In the year since for­mer Illinois Governor George Ryan’s deci­sion to grant clemen­cy to all those await­ing exe­cu­tion in the state, no one has been sen­tenced to death in Cook County, which includes Chicago. This marks the first time since Illinois rein­stat­ed cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in 1977 that the coun­ty has not had a death sen­tence. Cook County has his­tor­i­cal­ly sent the high­est annu­al num­ber of defen­dants to death row. Although Illinois cur­rent­ly has a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in place, pros­e­cu­tors are still able to seek the death penal­ty for defen­dants accused of cap­i­tal crimes. (Chicago Tribune, January 2, 2004) See DPIC’s 2003 Year End Report.

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