Mulligan Sponsors Death Penalty Reforms

February 16, 2001

Des Plaines…Over the past year, there has been great debate in Illinois over the death penalty and the current moratorium in place. Legislators in the Illinois General Assembly have scrutinized over the situation and State Representative Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines) is sponsoring a legislative package to reform the State's death penalty procedures.

"I think it is important that we are looking at reforming the system because there has been obvious reason to call it into question," said Mulligan. "This package can go a long way towards solving the problems in the system."

House Bills 1842, 1843 and 1844 are the culmination of two years of hearings conducted by the House Special Committee on Prosecutorial Misconduct. At the heart of the reform package is a proposal to require pre-trial judicial screenings of so-called "jailhouse informants" and to enable defense attorneys to conduct pre-trial interviews of witnesses in cases where the defendant can be sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison.

"These witnesses cannot always be considered reliable because often times they are career criminals trying to get a lighter sentence. This new legislation will simply require the judge to conduct a special hearing to determine legitimacy of an informant before a prosecutor can move forward," said Mulligan.

Mulligan's legislation that would allow the evaluation of jailhouse informants has already garnered the support of Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan and Kane County Sheriff Kenneth Ramsey. Sheriff Sheahan said his support sends a clear message to the legislature that these reforms are not anti-police or anti-prosecutor. In fact, these reforms will strengthen the criminal justice system.