Death Penalty Is Banned in Illinois

With Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's signature yesterday on March 9, 2011, a bill banning the death penalty in Illinois is now official. The legislation will take effect July 1, 2011

What happens to the 15 persons on death row? Their sentences are commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of release.

Illinois now joins three other states, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York, which have already banned capital punishment.