ath
             penalty moratorium. Michelle Stevens, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times,
             reported that in 1998 Illinois State Representative Coy Pugh (D-Chicago)
             introduced a resolution calling for a bi-partisan panel to study the death
             penalty in Illinois. During the study all executions would be postponed.
             This proposal was initially killed but revived following the recent
             Yet, this call for a moratorium on the death penalty is not the first time
             that state executions have been opposed. Throughout its history capital
             punishment has been opposed on many premises. In discussion forums across
             the world many individuals often cite deterrence of crime as a viable
             defense of capital punishment. However, comprehensive studies, including the
             1994 FBI Uniform crime Report, indicate that capital punishment does not
             serve as a deterrent to crime. According to the American Civil Liberties
             Union, the death penalty not only does not deter crime- among states that
             have either abolished or instituted the death penalty crime and murder rates
             have remained unchanged. Additionally, Eric Pooley of Time magazine, in his
             research, reports that no proof exists to substantiate claims that capital
             punishment discourages crime by anyone other than the criminals whom are
             executed. Glenn Lammi, of the Washington Legal Foundation is quoted as
             saying that "there are no convincing studies" [connecting] the death penalty
             In the absence of persuasive studies linking capital punishment and crime
             rates, who better to turn to than the individuals who walk the thin blue
             line- law enforcement officials may be better equipped to address this
             subject. Time magazine reports that 67% of polled police chiefs also did not
             believe that the death penalty deters [crime such as] homicide.
             According to a 1994 Government Accounting Office report (GAO) substantial
             evidence indicates that co...