Time for Quinn to abolish Illinois death penalty

CHICAGO--Some 35 demonstrators turned out to rally in front of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's Chicago office on February 15 to urge him to sign death penalty abolition legislation that has been sitting on his desk for over a month.

Demonstrators also called on Quinn to commute the death sentences of all 14 men currently on death row, since the bill--which was passed by the state House and Senate in early January--is not retroactive to those already sentenced to death.

The governor said he would take a month to meet with Illinois residents to discuss the legislation while making up his mind, but activists with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty were unsuccessful in many attempts at setting up a meeting. So we decided to bring our message to his doorstep.

Speaking out at the rally was the first exonerated death row prisoner Darby Tillis, who was freed in 1987. he stood next to the most recently released former death row prisoner, Victor Safford, who was freed from prison in 2010.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in Illinois in 1977, 12 people have been executed, while 20 have been exonerated. Illinois has one of the highest exoneration rates in the country, second only to Florida.

The rally was upbeat, but with a sense of urgency. Former prisoners took to the bullhorn pointing out the flaws of the system, including the racism and-class biased nature of death penalty.

They included former Chicago police torture victim Mark Clements, who at the age of 16 was given a life sentence for a crime he didn't commit. If he had been two years older, he would likely have gotten the death penalty. Other ex-prisoners included Marvin Reeves, who spent 21 years wrongfully imprisoned; the recently released Maurice Patterson, who was wrongly incarcerated for eight years; and Nathson Fields, who spent 11 years on Illinois' death row. Nathson spoke about the horror of being on death row and seeing the friends he made there marched off to their execution. "It is just horrible," he said.

One highlight of the event was hearing the voice of Stanley Howard, who spoke to the demonstration by phone from his Illinois prison. Stanley was pardoned from death row in 2003, but remains in prison on another charge. He thanked people for coming out to the rally and urged them to keep up the fight.

Family members and activists held up handmade signs and chanted in between speeches: " "Hey Quinn, what's the wait? Make Illinois the 16th state" and "Hey Quinn, use your pen, the death penalty has to end."

At the end of the rally, a delegation of former prisoners delivered a message to Quinn's office--but before doing so, it was made clear that if he doesn't sign the bill, we will be back.

Activists now are planning another action to "Bring a pen to Quinn." The local Campaign to End the Death Penalty chapter is urging everyone to come out on March 11, at Noon at the State of Illinois building in downtown Chicago. Please come to stand with exonerated prisoners--and bring along a pen. A delegation will bring the collected pens to Quinn's office with the message: In case you couldn't find a pen, we have several for you.