Illinois Has Abolished the Death Penalty

Katie D.

March 9, 2011 - 1:19 PM

Today Illinois has become the 16th state to abolish the death penalty! Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation abolishing capital punishment, and also commuted the sentences of the 15 men on death row, so they will now serve life sentences without parole instead of being executed.

For all of you who have been reading my blogs in the past, you know that this is an issue that is very important to me. Through my studies, my work, and my activism, I have come to believe very strongly that capital punishment is a moral issue, and a question of the universal right to life, and to live in dignity. My work with Sister Helen Prejean has had an enormous impact on this stance, as have my studies in sociology and conflict resolution. I see the issue being clear-cut from all sides: it is flawed and therefore might result in the taking of innocent life, it is unequally applied to individuals who are impoverished and who are racial minorities, and it does not deter crime. I am so thrilled that today marks another step toward the abolishing this flawed institution of our criminal justice system.

Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is the local abolitionist group. This Friday, March 11th, they will hold a panel event on this topic. The event is sponsored by The National Lawyers Guild, Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and The Portia Project. The information is as follows:

Friday, March 11, 2011
7:00- 9:00 p.m.
Room 175
University of Oregon School of Law (1515 Agate Street, Eugene).

Three panelists: Professor Barbara Aldave, President of The Portia Project and lawyer who represented a man executed in Texas ten years ago; Dr. William R. Long, prize-winning author and member of the Advisory Council of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; and William Neal ("Billy") Moore, survivor of seventeen years on Georgia's Death Row will discuss their reasons for opposing capital punishment, in Oregon and elsewhere. Their presentations will be followed by an open discussion with members of the audience who wish to ask questions or to state their own views concerning the death penalty.

State Senator Kwame Raoul and State Representative Karen Yarbrough were the leaders in the abolition movement in Illinois. Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty are bringing Representative Yarbrough to Portland on June 8 for a large consciousness-raising and energy raising event.

So congratulations to everyone involved in the movement in Illinois! I hope we can use this as a springboard for work here in Oregon in the future.