industrialized nations we are the only one maintains the death penalty yet we have the highest violent crime rate. Could there be a correlation?
I feel a lot more relaxed about committing murder in Illinois now.
Don’t be Holte. Life in prison in Marion Correctional Facility would definitely not be a fun trip.