Illinois Abolishes Death Penalty

The moratorium of the last 12 years has now been transformed into an abolition of the Death Penalty in the state of Illinois.

There had been 12 executions in the state since the Death Penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. Governor George Ryan suspended executions in 2000 after of number of death row inmates were found to have been mistakenly convicted and, three years later, commuted the sentences of the 167 death row residence to life without parole.

Illinois becomes the 16th State to abolish the Death Penalty.

In the rest of the country there have been 9 executions so far in 2011. There have been 1243 executions since 1976; 1022 have been in the South, 147 in the Midwest, 70 in the West and 4 in the Northeast.