League of Women Voters of Illinois^®

Our Position in Brief:

League Activity/Outlook:

Governor Pat Quinn signed SB3539 on March 9, 2011, creating Public Act 096-1543 which abolishes the death penalty effective on July 1, 2011. Because opponents of this action are seeking reinstatement of the death penalty, ongoing vigilance is required, and the Illinois League will continue its membership in the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Timely information about death penalty activity can be found at www.icadp.org/

The League's position opposing capital punishment was adopted in 2001. It allows the LWVIL and local Leagues in Illinois to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and to support reforms which could lead to abolition.

Arguments for the Abolition of the Death Penalty:

1. Inadequate legal representation is a better predictor of who is sentenced to death than the facts of the crime.
2. The death penalty system is prone to error to an extent that is unacceptable.
3. That innocent people are being killed is not only possible but likely. The error rate and the fact than any number of the exonerated were saved by luck or at the last minute points to an unacceptable risk of killing innocent people.
4. The death penalty cannot be adequately reformed. Legislation cannot correct flaws such as: eyewitness error, false testimony, police and prosecutorial misconduct, arbitrariness (factors such as geography, race, and class).
5. The international community is moving toward abolition of the death penalty.
6. The death penalty is costly and quite often does not deliver the promised “ultimate justice.” The death penalty is much more expensive than its closest alternative—life imprisonment with no parole.
   
   Further Discussion of these Arguments

Additional Resources:

•   Death Penalty Issue Update — 2011 Issues Briefing (February 5, 2011)
•   Death Penalty Issue Update — 2010 Issues Briefing (February 6, 2010)
•   Death Penalty Issue Update — 2009 Issues Briefing (January 31, 2009)
•   Death Penalty Issue Update — 2008 Issues Briefing (February 23, 2008)
•   Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
•   Death Penalty Information Center — A resource that is helpful for keeping up with what is happening throughout the U.S. The weekly update is particularly useful. To subscribe send an email to update@deathpenaltyinfo.org with the subject line SUBSCRIBE.
•   LWVUS Death Penalty discussion list — A link that enables you to join the discussion of this issue, if you are a League member. (Note: You will be asked to sign in with your email address and password.)
•   State Leagues and the Death Penalty — A list of State Leagues which have adopted positions on the death penalty or have responded to the death penalty situations in their states in some way.
•   Resources from LWV National Convention 2006 — The materials used to persuade convention delegates to adopt the position, "The League of Women Voters of the United States supports the abolition of the death penalty." The national League now is able to act upon federal death penalty legislation and, in addition, all state Leagues can take action opposing the death penalty in their states.