State Rep. Seeks To Reinstate Death Penalty
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM/CBS) -- Just a week after Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill eliminating the death penalty in Illinois, attempts are being made to reinstate it.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, a bill proposed by state Rep. Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) has already passed through a House committee. But Reboletti is not sure if state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) will allow the bill to come to a vote.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports
Podcast
Reboletti says his measure would make killers eligible for capital punishment in Illinois only under the worst of the worst instances.
"The murder of a police officer, a correctional officer; multiple homicides; the murder of a witness; and murders of children or seniors" would be among the offenses eligible for the death penalty under the bill, Reboletti said.
Reboletti is also pushing a measure that would put the question of allowing the death penalty in Illinois to a public referendum.
Quinn signed legislation ending the death penalty in Illinois on March 9. He also commuted the sentences of the 15 inmates who remained on death row, among them Brian Dugan, the man who admitted to the brutal murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in 1983.
When the death penalty ban takes effect on July 1, Illinois will be the 16th state in the U.S. to abolish the death penalty. Until then, prosecutors may continue to seek the death penalty in murder cases and judges and juries may continue to sentence convicted killers to death.
