On March 9, 2011, the State of Illinois formally abolished capital punishment. Illinois thus became the sixteenth state without a death penalty, and one of four states – the others being New Mexico, New Jersey, and New York – to join those ranks within the past five years. Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, signed Senate Bill 3539, the abolition law sent to him by the Illinois legislature almost two months earlier, and also commuted the death sentences of all fifteen inmates on death row in Illinois.

Abolitionists across the United States and around the world rejoiced, including Sister Helen Prejean and the Reverend Desmond Tutu, both of whom had personally encouraged Governor Quinn to sign the bill. The European Union issued a congratulatory message, and Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director, Larry Cox, called it “a landmark day for Illinois and the United States.” According to Cox, “No state has tried harder to fix its death penalty system, but after 10 years it became patently clear that it was broken beyond repair.”