伊利諾州廢除了死刑（2011/03/10 國際特赦組織）
伊利諾州廢除了死刑
2011年3月10號 國際特赦組織發布 譯者：馬克斯
國際特赦組織欣然得知伊利諾州州長Pat Quinn簽下廢除死刑的法案，同時改變州內15個死囚的死刑判決。
伊利諾將成為美國第16個廢除此極刑的州，Quinn簽署的法案將在7月1日生效，它也是繼紐澤西與新墨哥州兩年之後決定頒布廢死法案的州。
今年一月時，伊利諾的廢死法案已在州立法機關通過。
「伊利諾的廢死跡象顯示出美國正漸漸避開這種刑罰，因為意識到它帶給國家的成本與風險是不能被接受的。」國際特赦組織Rob Freer說到，「州長Quinn做出這項法案給其他仍然保留死刑的州樹立了一個好榜樣。死刑是殘酷且違悖人性尊嚴的懲罰，在現代的司法系統裡，不應該有它的容身之地。」
伊利諾州在1977年美國司法重新殺人後處決過12個人，同一時期有20個人免於死刑判決，這個赦免的數字是美國死刑之州中第二高的。
1999年之後，伊利諾州就從來沒有執行過死刑了。2000年時前州長George Rayn宣布終止執行，是因為考量到國家司法系統有根本上的缺失。
2003年他赦免了四個他認為無辜的死刑犯，並更改其他167個死刑判決。
國際特赦組織表示同意州長Quinn評估此舉---加入其他15個州及許多廢除死刑的國家，讓伊利諾州在歷史上踏出重要的一步。
世界上三分之二的國家已不再使用死刑，美國自1977年重啟司法殺人後的近十年，是死刑的使用率最低的時候。可以說至少一部分是來自於大眾及政府注意到死刑在冤案中錯判的數量。
其他在美國的15個廢除死刑的州有：阿拉斯加、夏威夷、愛荷華州、緬因州、馬薩諸塞州、密歇根州、明尼蘇達州、新澤西州、新墨西哥州、紐約州、北達科他州、羅得島、佛蒙特州、西弗吉尼亞州和威斯康辛州。哥倫比亞特區也廢除了死刑。其餘34個州是有死刑的，還有聯邦政府，及美國軍隊。
新聞來源：
ILLINOIS ABOLISHES THE DEATH PENALTY
© APGraphicsBankGovernor Pat Quinn also commuted the death sentences of the 15 men on death row
10 March 2011
Amnesty International has welcomed the decision by Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois to sign into law a bill abolishing the death penalty. He also commuted the death sentences of the 15 men on death row in the state.
Illinois will become the 16th state in the USA to ban capital punishment when the law signed by Governor Quinn yesterday comes into effect on 1 July.
It will be the third state to enact abolitionist legislation in the past two years after New Jersey and New Mexico.
The bill was approved by the Illinois legislature in January.
"Abolition in Illinois is the latest sign that the USA is gradually turning away from a punishment whose costs and risks the country has begun to recognize as unacceptable" said Rob Freer of Amnesty International.
"In making this bill law Governor Quinn has set an example to other states that still retain the death penalty. This is a cruel punishment - incompatible with human dignity - that should have no place in a modern criminal justice system."
Illinois has executed 12 people since judicial killing resumed in the USA in 1977. During the same period, 20 people have been released from the state's death row, the second highest number of such exonerations among the USA's death penalty states.
Illinois has not carried out an execution since 1999. In 2000 then-Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions after concluding that the capital justice system was fundamentally flawed.
In 2003, he pardoned four death row inmates whom he concluded were innocent, and commuted the death sentences of 167 others.
Amnesty International said it agrees with Governor Quinn's assessment that Illinois is taking an important step forward in its history as it "joins the 15 other states and many nations of the world that have abolished the death penalty."
Two-thirds of countries no longer use the death penalty, and death sentences in the USA have plunged in the last decade to their lowest levels since the country resumed judicial killing in 1977 - at least partially thought to be due to public and political awareness of the number of wrongful convictions that have been discovered in capital cases.
The 15 other abolitionist states in the USA are: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia is also abolitionist. The remaining 34 states have the death penalty, as does the federal government and the US military.
READ MORE
USA: Further information: Illinois Governor signs abolition bill (Urgent action update, 10 March 2011)
Illinois one step away from ending executions (News, 12 January 2011)