WHEREAS, the Illinois State House of Representatives passed a bill on January 6, 2011 abolishing the death penalty in the State of Illinois,
WHEREAS, the Illinois State Senate passed the same bill on January 11, 2011 abolishing the death penalty in the State of Illinois, sending this bill known as Senate Bill 3539 to the Governor of the State of Illinois for his signature or veto,
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois has had a moratorium on the death penalty for over ten years,
WHEREAS, a recent study by Professor Leigh Bienen at Northwestern University has shown that the death penalty in Illinois has been extremely expensive to fund,
WHEREAS, the death penalty in Illinois has led to a large number of innocent people being sentenced to death,
WHEREAS, one of NACDL’s outlined priorities is to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States,
Be it resolved, NACDL calls upon Patrick Quinn, the Governor of the State of Illinois, to sign Senate Bill 3539 into law and abolish the death penalty in the State of Illinois.
San Antonio, Texas
