Ray Long reports, "Governor's vetoes cut funds to fight wrongful convictions."
In a state known for sending innocent people to prison, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has angered prosecutors and defense attorneys alike by vetoing millions of dollars lawmakers set aside to fight wrongful convictions and support sweeping death penalty reforms.
One budget cut eliminated first-time funding for a Downstate advocacy group with several key court victories on behalf of convicted defendants. Another veto blocked funds for videotaping interrogations in murder cases under a law championed by Barack Obama when he was a state lawmaker.
More than $5.5 million approved by lawmakers to prevent or correct wrongful convictions was among the $1.4 billion Blagojevich vetoed this month to bring the state budget in line, according to interviews and a review of budget documents. The vetoes included money to support the reforms he signed five years ago to ensure the integrity of the state's capital punishment process.
"So many of these cuts will negatively and significantly impact the criminal justice system," said Ann Spillane, chief of staff for Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan. Her office received the same funding as last year for death penalty expenses but expects to assist others who were cut.
And:
Facing his own budget pressure, Democratic Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine saw his plea for $3 million to help pay for videotaping interrogations in Illinois murder cases cut $2 million by lawmakers and then $1 million more by Blagojevich, a Devine spokesman said.
The mandated program is an integral part of the state's death penalty reforms, enacted after former Gov. George Ryan issued a moratorium on executions that is still in place more than eight years after he decried the state's "shameful record of convicting innocent people and putting them on Death Row."
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who co-sponsored the taping requirement with Obama, said "it doesn't make any sense" to cut funding for taping interrogations because it may actually save money by keeping the government from paying for wrongful convictions.
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