By RFD Radio/WFMB

SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the University of Illinois-Springfield based Illinois Innocence Project aren’t exactly embracing talk of restoring the death penalty in Illinois.

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently said he wants the death penalty to be restored for mass murderers and cop killers.

Executive Director John Hanlon was unpleasantly surprised to see the issue bubble back to the surface.

“We thought it was over, that people had learned lessons about the human frailties that led to mistakes of the ultimate mistake of putting someone on death row,” Hanlon said.

Hanlon said evidence is rarely 100-percent foolproof, which is why he thinks the Rauner Administration’s talk of using the death penalty when there is a case “without a reasonable doubt.”

“That is such a red herring, I hope people don’t even considering falling for that,” Hanlon said. “Beyond all doubt just becomes another box on a piece of paper for a juror to check. It’s pure garbage in, garbage out.”

During his time at the Illinois State Appellate Defender’s office, Hanlon represented four of the 21 wrongfully convicted individuals who were later released to freedom from Illinois’ death row.

Hanlon also disputes claims that putting someone to death in less expensive that keeping them in prison. He calls the death penalty a ‘financial boondoggle.’