April 16, 2002

The release of a 207-page report detailing fundamental flaws in Illinois' death penalty system represents a turning point in the debate over capital punishment in the modern era of the United States, the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing said today.

The Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment issued 85 recommendations aimed at preventing the execution of innocent people. A majority of the commission members concluded that the death penalty should be abolished, although abolition was not one of the commission's recommendations.

Among the commission's proposals:

· Requiring that lawyers who represent clients in capital cases be better qualified. Research on Illinois cases has turned up embarrassing examples of incompetent lawyers bungling cases.

· Requiring videotaping of police interrogations. One man, Ronald Jones, confessed to murder but later said he made up the story to get police to stop beating him. He was exonerated by crime scene DNA.

· Limiting testimony from prison informers and not basing a death sentence on a single eyewitness. Many death sentences both in Illinois and throughout the United States were handed down after cellmates testified against the capital defendant in exchange for leniency in their own cases. Other death sentences, such as the one carried out against Gary Graham of Texas, have been based on extremely questionable eyewitness testimony.

"This report marks the turning point in the debate over the death penalty in the United States," said TCASK Executive Director Randy Tatel. "Supporters of the death penalty can no longer turn a blind eye to the problems that exist. The modern day-death penalty experiment has failed."

Tatel noted that even though much attention has focused on problems with the death penalty in Illinois, other states such as Florida and Texas have arguably worse death penalty systems. He said that of the 100 people who have been freed from death row due to innocence, only 13 are from Illinois and 87 are from other states. "As a nation, we must acknowledge that the problems with the death penalty are not confined to Illinois. In fact, according to independent research, the capital punishment system in Illinois is actually better than most states."

"If Illinois had not imposed a moratorium, innocent people may have been executed," Tatel said. "It is painful to consider the obvious ramifications of this report in states such as Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and other jurisdictions that have not addressed problems with their death penalty statutes."

"And everyone pays the price," continued Tatel. "Taxpayers are footing a huge bill for all this failure. A recent study revealed that counties that seek the death penalty spend less on law enforcement and highways, and are forced to raise taxes to pay for a broken system."

The Governor's Commission Report is now available at
http://www.idoc.state.il.us/ccp/ccp/reports/commission_reports.html

The Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment web site is at
http://www.idoc.state.il.us/ccp/

For related information on the Illinois Commission report visit:

http://justice.policy.net/cjreform/studies/ilryancom/indexilrpt.vtml

http://www.aclu.org/news/2002/n041502b.html

http://www.ncadp.org/html/apr15.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56706-2002Apr15.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000027215apr16.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation