By a vote of 115 – 0, mem­bers of the Illinois House approved a series of reforms to the state’s death penal­ty sys­tem. The leg­isla­tive pack­age gives the Illinois Supreme Court greater pow­er to throw out unjust ver­dicts, gives defen­dants more access to evi­dence, and bars the death penal­ty in cas­es based on a sin­gle wit­ness. The reforms are among the 80 rec­om­men­da­tions made by the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment, formed in 2000 by for­mer Governor George Ryan to address wrong­ful con­vic­tions and the state’s bro­ken death penal­ty sys­tem. The unan­i­mous vote, an over­ride of Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s ear­li­er veto of the reform pack­age, makes the leg­is­la­tion into law imme­di­ate­ly because the Illinois Senate over­rode the Governor’s veto ear­li­er this month. Gov. Blagojevich sup­port­ed most of the reforms but had vetoed one sec­tion. He has stat­ed that he will main­tain the state’s mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions until he sees how the reforms work. (Washington Post, November 20, 2003). Read a sum­ma­ry of the new law. See Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment, Recent Legislative Activity, and Innocence.

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