ILLINOIS DEATH PENALTY: (PART 1); COUNTDOWN; THE CLOCK IS TICKING TOWARDS MARCH 18 DEADLINE. 20 REASONS FOR GOVERNOR QUINN TO SIGN THE BILL;

"The clock continues ticking down to March 18th. That's the final day Governor Quinn can act on legislation passed by the lame duck legislature banning the death penalty.........

State senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) was at the White House with Governor Quinn last week when the President reportedly complimented Governor Quinn on the work the state has done on a couple issues including the death penalty. Senator Raoul feels "fairly confident he's going to sign it." According to Sen. Raoul, Governor Quinn wants to be respectful to both sides before making a decision......

In the twenty-five years from the reinstatement of the death penalty to George Ryan moratorium, Illinois has convicted 298 men and women to death. Of those 298 sentenced to death, 20 have been exonerated.

Twenty reasons for Governor Quinn to sign the bill abolishing Illinois' death penalty."

BLOGGER BRIAN THOMAS; CHICAGO NOW;

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The clock continues ticking down to March 18th," the Chicago Now post by Brian Thomas published earlier today in Chicago Now begins.

"That's the final day Governor Quinn can act on legislation passed by the lame duck legislature banning the death penalty," the post continues.

"As it has been almost two months since the General Assembly passed the measure, you may have forgotten. It was about the same time the legislature increased our income taxes from 3% to 5%. If you are on a bi-monthly payroll, you have already paid more in taxes the last three pay periods. That legislation took hours from passage to signature on the bill- yet the bill barring the death penalty in Illinois still waits on Governor Quinn's desk for signature.

Governor Quinn has not tipped his hand on what he is going to do with the legislation; in making his decision, he has consulted with victims' families, prosecutors, religious leaders and death penalty opponents, including the archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sister Helen Prejean, the inspiration for the movie "Dead Man Walking."

State senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) was at the White House with Governor Quinn last week when the President reportedly complimented Governor Quinn on the work the state has done on a couple issues including the death penalty. Senator Raoul feels "fairly confident he's going to sign it." According to Sen. Raoul, Governor Quinn wants to be respectful to both sides before making a decision.

Mayor Daley has come out against the legislation banning the death penalty in Illinois saying that the death penalty should be reserved for the most egregious of cases.

Last year Mayor Daley said: "I believe in the death penalty. I'll be very frank. I know there's been abuses in the past. Yes, there are. But under our system, we should really protect life. In situations like (the murder of police officers) -- this should be a death penalty case."

The death penalty could have no better champion than Mayor Daley- well, perhaps Jon Burge could be a better champion than the mayor- as it was his inaction as Cook County State's Attorney that led to Governor George Ryan's moratorium. Death Row inmates Madison Hobley, Aaron Patterson, Stanley Howard and LeRoy Orange were all arrested and/or convicted while Mayor Daley was the state's attorney as a result of coerced confessions obtained by Jon Burge and his "Midnight Crew."
Mayor Daley.jpg

In the twenty-five years from the reinstatement of the death penalty to George Ryan moratorium, Illinois has convicted 298 men and women to death. Of those 298 sentenced to death, 20 have been exonerated.

Twenty reasons for Governor Quinn to sign the bill abolishing Illinois' death penalty.

We shall see; Governor's Quinn decision on the bill should come this week."

The post can be found at:

>http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/your-doubting-thomas/2011/03/governor-quinns-decision-on-illinois-death-penalty.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;