Chicago Bar Association Votes to End the Death Penalty
By a 10-0 vote, the Chicago Bar Association's Criminal Law Committee recommended to the State of Illinois to end the use of the death penalty. According to Cook County Judge Shelia Murphy the vote did not surprise her from an economic point of view.
WBBM News in Chicago reports that Judge Murphy told the committee:
That multi-million dollar payouts being made by the city of Chicago and state of Illinois for wrongful death sentences is money that could be spent for far more useful purposes.
"We're in just terrible economic times," Judge Murphy said. "The times are like my parents talked about in the Depression. The state of Illinois is in deep rouble, and we should not be squandering money on the death penalty when there's such great need -- not just with victims but with the elderly, with children, for health care and for education."
Murphy cited studies elsewhere that have shown the cost of sentencing a criminal to natural life without parole is far less expensive than the costs of putting an inmate to death, when the costs of prosecution, appeals and legal defense are added up, not to mention expensive wrongful conviction sentences.
Other groups in Illinois have made similar recommendations in the past, including the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Council of Lawyers.
The vote is of no surprise. There is currently a moratorium in Illinois, set by former Gov. George Ryan before he went to prison. The many cases of individuals exonerated and released from custody on DNA evidence has set this trend into motion. The vote or even the eventual abolishment of the death penalty in Illinois will cause no real practical changes, at least not now. Even current (as of this posting) Gov. Rod Blagojevich has not lifted the moratorium and there is no indication that any future Illinois governor would lift it.
If the CBA is really concerned of the financial impact these case have on the City of Chicago, the CBA should look into recommending caps on recovery in wrongful conviction lawsuits, similar to those imposed on medical malpractice cases in other states. The CBA should also set up a committee to study the Section 1988 fee-shifting statute, which allows plaintiff's attorneys to recover fees, on top of already high jury verdicts. In some cases, attorneys fees vastly exceed the verdict. Caps on both judgments and attorneys fees, as opposed to abolishing the death penalty, will establish the necessary relief to tax payers.
