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Rauner Aide: Death Penalty Plan Fixes Errors

Seth Perlman
/
AP
Gov. Bruce Rauner said bringing state executions back will “dramatically improve public safety.”";s:

Gov. Bruce Rauner's criminal justice adviser has told an Illinois House committee that Rauner's plan to reinstate the death penalty is designed to "avoid the legitimate objections" associated with the capital punishment law the state abandoned seven years ago.

David Risely, the Republican governor's director of criminal justice and public safety policy, told the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee on Monday that Rauner's plan would apply only to criminals found guilty "beyond all doubt." He says the standard is without precedent but "is obtainable."

Rauner added the death penalty in a veto last week in which he rewrote legislation to apply a 72-hour waiting period for assault-style weapons.

The hearing featured a return to the state Capitol of Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen Yarbrough. She was the state representative who sponsored abolition of the death penalty in 2011 after errors led to freeing several men.

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