United States Ex Rel. Free v. Peters

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ASPEN, District Judge:

Today we resolve the following challenges to the constitutionality of the Illinois death penalty scheme, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 38, 119-1: (1) that the statute and jury instructions impose a presumption in favor of death in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution (Ground 5) 1 ; (2) that the act is unconstitutionally vague and fails to narrowly channel and guide the sentencing authority’s discretion, thereby creating the impermissible risk that the death sentence will be imposed arbitrarily and…