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Death penalty still in limbo in Illinois

BY MIKE RIOPELL, The Southern Springfield Bureau

Friday, September 5, 2008 4:37 PM CDT

SPRINGFIELD -- It's been 25 years since Illinois abandoned use of the electric chair, moving instead to lethal injection as a means to execute prisoners on Death Row.

In September 1983, then-Gov. Jim Thompson signed legislation to make the change. Since then, 12 Illinois inmates have been killed using the lethal cocktail of drugs rather than electricity.

At the time, lethal injection could have been sought as a more humane method of executing an inmate.

But today, the capital punishment debate in Illinois revolves not around the method of executions, but instead whether or not the death penalty should be used at all.

It's been more than nine years since the last execution in Illinois. Gov. George Ryan put a temporary stop on state executions, saying he was concerned the system was broken and innocent people could be put to death.

Now, though, prosecutors across the state can seek the death penalty, and have. Some call the situation a sort of ''legal limbo.''

Fourteen inmates sit on death row at Pontiac Correctional Center, confined to their cells 23 hours a day.

''They're in the cells by themselves,'' said Illinois Department of Corrections Spokesman Derek Schnapp.

But the moratorium on executions basically remains in place, mostly based on an assurance from Gov. Rod Blagojevich that he won't let executions happen until strict reforms are adopted.

''The governor plans to keep the death penalty moratorium in place until he is confident there is no chance an innocent person will be put to death,'' said Blagojevich spokesman Brian Williamsen.

Some reforms were adopted in 2004, but most of the talk since has been confined to a state committee charged with studying the matter.

Later this month, a panel of lawmakers plan to hold a hearing in Chicago that some hope will eventually lead to a final decision on the matter – either reforming the justice system and keeping capital punishment in Illinois, or abolishing the practice altogether.

''We do want to decide this issue,'' said Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins. She sits on a state panel that's studying the issue, and leads a support group called Illinois Victims.

For prosecutors, some want the death penalty issue decided, partly because it's hard to spend the ample time and money needed trying cases when they don't know for sure if a death sentence would eventually be fulfilled.

Still, assistant Macon County state's attorney Jay Scott said that uncertainty wouldn't affect their plans in most cases.

''It's not going to stop us from seeking the death penalty in an appropriate case,'' Scott said.

Jane Bohman, director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said she's willing to wait out the mostly behind-the-scenes studying and debating of the issue until lawmakers are eventually ready to take a vote on capital punishment in Illinois.

''There's this very deliberate process going on,'' Bohman said.

Since Thompson's signature 25 years ago, the state has executed 12 inmates, including Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy in 1994.

But in the past several years, since Ryan loudly raised concerns about the fairness of the process and whether innocent people were being killed, there hasn't been an abundance of public debate on the issue.

Bohman said she's fine with that.

''Keep the politics out of this,'' Bohman said.

Today, 25 years later, Illinois still has its electric chair locked away at Stateville Correctional Center. It's only accessible to prison officials.