It Took Ten Years
katy
Two weeks ago, Governor Quinn made history when he put his signature to the bill that eliminated capital punishment from the state of Illinois. Eight years ago, Kirsten Johnson and I were still in production on our documentary DEADLINE as we filmed then-Governor Ryan taking an interim step to eliminate the death penalty when he commuted the sentences of 167 people on Illinois’ Death Row from death to life. Both Governors Quinn and Ryan, one Democrat, one Republican, have demonstrated ambivalent attitudes about the death penalty throughout their political careers, neither wholeheartedly against or for it. They have both spent many months deliberating the right course of action on the issue. Together, they, along with their colleagues in the legislature, represent the complex relationship that Americans have today towards the death penalty. Currently, it seems that the tide is shifting against it.
What was most remarkable about the news this month is that both houses of the Illinois legislature passed bills to take capital punishment off the books. In the early 2000’s, Illinois’ state legislators were paralyzed on this most critical of issues, unwilling or unable to even bring any bill for reform to the floor, let alone consider eliminating it entirely. Ryan’s frustration with their inaction was the main reason that he got involved and exerted his executive authority in a manner so sweeping and unexpected. The sea shift that has occurred on this issue among state lawmakers in Illinois says a lot about how the political climate on capital punishment has changed; it is no longer political suicide for a representative from Springfield to defend his anti-death penalty vote to his or her constituents.
The news also makes me reflect on how social change is nothing if not incremental. The new law is the result of countless different events, individuals and social shifts which have painstakingly contributed to this outcome. Many would say that it all started in Illinois over a decade ago when Anthony Porter was proven to be innocent a few days before his scheduled execution. This shocking turn of events was uncovered by a student investigation working on a class project, no less, which started a ripple that eventually drew the attention of thousands and finally millions of people to look critically at the capital punishment system in Illinois.
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| Posted on March 24, 2011
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