Category Archives: Viva!

As a proud Israeli I want peace. Killing Gazans won’t bring that | Maya Ilany | Opinion | The Guardian

Israel’s rightwing politicians claim to be the only ones who can be trusted with the country’s security, yet they show a reckless disregard for the dangerous consequences of their policies. Though Netanyahu’s government only has a majority of six seats, in the absence of a well-functioning opposition, he is still seen by Israelis to be the only leader who can provide them with security. The chair of the Knesset defence committee, Avi Dichter, said he isn’t worried about the prospect of a border breach because “the IDF has enough bullets for everyone”. The deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, said that the events in Gaza have nothing to do with the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem.

As a proud Israeli who wants my homeland to be safe and secure, these hollow and simplistic statements just won’t do. The Israeli government, which leads a state founded by Jewish refugees from all over the world 70 years ago who chose to take their fate into their own hands, is saying that the status quo is the only option. Meanwhile Palestinians are paying for the lack of brave leadership with their blood. Even if – for the sake of argument – all those who were killed on Monday had been terrorists, and the soldiers had no other choice, what next? What is the Israeli and Palestinian leadership doing to avoid the next round of violence and avoid further loss of life? If our leaders have no answers to these questions, then we need new leaders. • Maya Ilany is the deputy director of Yachad, and spent three years in the Israeli Defence Force

Source: As a proud Israeli I want peace. Killing Gazans won’t bring that | Maya Ilany | Opinion | The Guardian

Canada says it will cover losses in bid to finish Trans Mountain oil pipeline

Pipeline to endtime for panet!

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Pipeline builder had threatened to cancel the project as British Columbia blocks expansion on environmental grounds

Related: Canada quarrel pits British Columbia against Alberta in battle of oil and wine

Canada’s federal government will cover financial losses a pipeline builder might suffer if British Columbia’s provincial government continues to obstruct the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion said Bill Morneau, the country’s finance minister, on Wednesday.

Continue reading…

Mysterious rise in banned ozone-destroying chemical shocks scientists

Oops! Holy Ozone!

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CFCs have been outlawed for years but researchers have detected new production somewhere in east Asia

A sharp and mysterious rise in emissions of a key ozone-destroying chemical has been detected by scientists, despite its production being banned around the world.

Unless the culprit is found and stopped, the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, could be delayed by a decade. The source of the new emissions has been tracked to east Asia, but finding a more precise location requires further investigation.

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Canada: Doug Ford rebuked after supporter chanted ‘lock her up’

Just what Canada does not need a clown posing as a political leader!

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Frontrunner for Ontario premier, the brother of former Toronto mayor Rob, has frequently rejected comparisons with Donald Trump

Doug Ford, the populist frontrunner in the race to become leader of Canada’s most populous province, has been accused of promoting “irresponsible rhetoric” after a supporter chanted “lock her up” about his rival at a campaign rally.

Related: Doug Ford supporters at Ontario debate revealed to be paid actors

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Emerg. Infect. & Microbes: Novel Triple-Reassortant influenza Viruses In Pigs, Guangxi, China

Yikes!

Triple%2BReassortment%2BIn%2BSwine%2BHos

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As pork production rises around the world – particularly in countries where there is poor biosecurity and little surveillance – the risks of seeing another novel swine flu virus emerge as a pandemic threat continues to grow. 

While we watch avian H5 & H7 flu viruses with particular concern – mainly due to their high mortality rates in humans – swine, or swine-avian-human triple reassortant viruses – are perhaps even more likely to emerge as a pandemic threat.

Two and a half years ago, Chen Hualan – director of China’s National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory – gave an interview to Xinhua where she pegged the EA (Eurasian Avian-like) H1N1 swine virus (EAH1N1) as having perhaps the greatest pandemic potential of any of the novel viruses in circulation.

Avian-like H1N1 swine flu may “pose highest pandemic threat”: study

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — The Eurasian avian-like H1N1 (EAH1N1) swine flu viruses, which have circulated in pigs since 1979, have obtained the ability to infect humans and may “pose the highest pandemic threat” among the flu viruses currently circulating in animals, Chinese researchers said Monday.

“Pigs are considered important intermediate hosts for flu viruses,” Chen Hualan, director of China’s National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, who led the study, said in an written interview with Xinhua.

“Based on scientific analysis and comprehensive comparison of the main animal flu viruses: H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H7N9, H9N2 and EAH1N1, we found the EAH1N1 is the one most likely to cause next human flu pandemic. We should attach great importance to the EAH1N1.”

