Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0018
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Full Text of SR0018  93rd General Assembly

SR0018 93rd General Assembly


093_SR0018

 
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 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, On May 4, 2000, the Governor  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  issued  Executive  Order  No.  4  that  created the
 4    Governor's Commission On Capital Punishment; and

 5        WHEREAS, The duties of the Commission were: (1) to  study
 6    and  review  the  administration  of  the  capital punishment
 7    process in Illinois to determine why that process has  failed
 8    in  the  past, resulting in the imposition of death sentences
 9    upon innocent  people;  (2)  to  examine  ways  of  providing
10    safeguards and making improvements in the way law enforcement
11    and   the   criminal   justice   system   carry   out   their
12    responsibilities   in   the   death   penalty   process--from
13    investigation  through  trial, judicial appeal, and executive
14    review; (3) to consider, among  other  things,  the  ultimate
15    findings and final recommendations of the House Death Penalty
16    Task Force and the Special Supreme Court Committee on Capital
17    Cases and determine the effect these recommendations may have
18    on  the  capital  punishment  process;  and  (4)  to make any
19    recommendations and proposals designed to further ensure that
20    the application and administration of the  death  penalty  in
21    Illinois is just, fair and accurate; and

22        WHEREAS,   In  April  2002,  the  Commission  issued  its
23    recommendations; and

24        WHEREAS,   Among  the  Commission's  recommendations  was
25    Recommendation No. 37 that provided that the Illinois Supreme
26    Court should consider ways  in  which  information  regarding
27    relevant   case   law  and  other  resources  can  be  widely
28    disseminated to  those  trying  capital  cases,  through  the
29    development  of  a  digest  of  applicable law by the Supreme
30    Court  and  wider  publication  of  the  outline  of   issues
31    developed  by  the  State  Appellate  Defender  or  the State
32    Appellate Prosecutor and/or the Attorney General; and
 
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 1        WHEREAS,  Section  16  of  Article  VI  of  the  Illinois
 2    Constitution vests  general  administrative  and  supervisory
 3    authority  over  all courts in the Supreme Court of Illinois;
 4    and

 5        WHEREAS, The adoption of Commission Recommendation No. 37
 6    by the Illinois Supreme Court would serve the best  interests
 7    of the Illinois criminal justice system; therefore, be it

 8        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
 9    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the  Illinois
10    Supreme   Court   to  adopt  Recommendation  No.  37  of  the
11    Governor's  Commission  On  Capital  Punishment;  and  be  it
12    further

13        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  Resolution  be
14    presented  to  the Honorable Mary Ann McMorrow, Chief Justice
15    of the Illinois Supreme Court.