[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----Ill., ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

May 21




ILLINOIS:

Faithful death penalty opponents decry governor's proposal



Jeanne Bishop doesn't know which she finds more offensive about Gov. Bruce 
Rauner's proposal to reinstate the death penalty for mass killers and people 
who murder law enforcement officers: that, as some critics say, he's using a 
matter of life and death as a political tool to appease conservatives, or the 
prospect of reversing a decadelong effort to abolish the death penalty after a 
long history of wrongful convictions possibly led the state to end innocent 
lives.

Rauner's proposal, which comes seven years after Illinois abolished capital 
punishment, has Bishop and other activists preparing to mobilize again.

"It's being done in the name of the people of the state of Illinois," Bishop 
said. "That's you. That's me. Unless I raise my voice, I'll be complicit."

Bishop, who met and forgave a man behind bars for killing her brother-in-law 
and pregnant sister in Winnetka nearly 30 years ago, is one of many people of 
faith who oppose taking another life in return for murder.

"I love that he is conscious now of the enormity that he took," said Bishop, a 
member of Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church, about her sister's killer. 
"That's something he would not have known if we had killed him."

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee will discuss a new bill containing the 
governor's proposal, and Democrats say they expect House Speaker Michael 
Madigan to call for a full House vote.

Lawmakers who vote against the measure could find themselves criticized as 
being soft on crime and weak in their support of law enforcement during the 
election season, which some suggest was the primary purpose of the governor's 
plan.

"To make a political football out of tragedy ... that is so deeply offensive to 
me," Bishop said.

Rauner's office could not be reached for comment Sunday. But when he announced 
the proposal last week as part of a public safety package, he touted the 
measure as good policy, adding that people found guilty "beyond any doubt" of 
committing mass murder or killing law enforcement officers "deserve to have 
their life taken."

Phil Andrew, the director of violence prevention initiatives for the Roman 
Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, said while there might be room for an 
intelligent public debate about capital punishment and the treatment of crimes 
against law enforcement, this is not the way.

As a student at the University of Illinois 30 years ago, Andrew was shot by a 
mentally ill woman who also killed an 8-year-old boy during a violent rampage 
in north suburban Winnetka.

He said his position against the death penalty was formed by his faith. But he 
maintains it's the right position based on evidence that it does not deter 
crime.

"It has been a complete miscarriage of justice in Illinois," he said. ???We've 
killed a lot of innocent people."

He also believes the timing of the governor's proposal is opportunistic as 
Chicago still mourns the death of Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer, whose family 
is Catholic.

In 2000, Republican Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in 
Illinois, citing a number of cases in which death row inmates were exonerated. 
3 years later, Ryan commuted the sentences of all death row inmates to prison 
terms. In 2011, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill abolishing the death 
penalty.

Andrew and others say Rauner's proposal shows a "callous" disregard for the 
hand wringing and serious self-examination that led the state to arrive at its 
decision.

The Rev. Roger Nelson, pastor of Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, 
whose father was murdered decades ago, said he understands the impulse of 
wanting to find a punishment that fits the crime.

???There is evil in this world. There's a meanness in this world that the death 
penalty can seem right for," said Nelson, who testified against the death 
penalty for his father's killer during an appeal. But he would advise any 
survivors who want their loved one's killer executed to think again. "My 
counsel would be that the death of this other person will not in fact bring 
them the closure or peace or make their experience better."

Tricia Teater, a former president of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death 
Penalty and a Zen Buddhist teacher in Evanston, said reinstating capital 
punishment would only perpetuate a cycle of violence. Her tradition teaches 
that "everyone is more than that 1 moment in time."

The death penalty is "not the closing chapter of the book we want it to be," 
she said. "I've worked with family members a long time (after) an execution. 
Just like the victim of a crime, the family of someone who is executed is also 
struggling with that death every day. We just keep pulling more people into 
this cycle."

(source: Chicago Tribune)

**********************

In the book, "The Verdict is In," I detail why the modern administration of the 
death penalty is clearly untenable. The 5 main reasons are:

1. The high financial cost to taxpayers who fund death penalty prosecutions

2. The inefficient bureaucratic administration of the death penalty runs 
counter to the values of limited government

3. The delay of justice for victims and society after waiting 20 plus years for 
an execution to take place

4. It does not serve as the slightest deterrent to violent crime

5. The risk that someone - innocent or not guilty - will be executed.

In 2011, Illinois abolished capital punishment. However, last week, Republican 
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said that he was seeking to reinstate the death 
penalty for mass murder and killing a police officer. He wants to create a 
category of homicide called "death penalty murder," which could apply to adults 
who kill police officers or more than 1 person. Guilt must be determined 
"beyond all doubt," rather than the Constitutional "reasonable doubt" 
requirement. I can understand why some people would like to see the death 
penalty reinstated in any state that has abolished it. When a family sees a 
mass murder, the emotional response naturally turns toward vengeance and strong 
justice. Some people kill so heinously that only death seems to constitute an 
appropriate response from society. Additionally, the administration of the 
death penalty by society is Biblically sound.

But, laws based on logic and facts serve our people profoundly better than laws 
passed based on emotions or for political reasons. I don't expect the people of 
the Prairie State to ever see the death penalty brought back to life. I also 
don't expect to see Gov. Bruce Rauner taking the oath of office again next 
year.

(source: Jason Swindle is a criminal defense attorney at Swindle Law 
Group----lagrangenews.com)








ARIZONA:

Hearing set for Phoenix man charged with killing 9 people



A court hearing is scheduled for a former city bus driver charged in a string 
of deadly nighttime shootings in Phoenix.

It's unclear whether Aaron Juan Saucedo will attend Monday's hearing.

He has chosen not to attend several previous hearings.

Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in attacks that 
killed 9 people and wounded 2 others during a nearly 1-year period that ended 
in July 2016.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in 8 of the deaths.

Defense attorneys have asked a judge to take the death penalty off the table as 
punishment after video of Saucedo in his jail cell was released to news media 
in January.

The judge hasn't yet ruled on the request.

(source: Associated Press)