(WAND) - An Illinois State Representative has introduced legislation to bring back the death penalty.
State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) introduced the Capital Crimes Litigation Act of 2019. It would undo the measure signed in 2011 by then Gov. Pat Quinn that repealed the death penalty.
"It's time to get tough on crime in this state," McSweeney said. "We have a major issue throughout the state. Obviously Chicago is in the national news and the elimination of the death penalty has been a failure."
Criminal justice advocates who helped successfully repeal Illinois' death penalty said it does not cut back on crime.
"While gun violence continues to plague our state, research has made clear that punishment, including the death penalty, does not deter criminal behavior," said Jennifer Vollen, executive director of the John Howard Association. "Until and unless Illinois addresses the myriad underlying root causes and social failures that feed gun violence, and until guns are made more difficult to obtain and easier to track, we will not achieve the desired outcome of this legislation." Â
The measure has been filed in the past, but has always lost traction.
