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1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, Clemency has been authorized in the United States |
3 | | since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when the clause |
4 | | granting the President the power to issue pardons and reprieves |
5 | | was first adopted as part of the United States Constitution; |
6 | | and
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7 | | WHEREAS, The power to grant clemency in the State of |
8 | | Illinois has been in effect since the formation of the first |
9 | | Illinois State Constitution in 1818; and
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10 | | WHEREAS, Clemency is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as |
11 | | mercy or leniency, usually used to describe acts of the |
12 | | President of the United States or a Governor of a state when |
13 | | pardoning a convicted criminal or commuting a sentence; and
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14 | | WHEREAS, Clemency encompasses a number of forms of mercy by |
15 | | the executive and generally includes pardons, commutations of |
16 | | sentence, and reprieves, among others; and
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17 | | WHEREAS, A pardon is an act of the executive power that |
18 | | mitigates the punishment demanded by the law for the offense |
19 | | and restores some or all of the rights and privileges lost as a |
20 | | result of the offense; and
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1 | | WHEREAS, A commutation of sentence occurs when the |
2 | | executive power changes the punishment of the convicted to one |
3 | | that is less severe; and
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4 | | WHEREAS, A reprieve occurs when the executive power |
5 | | temporarily withdraws the sentence for the purpose of |
6 | | postponing the punishment; and
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7 | | WHEREAS, Section 3-3-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections |
8 | | creates the Prisoner Review Board, the board of review and |
9 | | recommendation for the exercise of executive clemency by the |
10 | | Governor of Illinois; and
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11 | | WHEREAS, Section 3-3-13 of the Unified Code of Corrections |
12 | | states that petitions seeking pardon, commutation of sentence, |
13 | | or reprieve shall be addressed to the Governor in writing and |
14 | | signed by the person under conviction or by a person on his |
15 | | behalf, and filed with the Prisoner Review Board; and
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16 | | WHEREAS, Petitions seeking pardon, commutation of |
17 | | sentence, or reprieve must include a brief history of the case, |
18 | | the reasons that the petitioner is seeking executive clemency, |
19 | | and other relevant information as required by the Prisoner |
20 | | Review Board; and
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21 | | WHEREAS, The Prisoner Review Board shall, if requested and |
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1 | | upon due notice, give a hearing to each application, allowing |
2 | | representation by counsel, if desired, after which it shall |
3 | | confidentially advise the Governor by a written report of its |
4 | | recommendations, which shall be determined by majority vote; |
5 | | and
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6 | | WHEREAS, The Governor shall decide each application and |
7 | | communicate his decision to the Prisoner Review Board, which |
8 | | shall notify the petitioner; and
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9 | | WHEREAS, In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has granted |
10 | | approximately 1,113 petitions for executive clemency and has |
11 | | denied approximately 1,934 petitions; and
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12 | | WHEREAS, Currently, there remains an outstanding amount of |
13 | | undecided petitions that have been addressed to the Governor |
14 | | and filed with the Prisoner Review Board for review; therefore, |
15 | | be it
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16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
17 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
18 | | we urge the Prisoner Review Board to review any outstanding |
19 | | petitions for executive clemency with all deliberate speed and |
20 | | forward the appropriate written reports of its recommendations |
21 | | to the Governor; and be it further
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