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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is in great need of a state
3conviction integrity unit, run by the Attorney General's
4Office, to identify and overturn wrongful convictions, and to
5set free those falsely imprisoned; and
 
6    WHEREAS, A conviction integrity unit investigates claims
7of innocence to determine whether new evidence gives rise to a
8substantial probability that the convicted defendant was not
9the person who committed the offense of conviction; a
10conviction integrity unit can also make recommendations about
11the appropriate remedy, if any, that should result from its
12findings; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The Attorney General's Office is best positioned
14to run a conviction integrity unit because its resources far
15exceed those of local prosecutors; and
 
16    WHEREAS, According to the National Registry of
17Exonerations, 78 prosecutors and attorneys general have
18created conviction integrity or review units in the past
19decade; 461 people have been freed due in part to work by these
20prosecutors; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Attorneys general in Washington D.C. and in eight

 

 

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1states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota,
2New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, have
3launched conviction review units; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Since 2018, the Philadelphia District Attorney's
5Office, under Larry Krasner, has exonerated 17 people wrongly
6convicted of murder; Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby
7has cleared 10 people serving murder or attempted murder
8sentences since 2016; and
 
9    WHEREAS, A convictions integrity unit will aid in
10achieving and ensuring justice by investigating claims of
11innocence, remedying identified wrongful convictions, and
12providing proactive support and recommendations to the
13Attorney General's Office; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Conviction integrity units can assist in
15addressing racial inequity in the criminal justice system and
16mass incarceration; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois' goal should be for justice
18and truth instead of preserving convictions in defiance of
19logic, facts, or new evidence; to wrongly convict a person is
20to deny them untold opportunities and the chance to live their
21life in freedom; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
2HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
3SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the Office of the
4Attorney General to establish a task force to examine the
5creation of a statewide conviction integrity unit within its
6office; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
8delivered to Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Governor JB
9Pritzker.