10 March 2011 :

"The abolition of the death penalty in Illinois signals a change in all the United States. It shows that a moratorium (in force in the state since 2000) is the winning strategy to end the abhorrent anachronism by the State of delivering justice by imposing death”, Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio D’Elia said.
“Abolition in Illinois also disproves the commonly held perception that to win an election in America you must be in favour of the death penalty,” he added. Governor Pat Quinn, who signed the law, beat his Republican rival whose election campaign promised to end the moratorium and veto the abolitionist law.
Four states have abolished the death penalty in three and a half years- besides Illinois, New Mexico renounced the death penalty in 2009 and New Jersey and New York did so in 2007.
According to D’Elia, “in the United States, they have found really practical reasons to achieve abolition. It is not based on ideological, ethical or religious motives, but because the death penalty risks killing innocent people, and also because they have discovered that it costs more than life in jail.”