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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Clemency has been authorized in the United States
3since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when the clause
4granting the President the power to issue pardons and reprieves
5was first adopted as part of the United States Constitution;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, The power to grant clemency in the State of
8Illinois has been in effect since the formation of the first
9Illinois State Constitution in 1818; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Clemency is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as
11mercy or leniency, usually used to describe acts of the
12President of the United States or a Governor of a state when
13pardoning a convicted criminal or commuting a sentence; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Clemency encompasses a number of forms of mercy by
15the executive and generally includes pardons, commutations of
16sentence, and reprieves, among others; and
 
17    WHEREAS, A pardon is an act of the executive power that
18mitigates the punishment demanded by the law for the offense
19and restores some or all of the rights and privileges lost as a
20result of the offense; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, A commutation of sentence occurs when the
2executive power changes the punishment of the convicted to one
3that is less severe; and
 
4    WHEREAS, A reprieve occurs when the executive power
5temporarily withdraws the sentence for the purpose of
6postponing the punishment; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Section 3-3-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections
8creates the Prisoner Review Board, the board of review and
9recommendation for the exercise of executive clemency by the
10Governor of Illinois; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Section 3-3-13 of the Unified Code of Corrections
12states that petitions seeking pardon, commutation of sentence,
13or reprieve shall be addressed to the Governor in writing and
14signed by the person under conviction or by a person on his
15behalf, and filed with the Prisoner Review Board; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Petitions seeking pardon, commutation of
17sentence, or reprieve must include a brief history of the case,
18the reasons that the petitioner is seeking executive clemency,
19and other relevant information as required by the Prisoner
20Review Board; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The Prisoner Review Board shall, if requested and

 

 

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1upon due notice, give a hearing to each application, allowing
2representation by counsel, if desired, after which it shall
3confidentially advise the Governor by a written report of its
4recommendations, which shall be determined by majority vote;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Governor shall decide each application and
7communicate his decision to the Prisoner Review Board, which
8shall notify the petitioner; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has granted
10approximately 1,113 petitions for executive clemency and has
11denied approximately 1,934 petitions; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Currently, there remains an outstanding amount of
13undecided petitions that have been addressed to the Governor
14and filed with the Prisoner Review Board for review; therefore,
15be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18we urge the Prisoner Review Board to review any outstanding
19petitions for executive clemency with all deliberate speed and
20forward the appropriate written reports of its recommendations
21to the Governor; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor of Illinois to decide
2each application and communicate his decision to the Board with
3all deliberate speed; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
5delivered to the Chair of the Prisoner Review Board and
6Governor Pat Quinn.