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Summary: Illinois becomes the 16th state in the US without a death penalty, after determining that the system is flawed.
[10 March 2011] - Illinois has abolished the death penalty after two decades of deliberation on the grounds that the justice system could execute innocent people by mistake, in a move that is likely to renew calls for other US states to follow. The move will save 15 men from execution who are on Illinois's death row, moving them to life in prison with no hope of parole. Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat who has long supported capital punishment, spent two months deliberating on the decision, which he described as the most difficult he has made in office. "If the system can't be guaranteed, 100% error-free, then we shouldn't have the system," Quinn said. "It cannot stand." The governor's decision incensed many prosecutors and relatives of victims of crime. Republican representative Jim Durkin predicted Quinn will pay a political price if he seeks re-election in four years' time. Quinn said he would oppose any attempt to reinstate a new version of the death penalty. He also promised to commute the sentence of anyone who might receive a death sentence between now and when the measure takes effect on July 1, a spokeswoman said. Illinois becomes the 16th state in the US without a death penalty. New York and New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007. New Mexico followed suit in 2009. In his comments, Quinn returned often to the fact that 20 people sent to death row had seen their cases overturned after evidence surfaced that they were innocent or had been convicted improperly. Campaigners studying capital punishment said Illinois's move carries more weight than states that halted executions but had not used the death penalty often. "Illinois stands out because it was a state that used it, reconsidered it and now rejected it," said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Centre in Washington. Illinois has executed 12 men since 1977, when the death penalty was reinstated. The last execution was Andrew Kokoraleis on 17 March 1999. At the time, the average length of stay on death row was 13 years. Further Information: