By Hannah Meisel
* Politico’s Illinois Playbook led this morning with the tale of two Republican governors…
When it comes to Republican governors in blue states, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is considered the gold standard. In the face of fierce anti-Trump sentiment in his state, he’s steadily held the enviable position as the most popular governor in the nation. And last week, a political forecaster pegged Baker as having a lock on reelection.
We bring this up now because of what Baker did a mere six days ago: proposed reinstating the death penalty for cop killers.
* Of course, yesterday Rauner announced that within his Amendatory Veto on the 72-hour cooling off period gun purchase bill, he was adding language to reinstate the death penalty for those who commit mass murder and kill law enforcement officers.
Here in Illinois, Chicago Police Commander Paul Bauer was tragically slain in the line of duty at the Thompson Center in February. In Massachusetts, two law enforcement officers have been murdered in the past two years.
* Comparing Illinois and Massachusetts…
In between those years, the General Assembly voted on a reinstated capital punishment law for Illinois in 1974. Massachusetts, however, did not reinstate the death penalty until 1982.
Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011 under Gov. Pat Quinn, though the last execution in Illinois was 12 years earlier, in 1999. Gov. George Ryan issued a moratorium on the death penalty in the state, and commuted over 160 death sentences to life sentences before leaving office in early 2003. Ryan and many others pointed to the likelihood of wrongful convictions.
Massachusetts has not executed a single person since 1947, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based research organization. The 1982 law allowing capital punishment was found unconstitutional in 1984.
Massachusetts governors, including Mitt Romney, have tried to reinstate the death penalty in the commonwealth in the last three decades, but since Republican Bill Brady took up the cause for lifting the moratorium on the death penalty in his 2010 race against Quinn, not many mainstream candidates have wanted to touch the issue.
* The political calculus at work here: While it seems like Gov. Baker in Massachusetts has been championing the death penalty for cop killers on the campaign trail, but not from the governor’s office, Rauner took the opposite approach. Rauner made the announcement and then filed language for his amendatory Veto. But now he’s also got a new campaign issue, and can also try to paint Democrats into a corner.
Baker is clearly more popular as a Republican governor in a “Blue” state, but his campaign-only approach has brought some criticism…
Gov. Charlie Baker’s campaign-trail rhetoric to reinstate the death penalty for cop killers suddenly falls silent when he’s on Beacon Hill, where the Swampscott Republican hasn’t filed a single bill to back up his bluster despite two police officers being killed on the job in the last two years.
The politically milquetoast governor is even ducking support for lawmakers and a law enforcement group currently crafting a death penalty bill in the wake of Yarmouth K-9 Sgt. Sean Gannon’s killing.
Baker’s office says only that the governor will “carefully review” any legislation that reaches his desk.
— Boston Herald columnist Hillary Chabot last week.
*** UPDATE *** (By Rich Miller) Is a pattern developing here?…
President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his call for individuals convicted of killing police officers to receive the death penalty, but his White House has yet to produce a proposal to turn his campaign pledge into policy.
During the 2016 presidential election, candidate Trump often vowed, if elected, to sign an executive order that he contended would force convicted cop killers to be put to death. He renewed that call in December. But he has yet to sign such an executive action and his administration has yet to send Congress legislative language on the matter.
- Juvenal - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 12:43 pm:
Welcome, Hannah, welcome. And please, stay as long as you like.
To close the loop, let’s remember that the Punisher-in-Chief is Donald Trump,
Trump took out a full-page ad calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, who were exonerated after their conviction and imprisonment by DNA evidence.
More recently, Trump called for the death penalty for opioid dealers, then fell eerily silent when the Twitterverse reminded him that most of the opioid dealers were doctors, pharmacists, drug company CEOs and predominantly not black.
For Trump supporters, Southies in Boston, and red meat Republicans in Illinois, the inherent racial bias in the death penalty system isn’t a bug, it is a feature.
The calls for reinstating the death penalty will be the Willie Horton ads of our time.
- Springfieldish - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 12:46 pm:
Wait, what? The governor known throughout the country for his repeated, egregious errors wants the power to KILL PEOPLE?
- Actual Red - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 12:58 pm:
@Springfieldish
Funny how the same people who constantly rail about the failings and corruption of the government of Illinois are the ones who want to give that same government the power to kill…
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 1:09 pm:
Quit the stereotypes, this conservative is pro-life from conception to last rights.
A government that implements capital punishment takes on a role that only God should have. There have been too many innocent lives taken due to error, racism, political advancement, and other nefarious reasons.
Stop labeling pro- death penalty supporters based on party politics. Not only has this issue had bipartisan support, Woodrow Wilson would not end illegal lynchings, popular in the South.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 1:12 pm:
When running for president, Bill Clinton permitted his state to execute a mentally challenged prisoner so that Bush couldn’t do a Dukaki/Willie Horton on him.
Death penalties are often driven by politics.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 1:14 pm:
Trump claimed he was the “Law and Order” candidate, abd continuing the line on “law and order” is a good way for Rauner to keep in line with Trump, but with distance
Of course, then criminal justice reforms become more of a head scratcher than accomplishments?
- wordslinger - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 1:28 pm:
–*** UPDATE *** (By Rich Miller) Is a pattern developing here?…–
Seems that way. Who’s the whiz-kid political consultant in common?
Not sure what Trump is talking about (makes two of us). There is already a federal law allowing the death penalty for first-degree murder. Just requires charges and conviction in federal court.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 1:50 pm:
Hannah, glad you are here to help to run the room!
- Jocko - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 2:06 pm:
Whatever happened to the Chicago cop that was going to help Trump stop crime in a week? Did he lose the phone number?
- Gooner - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 3:03 pm:
While politically appealing to the law and order crowd (which was likely to vote R anyway) it may be a tough sell to those of us who think our lives are just as valuable as a PO’s.
- Jibba - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 3:50 pm:
VM…it is not a strong argument to equate the modern Dems to the Dems of 100 years ago or more. Worse still to try and equate Dems to an avid racist like Wilson, who would be an aberration today
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 15, 18 @ 3:53 pm:
=== Worse still to try and equate Dems to an avid racist like Wilson, who would be an aberration today===
Wilson was part of the pre “Civil Rights Act” Democrats(?)
Racism in the parties might be best seen within the time in history you are speaking about?
- wordslinger - Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 12:07 am:
–Whatever happened to the Chicago cop that was going to help Trump stop crime in a week? Did he lose the phone number?–
I used to think that Trump made that up.
But now, I’m pretty certain That was McCarthy spouting off and Trump just going with it.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 8:55 am:
“…where the Swampscott Republican hasn’t filed a single bill to back up his bluster despite two police officers being killed on the job in the last two years.”
Two police officers in Massachusetts being killed in the last two years is a high risk job? Police work is not in the top ten for fatalities on the job, behind lumberjacks, fishermen, and farmers, according to the U.S. Labor Dept. How about the death penalty for those who kill farmers or other productive citizens?
The constant fetishization of police work and deification of police is unhealthy in a democracy. The only bright spot of bringing up the issue of the death penalty in Illinois is that it confirms again that we can’t trust the state to have that kind of power, as long as we tolerate police who lie on reports and under oath in order to falsely convict people accused of crimes. It took what, thirty years and the federal government to convict Jon Burge? The Illinois AG couldn’t get it done.