STATE OF ILLINOIS
96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE
161st Legislative Day

1/6/2011

continue to work on this issue, but it now needs to be
resolved, not by eliminating it, but by reforming it.
commission has given us a road map.

The

We have the time to

implement additional reforms and it's also time then for
the Governor to review every case of the death penalty on a
case by case analysis.

He has that ability to do that,

even if he doesn't agree with what happened by the jury,
then he can do that.

And finally, Ladies and Gentlemen,

natural life without parole…
Let me just close up.

I just need a few minutes.

Natural life without parole is not

worse than the death penalty.

I don't believe that to be

the case, when you're still able to have human contact and
be able to walk around a prison for however many years that
may be.

I don’t think that is worse than death 'cause I

guarantee that the victim's families wish that that loved
one was back.

I urge this Body to vote 'no'.

Thank you,

Mr. Speaker."
Speaker Mautino:

"Further discussion?

The Lady from Cook,

Representative Mendoza."
Mendoza:

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ladies and Gentlemen, today

marks the end of a long and difficult journey for me on the
issue of the death penalty.

Many of you may recall that I

was one of the last Members in this chamber to pass an
expansion of the death penalty.

In fact, there was no

issue that I was more passionate about than that one issue.
Throughout my entire life, I've been a staunch supporter of
the death penalty and a firm believer in the justice it
serves and the punishment it represents for the worst of
the worst in our society.

I still believe that to be true.

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 STATE OF ILLINOIS
96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE
161st Legislative Day

1/6/2011

I want to leave no doubt that I feel no compassion or see
any value whatsoever in the lives of the truly guilty on
death row.

I could administer the death penalty myself to

a cop killer or a serial murderer and sleep like a baby at
night, if I knew without a doubt of their guilt.
matter

of

fact,

I

believe

that

our

current

As a

manner

of

executing the guilty in Illinois is much too compassionate
and shows respect for life where the killer had none.

I

believe that a sanitized death is too kind and that the
guilty should die in a manner much harsher, truer to the
crimes that they committed.

I know that this may sound

cruel to some of you, but it pales in comparison to the
cruelty inflicted upon so many innocent victims by these
murderous animals.

But this debate for me is no longer

about whether or not guilty killers deserve to die for
their crimes, they do deserve to die, they do.

However,

over the 10 years that I have served in this chamber and
having to acknowledge the indisputable fact that we have
exonerated

more

innocent

actually

executed,

advanced

only

necessary

to

acknowledging

a

recognizing

handful,

ensure
the

people

fact

at

in
the

most,

that

we

that

we

Illinois
fact
of

fix
are

the
the

human

than

that
many

we

we've
have

reforms

system,
and

and

prone

to

making mistakes, no matter how honest our intentions, I
have come to realize that in order to ensure that justice
is served in the form of death to an evil cancer in our
society

we

must

innocent person.

accept

the

possibility

of

executing

an

I'm not okay with that and none of us

should be okay with that.

Illinois has the worst record in

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 STATE OF ILLINOIS
96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE
161st Legislative Day

1/6/2011

the country when it comes to getting it right.

We've come

horrifyingly close to executing innocent men and it could
happen again.

Every time we punish an innocent man, we're

rewarding a guilty criminal by allowing them the freedom to
continue to harm others.

This is not being tough on crime.

That is why for the last five years, I've led the charge
with your help to pass felony arrestee DNA.
stalled in the Senate.

It shamefully

DNA will help us punish the guilty

and exonerate the innocent, yet it shamefully stalled in
the Senate.

Over five years of trying hard and we still

can't pass this sensible and necessary reform measure.

I

see little to no hope of passing the multitude of other
reform measures recommended to fix our broken death penalty
system.

State's

attorneys

across

this

state

and

this

General Assembly must do much more than has been done to
address the 85 reforms measures that have still not been
passed and that are necessary to lift the moratorium.
this

pace,

if

it

takes

us

five-plus

years

to

pass

At
a

sensible tool like felony arrestee DNA, how long is it
going to take to tackle the rest of the reform measures?
Folks, my journey has been difficult and it's been wrought
with

self

challenge

and

self

reflection

and

self-doubt;

however, over the years, I challenged myself to get out of
my comfort zone and I did so when I personally met with
death row exonerees.

Four years ago, Chicago Alderman Joe

Moreno, introduced me to Madison Hobley, one of the John
Burge torture victims.
Tillis.

Three years ago I met with Darby

These men were innocent.

They were wronged by all

of us because their wrongful convictions were on behalf of
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96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE
161st Legislative Day

1/6/2011

the people of Illinois.

Speaking to them and hearing their

horror stories of being hours away from execution made me
reflect on my own beliefs regarding our ability to apply
the death penalty in a fair and error free way.
it can't be done.

I believe

I can no longer stomach the idea of

potentially executing an innocent person in order to ensure
that the guilty pay for their crimes.

That is why today I

rise in acknowledgement of the fact that our death penalty
system is broken beyond repair and that the right thing to
do is to abolish it with the understanding that those who
are on it today should be remanded to spending the rest of
their lives behind bars with no chance of parole.

Life

with no chance of parole may not satisfy my or victim's
emotional

desire

for

justice,

but

it

does

meet

our

responsibility of keeping society safe from these animals.
It means that their punishment will result in death but in
jail and away from society.

In the event that our criminal

justice system once again wrongfully convicts an innocent
person, there is still a chance…"
Speaker Mautino:
Berrios:

"Representative Berrios."

"Thank

you,

Mr.

Speaker.

I'd

like

to

give

Representative Mendoza my time."
Speaker Mautino:
Berrios:
Mendoza:

"Grant the Lady five minutes."

"Thank you."
"In the event that our criminal justice system once

again wrongfully convicts an innocent person, God forbid,
there is still a chance that that wrong can be righted.
With death, that is not possible.

I understand that this

is a very, very personal, controversial, emotional issue
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 STATE OF ILLINOIS
96th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TRANSCRIPTION DEBATE
161st Legislative Day

1/6/2011

for many of us, and I respect each and every person in this
chamber's position, but for those of you who are on the
fence on whether or not to vote for this, I hope you can
understand my reasons and consider voting 'aye'."
Speaker Mautino:

"Further discussion?

The Gentleman from Cook,

Representative Burns."
Burns:

"Thank you, Speaker.

To the Bill.

convenient piece of legislation.

This is not a

It's not an easy piece of

legislation.

It is a difficult issue to talk about and to

think about.

As a son of a law enforcement officer, who

spent 25 years in the Cleveland Police Department, when I
heard about cop shootings I wondered whether or not it was
my

father

empathize

who

might

with

the

have

been

families

of

shot

that

victims

day.

and

And

with

I

their

plight, but the simple fact of the matter is this, that the
death penalty is not applied equitably across our society,
that the application of the death penalty, in fact, in many
cases,

enforces

many

of

the

inequalities

that

currently

exist in our society, that if you live outside of Cook
County, you are more likely to be sentenced to death than
if

you

African

live

inside

American

who

of

Cook

kills

County,

that

white

victim,

a

if

you're

you're

an

more

likely to be sentenced to death than a white person who
kills a black person, that if you're low income, if you are
uneducated,

that

you're

more

likely

to

be

sentenced

to

death than someone who has more education and more money.
That simply does not comport with our notion of what a just
society is.

It is not fair and it is not right.

I leave…

I don't want to talk too long, because we have a lot of
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