And Then There Were 16!

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn intends to sign[ed] legislation today making Illinois the 16th state to ban the death penalty.   He also commuted the 15 inmates on Illinois' death row to life without parole.  In his signing statement, Quinn wrote:  "Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it."  He further stated that "with our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in every case," and "for the same reason, I have also decided to commute the sentences of those currently on death row to natural life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or release."   Who's next?

[Related posts:  Who's Next?; California's Dysfunctional Death Penalty; Unevolved and Indecent, The Year in Death, Ending the Cycle of Violence in the Land of Lincoln]