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Miscellaneous | City of Chicago Crime Statistics | Capital Litigation Trust Fund Statistical Report | Links to Other Websites

Miscellaneous

Related articles and publications

Capital Punishment in Illinois in the Aftermath of the Ryan Commutations: Reforms, Economic Realities, and a New Saliency for Issues of Cost by Leigh Bienen.
In 2000 when Governor George Ryan unilaterally imposed a statewide moratorium on executions in Illinois, in response to accumulating evidence of more than a dozen wrongfully convicted persons on death row in Illinois. In 1999 the Illinois legislature created the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, to allow private, appointed defense counsel, state’s attorneys, and public defenders to be paid directly for the expenses of a capital trial from state appropriated funds, upon the approval of the trial court judge. Publishing new data on capital prosecutions in Illinois since 2000, this article documents evidence of state money spent at the county level on more than 500 capital prosecutions, the largest proportion from Cook County, which resulted in 17 death sentences imposed. More than 100 million dollars of state money has been spent out of the Capital Litigation Trust Fund alone by county state’s attorneys, appointed private counsel, and by public defenders. The availability of state funds changed the dynamics and economic and bureaucratic incentives for capital prosecution. In addition, over 64 million dollars has been spent by the state, the city of Chicago, and the counties in judgments involving wrongful convictions. This article presents data on capital prosecutions and murders across the state, and publishes for the first time the State’s Attorney’s own adopted guidelines for the selection of cases for capital prosecution. When patterns of capital prosecution are examined across the state as a whole, it becomes clear that the counties most likely to spend the state’s money on prosecuting first degree murder cases capitally are not those jurisdictions with the largest number of first degree murders. Nor is there a correspondence between the number of county capital prosecutions, the number of death sentences imposed, the number of murders or the murder rate in that county, and the amount of money spent by the county from the Capital Litigation Trust Fund. County by county disparities in capital case prosecutions and in expenditures of state money are startling. The absence of centralized review and the presence of many potential areas of conflicts of interest should submit the existing system to close scrutiny at this time of budgetary pressure.
Chicago Police Areas, Districts and Beats
Compiled by the CPD's Bureau of Administrative Services Information Services GIS, May 2009
Guide to Homicide Databases and Publically Available Research Using Original Homicide Records and Documents
The purpose of this Guide is to refer users of the Northwestern University Law School Capital Crimes Database, the Illinois Murder indictments web site, to other homicide datasets and research, available online from public sources of information and to introduce different research approaches.
Homicide Trends in Chicago and Cook County
Homicides of School-Aged Children and Adolescents
In response to the significant media attention concerning homicides of school-age children and adolescents, this CHDL Data Brief uses IVDRS data to examine the circumstances of homicides where the victim is 5 to 18 years of age; this issue combines data for 2005 through 2008 for homicides that occurred in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Peoria counties (Table 1). The annual homicide rate for the IVDRS counties ranges from 5.4 to 7.8 per 100,000; overall, the IVDRS counties have higher homicide rates than either Illinois or the U.S. for 2005 to 2007.
How and Why Illinois Abolished the Death Penalty
RedEye Homicide Tracker, Police Beats & Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS)
Report of the Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment, George H. Ryan, Governor, April 15
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City of Chicago Crime Statistics

Detailed statistics for Chicago homicides, by year, including date, precise location and other parameters

11 year comparison
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
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Capital Litigation Trust Fund Statistical Report

Case- and County-Related Expenses for Appointed Counsel, Public Defender and State's Attorney, by year

Fiscal Years 2000-2009 (By Case)
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
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Links to Other Websites

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