<P> On 11 January 2003 the Republican Governor George Ryan blanket commuted the sentences of all the 167 inmates condemned to death, a gesture that his opponents attribute to the fact that he was rendered ineligible by his unpopularity and charged with conspiracy, racketeering and fraud . </P> <P> 14 people were sentenced to death and many reforms have been undertaken, notably under the leadership of Senator Barack Obama has passed a law requiring police to videotape interrogations . </P> <P> Democratic Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation on March 9, 2011 to abolish the death penalty in Illinois to go into effect July 1, 2011, and commuted the death sentences of the fifteen inmates on Illinois' death row to life imprisonment . Quinn was criticized for signing the bill after saying that he supported the death penalty during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign after which he defeated the Republican candidate with 50.4% of the vote . </P>

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