Yesterday, we began reviewing the Court's county by county distribution of death penalty appeals, beginning in 1994. Today, we will begin by reviewing the data from 2004 through 2010.
The Court decided only two death penalty appeals each year from 2004 through 2007. In 2004, the Court decided one case in Cook and one case in Macon County. In 2005, the Court decided one case each from Boone and Coles counties. In 2006, the Court decided one case each from St. Clair and Stark counties. In 2007, the Court decided one death penalty appeal from Cook County and one from Livingston county. In 2008, the Court's only death penalty case originated in Cook County. In 2009, the Court decided three mandatory death penalty appeals – one each from Cook, Du Page and Will counties. In 2010, the Court decided two death penalty cases from Cook County, one from Du Page county and one from Hancock county.
Now we turn our attention to the Court's county-by-county reversal rates.
The Court affirmed one hundred percent of death penalty appeals from twenty different counties – Montgomery, Edgar, Jefferson, Clinton, Grundy, Iroquois, Livingston, Randolph, Stark, Coles, Macon, Douglas, Wayne, Macoupin, Winnebago, Stephenson, Bureau, Peoria and Fulton counties.
The Court affirmed 70.8% of the death penalty decisions from Cook County, 60% from Lake County, 64.29% from Du Page County, one quarter from Kankakee, half from Champaign, two thirds from Williamson and St. Clair, zero from Saline County, 75% from Madison County, two thirds from Hancock County, 42.86% from Will County, zero from Boone and Kane Counties, forty percent from Henry County, sixty percent from McLean County, zero from Whiteside and Cumberland counties, half from Mason County, and none from Rock Island County.
Join us back here next Tuesday as we continue our analysis of the Illinois Supreme Court's decision making.
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