By Patrick Baron
BLOOMINGTON – McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers isn’t against bringing back the death penalty for mass murderers and cop killers, but said the language used in determining guilt or innocence must be precise.
Governor Bruce Rauner recently proposed the state bring back the death penalty in certain circumstances, while calling for an increased burden of proof. Making an appearance on the Afternoon Report, Chambers told WJBC’s Greg Halbleib the death penalty could be a useful tool in terms of justice and prosecution. He noted the death penalty was something that he was unsure of for some time.
“There was a time when I was younger when I probably went back and forth on it, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing to say I’ve struggled with my position on certain things because that shows you’ve gone through the thought process,” said Chambers. “Taking someone’s life should never be done lightly.”
Chambers also said the language of ‘beyond all doubt’ must be specific.
“I do appreciate the idea of having a higher burden. I think it would be careful how we word what that higher burden is,” Chambers noted. “Beyond all doubt – you never know what a jury is going to do with ‘beyond all doubt’ on that.”
Chambers indicated the burden of proof could be altered depending on the forensic evidence in any given case. He said all it would take is one wrong conviction to throw the death penalty out the window.
“I think if there’s a process in place that makes it so that someone who is innocent is put to death, that ruins the whole thing. You’ve destroyed any credibility that it has,” Chambers explained.
Chambers said the wording concerning a higher burden of proof must be very careful, because every jury is different.
“Each jury, each juror, is going to have a different definition of that. Which they do with ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ anyway, but I think there’s more common ground between people as to what beyond reasonable doubt is as opposed to what is beyond all doubt,” explained Chambers.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].
