The abolishment of the death penalty in Illinois is one of the greatest things to happen to this state. It is an unjust punishment and has no place in today’s legal system. Governor Ryan tells the story of all of the innocent men that had escaped the death penalty in his speech. With this punishment, there is absolutely no way of taking it back once it has been administered. As stated in the article, What killed Illinois death penalty, on February 5, 1999 Anthony Porter walked out of jail as a free man 50 hours before his execution was planned. Sometimes defendants are innocent and they cannot prove it and they are sentenced to death. The problem with the death penalty is that after a person is sentenced to death, most of them plead for their innocence and one would assume they are just lying. It's as if the justice system is playing psychological games with the inmates' minds. In the movie, Deadline, there is a story of an inmate who was jailed and was sentenced to death and had to spend years in jail before he could prove his innocence. The fear that was probably in his mind because of the death sentence was unimaginable. It is a cruel and unusual punishment and should not be allowed in our nation.
It is not ok to justify murder because of murder. It is insane to think that the crime that people fear the most is being administered by the government. It is not barbaric times anymore and in turn we should not use barbaric punishments. When the death penalty is used twice the amount of pain is also released. Another family has a member to grieve for, another child is missing their parent to raise and teach them, and another person has lost a sibling. It is completely idiotic for the death penalty to still be put in use. As Governor Ryan states in his speech, the pain that a death row inmate's family has to face is different because society is calling for the death of their family member. It wasn't their fault that the murder occurred, but they do understand that punishment is deserved. They just don't want the death of a loved one to occur. In my research on the death penalty, I found that although family members of the victims want retribution and the murderer killed for closure, extinguishing another life doesn't make them feel any better.
The emotions of the people sentencing the defendants to death are like a rollercoaster. The regret one may feel for an unfair killing could last a lifetime. In the article, What killed Illinois Death Penalty, David Schwartz feels the guilt for prosecuting an innocent man to his death, "So it is that execution that still haunts the lawyer." It is not fair to put the enormous responsibility of choosing between life and death in someone's hands. No sane human can handle case after case of that. The abolishment of the death penalty in Illinois was just and at the right time; because of all the negative emotions involved with that decision and the possibility of killing the innocent could occur. It was one of the brightest days in Illinois history.
