The Illinois Senate passed the Death Penalty Reforms with John Cullerton out in front,

The Senate voted 56-3 on the bill that makes it easier for murder suspects to defend themselves and gives courts extraordinary power to set aside death sentences.

"This is a revolutionary change that will be a model for other states that have the death penalty,” said Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), the bill’s sponsor.

The legislation sent to Gov. Rod Blagojevich Thursday requires juries to consider more factors in deciding whether a defendant lives or dies, prohibits executing mentally retarded people, gives defendants more access to police evidence, lets judges file dissents from jury verdicts and gives the Supreme Court new power to set aside "unjust” sentences.

It also gives the accused greater access to genetic tests that might exonerate them and sets up a pilot program to study the best way to do police lineups of suspects.

The bill is good, and far better than I thought possible. In one of my few nods to the Legislature, they put aside petty political posturing in favor of strong reform that doesn’t perfect the system, but makes it better. There is always political hay to be made out of crime and punishment bills, but for the most part, Legislators did the right thing.