The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) applauds Gov. Quinn for signing the bill to abolish the death penalty in Illinois. ISBA President Mark D. Hassakis, of Mt. Vernon, said the Governor is to be commended for his thoughtful consideration of all sides of the issue. “In the end, we believe he made the absolute right choice,” Hassakis said. “We cannot guarantee that there is fair application of the death penalty, and if an innocent person is put to death, that would be the grossest miscarriage of justice imaginable.” ISBA’s  201-member Assembly voted in June, 2008 to support abolition of the death penalty in Illinois. Previously, ISBA had supported numerous recommendations to reform the death penalty after 13 Death Row inmates were released from the death sentence, some of whom were completely exonerated. The ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, is the state’s largest bar association with 33,000 members.