She'd lift ban on executions, Topinka says

She'd lift ban on executions, Topinka says

December 16, 2005

BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND DAN ROZEK Staff Reporters Advertisement

Staking out a tough law-and-order stance as she introduced her new running mate, Judy Baar Topinka pledged Thursday to lift Illinois' five-year moratorium on executions if she is elected governor.

The Republican candidate called the moratorium "a temporary condition'' that she will end -- a position embraced by many in her party's conservative wing, including her choice for lieutenant governor, DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett.

"Yes, I will lift the moratorium,'' Topinka said as she flew around the state to introduce Birkett as her running mate. "It's a temporary condition. It is not forever. It is not the law.''

In 2000, Republican Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions and later commuted the death sentences of 156 prisoners after the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions of 13 former Death Row inmates.
(snip/...)

http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-gov16.html



Topinka

IL Republicans know Topinka's bid for IL Gov. is unrealistic. She will keep their party out of office for 4 more years when she loses, ala the NY challenge to H.Clinton by THAT state's pipedreamer.

Topinka dazzles her own eyes with her long tenure in IL politics and her lust for more and greater power and fame. Like my fellow IL voters, we've seen her in action before. She shouldn't be in the office she's currently in much less being worthy of replacing Blagojevich.

I grew up in Chicago but haven't lived there in eighteen years. My folks still live down there, so I come down 2 or 3 times a year. So I don't really keep up on Chicago politics, but they still interest me.

It's interesting to see the pandering to the bloodlust of the right wing for the opportunity to execute someone with the sanction, indeed the machinery, of the state.

It would be great if the uninformed and dissillusioned GOP loyalists would just stay home on voting day. That's about the only way I see her losing, though. JMHO.

and we risk losing this one.

At least she isn't pro-life. :)

So the REPUKES can "WHITEN UP " thier neighborhoods

Can't stand either of them. The real pisser is she'll likely win. Picking Birkett was just what she needed to put her over the top. :grr:

..only to have him exonerated by DNA evidence right?

That's all it will take to torpedo this candidacy...

There are still plenty of people around here that firmly believe Cruz had something to do with that and should have been executed, too. Birkett was thoroughly pissed when Ryan pardoned him and publicly went on an angry rampage about it.

It's that he's from DuPage that's the problem, though. They drool over having him as Lt. Gov. It's going to be interesting how Schillerstrom plays this one...that's going to be the person to watch.

Some people just won't let the facts get in the way of a good old fashioned execution....

Birkett is a fucking scumbag, and TRUST me the Dems here will play up the Cruz-denial...I simply see no way that the ugly troll Topinka gets anywhere close....

Get the hAIR !!!

and what's that green thing in Ziggy Stardust's hand?
Dentures?

There are more than a few Dems here in Illinois who are unhappy with Blagojevich (our Dem Governor) and I was a bit worried about a them crossing over to vote for Judy the "moderate". This single statement is enough to prevent that in a lot of cases, I think. The Illinois "justice" system is not too pretty and I think it is pretty widely recognized that we DO have some people who are wrongly convicted sitting in our jails right now.

Judy is in a hell of a spot trying to get out of the GOP primary alive. I honestly don't know if she can pull the conservative faction and the moderate faction together, and that is gonna be key for her to win this primary. If the conservatives split out the votes then she might. Frankly, if the conservatives unite behind one candidate THAT is who Blag will face and it is a much easier choice for the pissed off Dems--suddenly it is Blag or some uber conservative.

I am just eating my popcorn and watching the show from this point out.


Laura

After all of those people were exonerated, the poll numbers in support of the death penalty dropped
dramatically.

Not a very popular topic in Illinois.

Vile, disgusting. If Birkett had his way, there would be two innocent men legally killed with that death penalty.

The people who thought it worked close enough in the first place now think it works close enough. Republicans are icky.

Let's just move the state capital to Naperville.

We can't have this moratorium forever. We need a law.

I agree completely that it needs to be outlawed here in Illinois for all time-but I seriously doubt we'll ever live to see that happen. I think BOTH parties rather enjoy having it out there to dangle occasionally as an election issue.

Dems love to see the GOP trot it out for the conservative voters (like Topinka just did) and they are afraid of being painted as too soft on crime if they move to make it permanent that the state of Illinois stops killing people.

The GOP loves to trot it out for the benefit of the "law and order" crowd from time to time, and they LOVE the image of being tough on crime. Plus, in a really perverse way, the whole death penalty thing appeals to the "thou shalt not kill" and "an eye for an eye" crowds.

Maybe I'm just cynical (living in Illinois who WOULDN'T be cynical?) but I seriously think this is gonna be a "temporary" moratorium for a very long time.


Laura