Illinois has banned the death penalty, becoming the sixteenth state to abolish capital punishment. Gov. Patrick Quinn signed the bill to end the practice and commuted the sentences for 15 inmates on Death Row to life in prison without parole.
“We cannot have a death penalty system in our state that kills innocent people,” Quinn said. “Unfortunately that system was in grave danger of doing exactly that in 20 different instances in Illinois.”
(READ the report in Chicago Sun-Times)