Illinois Death Row is now EMPTY!

[BlamoHammer]

Article

Wow

 

[Sukhoi]

Damnit, I was hoping he wouldn't do that. :|

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Damnit, I was hoping he wouldn't do that. :|

Good, now they can't murder those people.

 

[EbonyExperience]

awesome

now the state of illinois won't get to murder innocent people

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Damnit, I was hoping he wouldn't do that. :|

Ryan, a Republican who leaves office Monday, pardoned four death row inmates Friday after determining they had been tortured into confessing crimes they did not commit.

Can never please the bloodthirsty I suppose.

 

[hagbard]

Originally posted by: EbonyExperience
awesome

now the state of illinois won't get to murder innocent people

No, leave that to the Feds, they're better at it.

 

[Sukhoi]

I didn't say I wanted to kill innocent people. We just shouldn't automatically assume all convicted murders are innocent because a few are found to have had bad trials. I would have rather they just postponed the executions until retrials or something similar could be done. I'm sure many of the people that were on death row are clearly guilty.

 

[notfred]

Good. There shouldn't even be a "Death Row".

 

[Piano Man]

Its a good start.

 

[johnjohn320]

I'd say this is a good thing.

 

[Smolek]

Originally posted by: notfred
Good. There shouldn't even be a "Death Row".

 

[Torghn]

No kidding, murders should be executed much more quickly. The process shouldn't take 10-20 years.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Torghn
No kidding, murders should be executed much more quickly. The process shouldn't take 10-20 years.

And I'm sure you've been on death row for a crime you didn't commit?

 

[eakers]

finally someone does something sensible.

 

[Tominator]

Originally posted by: eakers
finally someone does something sensible.

Commuting a sentence on an individual basis is one thing. Doing it his way is a slap in the face of our whole judicial system! He is an idiot and I'm glad he's gone as Illinois governor.

 

[dawks]

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: Torghn
No kidding, murders should be executed much more quickly. The process shouldn't take 10-20 years.

And I'm sure you've been on death row for a crime you didn't commit?

Well, how many people are serving life sentences for crimes they didnt commit? I guess we should eliminate life sentences too, since SOME people were wrongly convicted.

My only issue really is cost. A study a few years back showed it costs about $40,000 per year to keep one inmate in prison....

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Tominator

Originally posted by: eakers
finally someone does something sensible.

Commuting a sentence on an individual basis is one thing. Doing it his way is a slap in the face of our whole judicial system! He is an idiot and I'm glad he's gone as Illinois governor.

Yes, I'm glad that they are finally putting a competant, experienced person in office. Oh... wait....

 

[djheater]

If one innocent man is executed it is enough to justify the commutation of all death row inmates.

It is not as some have said a slap in the face of the judicial system (unless you meant a wake up call). Justice was not done in any of these cases. How can we be so sure that it was in the others? I may question Ryan's reasons for this, but it was the right thing to do.

 

[Kerouactivist]

I think Ryan is awesome for doing that, he should get the Nobel Peace Prize and should be setting an example for governors all around the nation.

With all the tragic things happening in the news this one actually made me feel that sometimes justice does prevail.

 

[SuperTool]

I think that took a lot of balls and a lot of conviction to do that, even if he is not running for reelection, his legacy is on the line.
Clearly he believes there are systemic problems and not just problems in individual cases.

 

[vegetation]

And it probably costs hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, even millions, to have a large-scale court trial. Does that mean we should eliminate trials altogether just because it costs too much money?

My only issue really is cost. A study a few years back showed it costs about $40,000 per year to keep one inmate in prison....

 

[Siddhartha]

I have not smiled after reading the news in a long time but this has me smiling!

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: Tominator

Originally posted by: eakers finally someone does something sensible.

Commuting a sentence on an individual basis is one thing. Doing it his way is a slap in the face of our whole judicial system! He is an idiot and I'm glad he's gone as Illinois governor.

True but it was the judicial system that slapped itself in the face by putting so many people on death row. People have too much of a thirst for blood and prosecutorial success. Its inhumane to sentence so many innocent people to death. How would you feel about the system if you were sentenced to death for something you didn't do?

 

[CPA]

I'd like to see some of you who are glad this happened go to the face of one of the victims and tell them you are glad convicted murderers were released from their sentence.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: djheater
If one innocent man is executed it is enough to justify the commutation of all death row inmates.

It is not as some have said a slap in the face of the judicial system (unless you meant a wake up call). Justice was not done in any of these cases. How can we be so sure that it was in the others? I may question Ryan's reasons for this, but it was the right thing to do.

One innocent man put to death is far too many. I'd rather have no death penalty than kill a single innocent person.

Someone else mentioned the $40,000 cost. That should have nothing to do with the sentence. If someone gets sentenced to death because of the state's frugality, something is wrong.