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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bald Eagle who wrote (495612)	11/19/2003 4:20:37 PM
From: jackhach	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Bald, Hang around -- I want your thoughts about this piece of news: Illinois lawmakers revamp capital punishment Nov. 19, 2003 \| SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- After four years of tumult that stirred a national debate on the death penalty, Illinois lawmakers Wednesday overhauled the state's capital punishment system to reduce the risk of an innocent person being executed. The state House, in a 115-0 vote, approved a series of changes to a death penalty system that led to the wrongful conviction of at least 17 men. The action, an override of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto, makes the measure law immediately. Lawmakers said they will also press for legislation that would banish police officers who lie in murder investigations. <--- should not police officers be banished if they LIE under any circumstance? The law follows years of heated debate over the issue, starting with the release from death row of three men in quick succession who were exonerated or found to be wrongly convicted. In 2000, then-Gov. George Ryan suspended all executions and called on a group of experts to study the issue. The new law incorporates most of those recommendations. Before leaving office last year, Ryan cleared out Illinois' death row, commuting the sentences of 167 prisoners to life in prison. Under the new law: -- Judges will be able to rule out the death penalty in cases that rest largely on a single eyewitness or police informant. -- The Illinois Supreme Court will be able to overturn a death sentence if it finds it ‘‘fundamentally unjust," even if there are no procedural flaws or other reasons to nullify it. -- Execution of the mentally retarded is not allowed. The change brings the state into line with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year. Also, the new also makes it easier for condemned people to clear their names with newly discovered evidence and guarantees they will be able to see prosecution evidence that favors them -- including some previously off-limits documents. Associated Press