SPRINGFIELD, IL – Citing
Americans’ newfound optimism and
desire for change, state Rep. Karen
Yarbrough (D-Maywood) has filed
legislation that would abolish the
death penalty in Illinois, the next
step beyond a moratorium that would
finally end the ineffective,
inhumane, and expensive practice.
“Americans and Illinoisans are more
ready than ever to re-examine the
failed policies of the past, and the
death penalty definitely fits the
description of a failed policy,”
Yarbrough said. “It’s time we
distance ourselves from the club of
nations that have
government-sanctioned murder, a club
that includes Iran, Saudi Arabia,
and Sudan, and move towards
respecting human dignity.”
Yarbrough’s House Bill 262 would
abolish the death penalty
immediately, and would require all
persons currently on death row be
resentenced to life in prison
without parole, or a lesser sentence
deemed appropriate by a court. In
2000, former Governor George Ryan
declared a moratorium on executions
in Illinois after it was discovered
that 13 death row inmates were
exonerated and found innocent of the
crimes for which they were sentenced
to death. The moratorium is still
in place.
According to the Illinois Coalition
to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP),
every state that has done a cost
study of the death penalty has found
that death penalty cases cost
millions to hundreds of millions of
dollars more than non-death cases.
In the past five fiscal years,
almost $73 million has been
allocated to the Capital Litigation
Trust Fund, while the total cost is
much higher when local law
enforcement and county expenditures
are counted.
“The Illinois Coalition is very
excited to have Representative
Yarbrough take the lead on this
issue,” said Jeremy Schroeder,
Executive Director of the ICADP.
“It’s been ten years since our last
execution in Illinois, and it’s been
shown that we don’t need the death
penalty to have safer communities.
In hard times, we need to be smart
on crime, investing in better law
enforcement and services for
victim’s families, and not wasting
millions of dollars on the broken
systems of the past.”
For more information, please contact
Yarbrough’s constituent service
office at (708) 615-1747.
