Republican Representative David McSweeney of Barrington Hills has filed legislation to reinstate the death penalty in Illinois, calling it an “effective tool” to dissuade violent crime He first announced his intention to introduce the bill in August, after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people. The Capital Crimes Litigation Act of 2019, filed Thursday, would restore state death penalty law to what it was eight years ago, before former Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law eliminating the measure.
