Hi Jim,

I took a lot of interest in the governor of Illinois position in abolishing Capital punishment. I'm not sure about the date, but 1979 comes to mind; capital punishment was reinstated in Illinois. Of 25 people convicted and sentenced to death after capital punishment was reinstated, 13 were found to be innocent beyond doubt. If the sampling of the state of Illinois is a valid indication of the system as a whole, greater than 50% of all people sentenced to capital punishment are innocent. Prior to the discovery of DNA as a science that could be used to connect perpetrator to a crime, surely many innocent men were wrongly executed. So I can say that the current judicial system in the US has put many innocent men to death. I personally wish capital punishment would be abolished worldwide.

LelandJ