|
|
Gov. Quinn bans the death penalty
News update Wed., March 9, 2011
2011-03-09
|
|
This article shared 4907 times since Wed Mar 9, 2011
|
|
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law March 9 a groundbreaking ban on capital punishment, and changed the futures of 15 death-row inmates by sentencing them to life without parole, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Quinn said that he followed his conscience. He told reporters, "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. I think it's the right, just thing to abolish the death penalty."
The ban comes almost a dozen years after then-Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on the death penalty after 13 death-row inmates were cleared since the penalty was reinstated in 1977.
The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) released a statement praising Quinn's move. "By repealing the death penalty, Gov. Quinn and the Illinois legislature have taken an historic stand against the systemic injustices that plague the entire death penalty system in Illinois and the rest of the United States," said John Holdridge, director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project. "Executions in this country are carried out as part of an unequal system of justice, in which innocent people are too often sentenced to death and decisions about who lives and who dies are largely dependent upon the skill of their attorneys, the race of their victim, their socioeconomic status and where the crime took place.
However, not everyone was pleased with the development. In a statement, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said, "I am extremely disappointed with the governor's decision. Today is a very sad day for justice in Illinois and a tremendously disappointing day for murder victims and their families.
"The decision to abolish the death penalty in our state is a matter that should have been put in the hands of voters to decide."
The measure Quinn signed, Senate Bill 3539, will become law July 1. |
|
|
|
This article shared 4907 times since Wed Mar 9, 2011
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill 2024-03-27 - On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margina landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...
|
| | Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-24 - On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...
|
| | Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced 2024-03-24 - The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...
|
| | No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal 2024-03-22 - In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...
|
| | NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist 2024-03-21 - Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The billspassed out of both chambers along mostly party lineswill require clerks ...
|
| | WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes 2024-03-15 - Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...
|
| | NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15 - In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...
|
| | College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies 2024-03-15 - Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14 - Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...
|
| | Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit 2024-03-11 - On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...
|
| | "X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards 2024-03-11 - After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...
|
| | WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08 - Hanania Ben-Shimonthe gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recentlypublished a post in which he pleaded that his ...
|
| | Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data 2024-03-01 - From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...
|
| | WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy' 2024-03-01 - Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...
|
| | Appeals court allows Ind. ban on gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-01 - On Feb. 27, a federal appeals court in Chicago allowed Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued last year, ABC News ...
| |
|
|