Letter from former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Harrison urges end to death penalty

Dear Senator/Representative: I’m writing you today to urge you to take up an important issue whose time has come. We need to end the death penalty in Illinois, and we need to do it now. My neighbors instinctively know a truth that I’ve learned firsthand in my career as a judge:  the death penalty fails Illinois.  This spring, 60 percent of Illinois voters stated that they prefer a sentence other than death.  From my experience on the bench, I can’t help but agree.  The death penalty is a broken governmental system, and the people of Illinois know it. The most obvious proof of this system being broken beyond repair is that we get it wrong so often. Twenty men have been sent to death row in Illinois who were wrongly convicted and released. They survived in spite of the criminal justice system, thanks to the hard work of lawyers, reporters and advocates. We have the second-highest number of innocent people sentenced to death nationally, and our hard work on reforms isn’t fixing the problem. Our most recent exoneration was just last year. I have spent decades working in our justice system, and I believe in it. I have seen prosecutors, defense attorneys, police and judges when they have tried their very best. But human beings – even at their best – will never be perfect, and despite our best efforts there will always be mistakes that risk executing an innocent person. That is a risk no one can afford to take any longer. This process fails victims’ families. It causes them additional by putting them through a media feeding frenzy when they are at their most vulnerable. They endure a far longer trial process with the death penalty – it takes years from sentence to execution, if that day ever comes at all. Life without parole provides the certainty these families deserve. All that said, you’d hope that this failed policy could at least save us money when we that the most. But the opposite is true. We spend millions more -- $20 million a year at least – on the death penalty. Yet that has produced zero executions for a decade. We’d be much better off putting that money to help protect victims and improve law enforcement. Fortunately, there is a better answer. Senate Bill 3539, pending in the House right now, would end the death penalty and put the money into the vital victim and law enforcement programs. And it would send the message that Springfield, facing great challenges, is ready to do the right thing. I’d urge you to stand with us. This is the right position at the right time for the right reasons. The time is now to end the death penalty and turn this failure into a true success story. Sincerely, Moses W. Harrison II Former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice