The new law, signed in April, requires stronger disclosures, tracking of jailhouse informants, and notifications to victims if an informant who harmed them receives leniency. The law is here, and the Innocence Project wrote about the problem here. Prior post here.
Legislation
Illinois enacts nation’s strongest law on jailhouse informant testimony
Last week, the Illinois legislature overrode the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1830, which will enact the strongest law in the nation to prevent wrongful convictions based on false jailhouse informant testimony. The Illinois Innocence Project and the national Innocence Project supported the law, which was authored by Senator Michael Hastings (D-Tinley Park) and Rep. Art Turner (D-Chicago). Under Senate Bill 1830, Illinois will be the first state in the country to require judges to hold pre-trial reliability hearings before jailhouse informant witness testimony is admissible in murder, sexual assault and arson cases. In addition, the law requires prosecutors to disclose key evidence regarding jailhouse informant witnesses to the defense, including benefits provided in exchange for testimony, their complete criminal history, and their previous jailhouse informant activities. Illinois enacted these protections for capital cases in 2003; however, the law became moot when the death penalty was abolished in 2011.
Read more about the new law here.
posted by Michelle Feldman
Illinois Governor Makes Disappointing Move on Jailhouse Informant Law
Last month, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 1830, a protection against wrongful convictions based on unreliable jailhouse informant testimony, despite the bill passing the legislature with bipartisan support. There will likely be an opportunity for the legislature to override the veto in November.
In Illinois, jailhouse informants have played a role in 17 wrongful convictions that have cost taxpayers $88.4 million in civil lawsuit payments and state compensation. SB 1830 would prevent wrongful convictions by requiring pre-trial reliability hearings and disclosure of specific impeachment evidence to the defense before jailhouse informant testimony is admissible in homicide, sexual, assault and arson cases. These safeguards were already implemented for capitol cases by a 2003 law, which became moot when the death penalty was abolished in Illinois in 2011.
Scott Reader, a columnist at the Journal Standard, questions the governor’s veto, particularly his explanation that jailhouse informant protections already exist for death penalty cases when Illinois hasn’t had a death penalty for seven years.
The legislature is anticipated to return and take up SB 1830 for a veto override in the fall.
posted by Michelle Feldman
ALEC promotes informant legislative reform
Better known for its advocacy on behalf of business and economic growth, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has issued new model Jailhouse Informant Regulations. They require state’s attorneys to keep track of informants who provide information or testimony, to record all benefits promised or given to informants, and to provide full disclosure of an informant’s criminal record, their participation in other cases, and all benefits. Of particular note is how comprehensively the model regulations define the term “benefit”:
“Benefit’ means any plea bargain, bail consideration, reduction or modification of sentence, or any other leniency, immunity, financial payment, reward, or amelioration of current or future conditions of incarceration in return for, or in connection with, the informant’s participation in any information-gathering activity, investigation, or operation, or in return for, or in connection with, the informant’s testimony in the criminal proceeding in which the prosecutor intends to call him or her as a witness.”
The definition recognizes that informant benefits come in many shapes and sizes, from leniency to money to improved conditions of confinement. The definition also recognizes that informants can receive benefits for information-gathering activities even if they are never called to testify. A strong definition is important because it captures the reality that informants are motivated by a wide range of potential rewards which can affect their behavior and reliability.
ALEC’s model regulations are consistent with reforms in other states such as Texas and Florida that are starting to require greater transparency and disclosure regarding informants. They are a great start for other states considering reform. They are also a great sign that the risks of informant use are now firmly part of the mainstream legislative conversation.
From the ALEC website: “The American Legislative Exchange Council is America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.”
Illinois legislature passes new informant reform
By Michelle Feldman
In April, the Illinois legislature passed new legislation that would require pre-trial reliability hearings and specific disclosure requirements before jailhouse informant testimony is admissible in the most serious criminal cases. Now Senate Bill 1830 is awaiting action by the governor.
Illinois has been on the forefront of safeguarding against wrongful convictions stemming from unreliable jailhouse informant testimony. Based on recommendations from former Illinois Governor George Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment, the state passed a law in 2003 requiring pre-trial reliability hearings and specific disclosure requirements before jailhouse informant testimony was admissible in capital cases, which became moot when the death penalty was abolished in Illinois in 2011. SB 1830 would apply the same safeguards in murder, sexual assault and arson cases. Read more here from NPR.