softheart
07-18-2003, 01:11 PM
ILLINOIS:
In an attempt to reduce the chance of error in death penalty cases,
Gov.
Rod Blagojevich signed a bill Thursday requiring police in Illinois to
tape interrogations and confessions of murder suspects.
"It is our moral duty to restore the integrity of the criminal justice
system as we know it today in Illinois," said Blagojevich, whose
predecessor gained national headlines for his moratorium on capital
punishment.
The law requires police to make audio or video recordings when they
question murder suspects to reduce the possibility that confessions are
coerced or even tortured out of suspects. Agencies will have 2 years to
come up with procedures.
"This is the most substantial criminal justice reform measure since the
1960s in Illinois," said Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern
University's Center on Wrongful Convictions.
The Illinois law is the first of its kind in the country, Warden said,
although he added that police in Minnesota and Alaska must record
interrogations of murder suspects because of court orders.
The bill is one of several passed this spring to address a system that
former Gov. George Ryan had declared deeply flawed.
Since capital punishment resumed in Illinois in 1977, 13 men have been
released from the state's death row after they were found to have been
wrongly convicted. In several of the cases, the men claimed their
confessions had been coerced.
Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions in 2000, then commuted every
death
sentence in the state before leaving office in January.
"Illinois has taken the leadership in a number of areas on the death
penalty," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington,
D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. "This is part of a much
bigger puzzle of trying to make fairness out of the death penalty. It's
clearly an important 1st step."
Blagojevich has not decided whether to sign other death penalty reforms
passed by the legislature. Even if he does, he said, he is not sure the
changes will make him comfortable enough with Illinois' capital
punishment
system to lift Ryan's moratorium.
Larry Trent, director of the Illinois State Police, said the law will
result in better police work, which would lead to better cases and
convictions. But John Piland, president of the Illinois State's
Attorneys
Association, a prosecutors group, said it won't eliminate coercion
claims
because videotapes may not show the circumstances leading up to a
confession.
"To say this is going to end all claims of police misconduct, it
won't,"
Piland said. "The imagination isn't confined to that which is captured
on
tape and is in the room."
Piland's group worked with lawmakers to ensure there were exceptions to
the taping requirement, such as if someone confessed in a squad car or
taping equipment broke.
Also Thursday, Blagojevich signed a bill requiring police to record the
race of people they pull over during traffic stops. The state
Transportation Department will review the data for signs of racial
bias.
Another bill signed by the governor will allow people to have their
arrest
records expunged if they are later found to be innocent.
(source: Associated Press)
In an attempt to reduce the chance of error in death penalty cases,
Gov.
Rod Blagojevich signed a bill Thursday requiring police in Illinois to
tape interrogations and confessions of murder suspects.
"It is our moral duty to restore the integrity of the criminal justice
system as we know it today in Illinois," said Blagojevich, whose
predecessor gained national headlines for his moratorium on capital
punishment.
The law requires police to make audio or video recordings when they
question murder suspects to reduce the possibility that confessions are
coerced or even tortured out of suspects. Agencies will have 2 years to
come up with procedures.
"This is the most substantial criminal justice reform measure since the
1960s in Illinois," said Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern
University's Center on Wrongful Convictions.
The Illinois law is the first of its kind in the country, Warden said,
although he added that police in Minnesota and Alaska must record
interrogations of murder suspects because of court orders.
The bill is one of several passed this spring to address a system that
former Gov. George Ryan had declared deeply flawed.
Since capital punishment resumed in Illinois in 1977, 13 men have been
released from the state's death row after they were found to have been
wrongly convicted. In several of the cases, the men claimed their
confessions had been coerced.
Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions in 2000, then commuted every
death
sentence in the state before leaving office in January.
"Illinois has taken the leadership in a number of areas on the death
penalty," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington,
D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. "This is part of a much
bigger puzzle of trying to make fairness out of the death penalty. It's
clearly an important 1st step."
Blagojevich has not decided whether to sign other death penalty reforms
passed by the legislature. Even if he does, he said, he is not sure the
changes will make him comfortable enough with Illinois' capital
punishment
system to lift Ryan's moratorium.
Larry Trent, director of the Illinois State Police, said the law will
result in better police work, which would lead to better cases and
convictions. But John Piland, president of the Illinois State's
Attorneys
Association, a prosecutors group, said it won't eliminate coercion
claims
because videotapes may not show the circumstances leading up to a
confession.
"To say this is going to end all claims of police misconduct, it
won't,"
Piland said. "The imagination isn't confined to that which is captured
on
tape and is in the room."
Piland's group worked with lawmakers to ensure there were exceptions to
the taping requirement, such as if someone confessed in a squad car or
taping equipment broke.
Also Thursday, Blagojevich signed a bill requiring police to record the
race of people they pull over during traffic stops. The state
Transportation Department will review the data for signs of racial
bias.
Another bill signed by the governor will allow people to have their
arrest
records expunged if they are later found to be innocent.
(source: Associated Press)