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Group Trying to Repeal Death Penalty in IL
Opponents of capital punishment say the time is right to repeal the death penalty in Illinois.

Many people thought it had already been repealed, thanks to a 10 year old moratorium on executions, says Jeremy Schroeder, director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. But it's still on the books, and the coalition will be working in Springfield to get it off, he says.

"We have been counting noses, we've talked to a lot of legislators," he says. "It does help that with the 10 years we have real life examples to show of wasting tens of millions of dollars with nothing to show for it, with more exonerations coming out every single year."

Schroeder says those are the key issues: The cost of capital litigation, $12 million a year into the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, wrongful convictions, and the fact that murder has declined in Illinois over the decade of the moratorium.

Former Governor George Ryan imposed the moratorium in 2000 out of concern over wrongful convictions. Succeeding governors have maintained the moratorium, and the current crop of candidates for governor has expressed no zeal to lift it.

The last execution in Illinois was Andrew Kokoraleis in 1999. Illinois currently has 15 inmates on Death Row.

(Illinois Radio Network)
09 22 10 by Newsroom
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