HR1348 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1348 LRB098 23204 GRL 62358 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Clemency has been authorized in the United States since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when the clause granting the President the power to issue pardons and reprieves was first adopted as part of the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The power to grant clemency in the State of Illinois has been in effect since the formation of the first Illinois State Constitution in 1818; and

WHEREAS, Clemency is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as mercy or leniency, usually used to describe acts of the President of the United States or a Governor of a state when pardoning a convicted criminal or commuting a sentence; and

WHEREAS, Clemency encompasses a number of forms of mercy by the executive and generally includes pardons, commutations of sentence, and reprieves, among others; and

WHEREAS, A pardon is an act of the executive power that mitigates the punishment demanded by the law for the offense and restores some or all of the rights and privileges lost as a result of the offense; and

WHEREAS, A commutation of sentence occurs when the executive power changes the punishment of the convicted to one that is less severe; and

WHEREAS, A reprieve occurs when the executive power temporarily withdraws the sentence for the purpose of postponing the punishment; and

WHEREAS, Section 3-3-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections creates the Prisoner Review Board, the board of review and recommendation for the exercise of executive clemency by the Governor of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Section 3-3-13 of the Unified Code of Corrections states that petitions seeking pardon, commutation of sentence, or reprieve shall be addressed to the Governor in writing and signed by the person under conviction or by a person on his behalf, and filed with the Prisoner Review Board; and

WHEREAS, Petitions seeking pardon, commutation of sentence, or reprieve must include a brief history of the case, the reasons that the petitioner is seeking executive clemency, and other relevant information as required by the Prisoner Review Board; and

WHEREAS, The Prisoner Review Board shall, if requested and upon due notice, give a hearing to each application, allowing representation by counsel, if desired, after which it shall confidentially advise the Governor by a written report of its recommendations, which shall be determined by majority vote; and

WHEREAS, The Governor shall decide each application and communicate his decision to the Prisoner Review Board, which shall notify the petitioner; and

WHEREAS, In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has granted approximately 1,113 petitions for executive clemency and has denied approximately 1,934 petitions; and

WHEREAS, Currently, there remains an outstanding amount of undecided petitions that have been addressed to the Governor and filed with the Prisoner Review Board for review; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Prisoner Review Board to review any outstanding petitions for executive clemency with all deliberate speed and forward the appropriate written reports of its recommendations to the Governor; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor of Illinois to decide each application and communicate his decision to the Board with all deliberate speed; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Chair of the Prisoner Review Board and Governor Pat Quinn.