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And indeed, we’ve been following the evolution of EAH1N1, along with other novel swine-origin viruses in China, with considerable interest.  A few recent blogs include:

Emerg. Microbes & Infect.: Effect Of D701N Substitution In PB2 Of EAH1N1 Swine Flu Viruses

J. Virology: A Single Amino Acid Change Alters Transmissability Of EAH1N1 In Guinea Pigs

Emerg. Microbes & Inf.: Pathogenicity & Transmission Of A Swine Influenza A(H6N6) Virus – China

Lest anyone think this is strictly a Chinese problem, we’ve also spent considerable time looking at the evolution and emergence of North American, European, and South American swine flu viruses as well.  Regions not mentioned are likely to have little or no surveillance and reporting.

I&ORV: Triple-Reassortant Novel H3 Virus of Human/Swine Origin Established In Danish Pigs

EID Journal: Characterization of a Novel Human Influenza A(H1N2) Virus Variant, Brazil

MMWR: Investigation Into H3N2v Outbreak In Ohio & Michigan – Summer 2016

J. Virol: Novel Reassortant Human-like H3N2 & H3N1 Influenza A Viruses In Pigs

And as we discussed yesterday (see PNAS: Broad Receptor Engagement of PDCoV May Potentiate Its Cross-Species Transmissibility), influenza isn’t the only zoonotic disease concern when it comes to pigs.

Nature’s Scientific Reports carries two related studies (albeit by different authors) on influenza in China’s commercial swine production industry.  The first, which is linked below with a short quote, is an article on surveillance.

Prospective surveillance for influenza. virus in Chinese swine farms

Benjamin D. Anderson, Mai-Juan Ma, Guo-Lin Wang, Zhen-Qiang Bi, Bing Lu, Xian-Jun Wang, Chuang-Xin Wang, Shan-Hui Chen, Yan-Hua Qian, Shao-Xia Song, Min Li, Teng Zhao, Meng-Na Wu, Laura K. Borkenhagen, Wu-Chun Cao & Gregory C. Gray

Excerpt

Overall, these first year data suggest that IAV is quite ubiquitous in the swine production environment and demonstrate an association between the different types of environmental sampling used. Given the mounting evidence that some of these viruses freely move between pigs and swine workers, and that mixing of these viruses can yield progeny viruses with pandemic potential, it seems imperative that routine surveillance for novel IAVs be conducted in commercial swine farms.

The second study (below) tells us a lot more about the growing number of novel triple reassortant swine-origin flu viruses circulating in Guangxi, China over the past few years.

Out of 15 isolates selected, researchers found 10 novel reassortant viruses (see chart below), all hybrids of EAH1N1, H1N1/09, CS H1N1, and HL H3N2, and all reportedly replicated in mice without adaptation, with several proving to be lethal. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41426-018-0088-z

Being a snapshot in time, and taken from a single Chinese province (ranked 11th in population), this likely only reveals a fraction of the viral diversity on Chinese pig farms.

I’ve only posted the link, abstract, and as short excerpt from the discussion. Follow the link below to read it in its entirety.

Novel triple-reassortant influenza viruses in pigs, Guangxi, China 

Ping He, Guojun Wang, Yanning Mo, Qingxiong Yu, Xiong Xiao, Wenjuan Yang,
Weifeng Zhao, Xuan Guo, Qiong Chen, Jianqiao He, Mingli Liang, Jian Zhu, Yangbao Ding, Zuzhang Wei, Kang Ouyang, Fang Liu, Hui Jian, Weijian Huang,
Adolfo García-Sastre & Ying Chen

Emerging Microbes & Infections volume 7, Article number: 85 (2018)
doi:10.1038/s41426-018-0088-z


Published:16 May 2018

Abstract

Considered a “mixing vessel” for influenza viruses, pigs can give rise to new influenza virus reassortants that can threaten humans. During our surveillance of pigs in Guangxi, China from 2013 to 2015, we isolated 11 H1N1 and three H3N2 influenza A viruses of swine origin (IAVs-S). 

Out of the 14, we detected ten novel triple-reassortant viruses, which contained surface genes (hemagglutinin and neuraminidase) from Eurasian avian-like (EA) H1N1 or seasonal human-like H3N2, matrix (M) genes from H1N1/2009 pandemic or EA H1N1, nonstructural (NS) genes from classical swine, and the remaining genes from H1N1/2009 pandemic. 

Mouse studies indicate that these IAVs-S replicate efficiently without prior adaptation, with some isolates demonstrating lethality. Notably, the reassortant EA H1N1 viruses with EA-like M gene have been reported in human infections. Further investigations will help to assess the potential risk of these novel triple-reassortant viruses to humans.

