In late November, 80 members of the Illinois House of Representatives came together to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto and push through a bill that places limits on courtroom use of jailhouse informants.
Jailhouse informants are incarcerated individuals who provide testimony in exchange for benefits, such as a reduced sentence or special inmate privileges.
In Illinois alone, unreliable jailhouse informants have led to 17 wrongful convictions of innocent people, and these are just the cases that researchers have discovered thus far.
The Illinois bill will require judges to hold pretrial hearings to determine the reliability of a jailhouse informant before their testimony is admissible, at least in cases of murder, sexual assault, and arson.
This extra pretrial precaution will also require prosecutors to tell the court about the jailhouse informant's complete criminal history, their previous informant activities, and most importantly, the benefits provided in exchange for the testimony.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, jailhouse informants played a role in 156 proven wrongful convictions across the country.
It's time to put a stop to the failed use of dishonest jailhouse informants that is still routinely used nationwide.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/states-need-to-protect-the-accused-from-false-snitching-by-jailhouse-informants
Jailhouse informants are incarcerated individuals who provide testimony in exchange for benefits, such as a reduced sentence or special inmate privileges.
In Illinois alone, unreliable jailhouse informants have led to 17 wrongful convictions of innocent people, and these are just the cases that researchers have discovered thus far.
The Illinois bill will require judges to hold pretrial hearings to determine the reliability of a jailhouse informant before their testimony is admissible, at least in cases of murder, sexual assault, and arson.
This extra pretrial precaution will also require prosecutors to tell the court about the jailhouse informant's complete criminal history, their previous informant activities, and most importantly, the benefits provided in exchange for the testimony.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, jailhouse informants played a role in 156 proven wrongful convictions across the country.
It's time to put a stop to the failed use of dishonest jailhouse informants that is still routinely used nationwide.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/states-need-to-protect-the-accused-from-false-snitching-by-jailhouse-informants
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