01 December 2010 :

The House Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 to abolish the death penalty in Illinois. The legislation (SB 3539) is sponsored by Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Maywood. The state hasn't executed people since former Gov. George Ryan halted executions in 2000. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Gov. Pat Quinn have continued the unofficial moratorium on executions. A lot of Illinoisans apparently believe that was the end of it. Only 39 % of voters responding to a recent poll answered (correctly) that Illinois still has the death penalty. The others said it does not (33 %) or that they didn’t know (28 %).