       (SNIP)

Currently, influenza A H1N1 and H3N2 viruses are the circulating seasonal influenza A viruses subtypes in human. The H1N1/2009 pandemic became the current seasonal H1N1 virus.

Our EA H1N1 HAs share < 73.7 and 78.1% similarity with the H1N1/2009 pandemic vaccine strain (A/Michigan/45/2015 H1N1), at nucleotide level and amino acid level, respectively. Our H3N2 IAVs-S share < 94.1 and 91.5% similarity with the H3N2 vaccine strain (A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 H3N2), at nucleotide level and amino acid level, respectively.

Studies have reported that seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine induce poor cross-reactive antibodies to EA H1N1 virus23 and does not protect against swine H3N257. Importantly, according to the risk assessment tool, which is developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States to evaluate the pandemic potential of different influenza strains58, we found that the EA H1N1 and swine H3N2 viruses are among the animal viruses with the highest risk score in Yang’s analysis26. Besides, at least one human infection with a similar reassortant IAV-S has been reported22.

We suggest that intensive surveillance of IAV-S and of swine-to-human infections with the IAV-S described in our study should be a priority for future research.

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Laila… what was her guilt to be killed? ليلى..بأي ذنب قتلت؟

“”What is the guilt of these children?
These young men and adults?
What guilt did a handicapped commit to being killed?
What sin does a child have to perish?
Why did Laila perish at the age eight months?
Do not lay the responsibility of our weakness on the victims.
Do not carry those who stand on the lines of fire and face aggression with their bare bodies, our falsified testimony to the occurring crimes.
The injustice that Gaza has been subjected to over the years is intolerable.
What we see is real heroism.
Un-armed bodies, young souls, lives annihilating in front of tyranny and massive military mechanisms.
The spirit of Laila and her fellow martyrs will be roaming above our fossilized hearts. Laila’s eyes, which were extinguished too early, will ask about the feasibility of seeing in a human being whose heart has been blinded.
I don’t find better than Mahmoud Darwish’s words about Gaza to close with :
“Because time in Gaza is not a neutral element … it does not push people to the coldness of observation … but it drives them to burst and to be influenced by the truth.
Time there does not take children from childhood to old age but makes them men in the first encounter with the enemy.
Time in Gaza is not relaxed but storming the burning afternoon … because the values in Gaza vary .. differ
The only benefit of the occupied is the extent of his resistance to the occupation.
It is the only competition there.
Gaza has become addicted to knowing this superior and cruel value. It has not learned from books or from urgent courses
Neither loud trumpets nor loudspeakers.
Gazans have learned it by experiment alone and with work that is not for advertising and image. ”

نادية حرحش

English follows

تملأ الصفحات أسماء وصور شهداء العودة، تحكي قصصاً لحياة كانت بالكاد تبدأ، أحلام وتوقعات، آمال وطموحات بالكاد ترى افقاً خارج حدود الحصار من كل الاتجاهات.

لوم وتساؤلات، عتب ومطالبة بمسؤوليات.

بين من يحمّل المسؤولين في غزة وزر القتل والذبح الحاصل، وبين من يتساءل عن سلاح المقاومة، يبقى الضحايا من الجرحى والشهداء هم أسياد الموقف.

هناك من يروج لفكرة ان ما يحدث من تعريض الابرياء للقتل ليس الا محاولة لفضح الاحتلال وبالتالي ما يجري من قتل يتحمل مسؤوليته اولياء الامر في البلاد.

وهناك من يروج في صحافة أخرى ان جيش الاحتلال يقتل اولئك المدججون بالسلاح من المصطفين على الحدود الشائكة، وهناك منهم من يروج بأن اولئك قد تم الدفع لهم مسبقاً من اجل ان يموتوا.

والحقيقة لا ارى فرقا بين اعلام يحمل القيادة في غزة المسؤولية عن قتل المتظاهرين وبين اعلام يحمل القتلى والجرحى المسؤولية عن قتلهم.

كعادة الحروب المستمرة هناك حسابات تدفع من قبل الشعب وتؤخذ من قبل…

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Facebook lets advertisers target users based on sensitive interests

Social network categorises users based on inferred interests such as Islam or homosexuality

Facebook allows advertisers to target users it thinks are interested in subjects such as homosexuality, Islam or liberalism, despite religion, sexuality and political beliefs explicitly being marked out as sensitive information under new data protection laws.

The social network gathers information about users based on their actions on Facebook and on the wider web, and uses that data to predict on their interests. These can be mundane – football, Manhattan or dogs, for instance – or more esoteric.

Continue reading…

Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1): a primer

What is HTLV-1?

HTLV-1 is a human delta retrovirus assigned to the genus Deltaretrovirus, species Primate T-lymphotropic virus 1 [5]. It was first described in 1980.[10]

ViralZone:www.expasy.org/viralzone,
SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics [6]

Soon thereafter Japanese researchers identified endemic virus, especially in southwestern Japan.[8,9]

These viruses infect a cell and make new DNA from their RNA genetic blueprint using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase.[7] This DNA then acts as a blueprint to manufacture more RNA and then viral proteins. The DNA form inserts into a random site in the host cell genome.[19] This form of HTLV-1 is called the provirus. The order of making RNA first then DNA is the reverse (retro) of the usual ‘direction’ of protein manufacture in human cells which is from DNA to RNA to protein.

HTLV-1 infects T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts, using a common molecular, ubiquitous cell surface molecule, the glucose transporter 1, as its receptor.[12]

HTLV-1 is established mostly in resource-limited regions of the world, infecting an estimated 10-20 million people.[9] Australia hosts the distinct HTLV-1c strain although little is known about its distribution.[1,17] It is predicted that HTLV-1c arrived and then divided into at least 2 further distinct groups (clades) around 3,000-9,000 years ago.[17,18]

In Australia, HTLV-1 infection occurs in the middle of the country (‘central Australia’ mostly reported in the Northern Territory but also Western Australia and South Australia) and antibodies in sera collected in 1956 from Aboriginal Australians in Cape York, Queensland.[20] In some communities, greater than 40% of Aboriginal Australian adults are HTLV-1 infected.[13]

An HTLV-1 timeline. Some discoveries of interest are shown. Click to enlarge.

What does HTLV-1 do?

Infection is generally without symptoms. In 3-5% of those infected develop a highly malignant T-cell neoplasm known as adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL).[11] This can take decades to develop. There is an estimated 23.6 ATLL cases /100,000 population among Australian adult HTLV-1 carriers.[16]

Infection can also result in HTLV-1-associated-myeIopathy/tropical-spastic-paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and other inflammatory diseases involving the lungs, central nervous system and eyes.[1,10]

Crusted scabies has also been described as a marker for HTLV-1 infection.[2,3]

Bronchiectasis is the most common evidence of HTLV-1 infection among Aboriginal Australians.[1] 

How is HTLV-1 transmitted?

Epidemiological aspects and world distribution of HTLV-1 infection. Gessain & Cassar 2012. Front. Microbiol., 15 November 2012  [8]

The virus can be passed to a susceptible new host via prolonged breastfeeding, sexual transmission ( 4X more frequently male to female[9]),  via HTLV-1-contaminated blood or blood-product transfusion or intravenous drug use.[8]

Japan successfully deployed a program to reduce transmission methods to reduce mother-to-child-transmission.[14]

How do we test for HTLV-1?

Detecting the presence of antibody to viral proteins as a result of infection is a widely used and relatively inexpensive method that fits into the workflow of the modern serology laboratory. Specificity issues were an early and ongoing issue.[8]

The detection of proviral DNA using PCR methods is a sensitive way to identify infected blood cells. Enhanced methods can quantify how much provirus is present which is related to disease progression. A typical healthy infected person may have proviral DNA in 0.1-1% of peripheral blood cells.[10] Virus levels are generally stable but a rise has been associated with the development of HAM/TSP and proviral load is higher in bronchiectasis.[10,15] 

References…

  1. Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1c subtype proviral loads, chronic lung disease and survival in a prospective cohort of Indigenous Australians.
    http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006281
  2. Crusted scabies: a clinical marker of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 infection in central Australia.
    https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2014/200/11/crusted-scabies-clinical-marker-human-t-lymphotropic-virus-type-1-infection
  3. HTLV-I and scabies in Australian Aborigines
    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PII0140-6736(93)91186-P/abstract
  4. Human T-lymphotropic virus 1: recent knowledge about an ancient infection
  5. https://talk.ictvonline.org/ictv-reports/ictv_9th_report/reverse-transcribing-dna-and-rna-viruses-2011/w/rt_viruses/161/retroviridae
  6. https://viralzone.expasy.org/59
  7. Retrovirus
    https://www.britannica.com/science/retrovirus
  8. Epidemiological aspects and world distribution of HTLV-1 infection
    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00388/full
  9. HTLV-1 infections
    http://jcp.bmj.com/content/53/8/581
  10. Detection and isolation of type c retrovirus particles from fresh and cultured lymphocytes of a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC350514/
  11. HTLV-1 Infection and Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma—A Tale of Two Proteins: Tax and HBZ
    http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/8/6/161
  12. The Ubiquitous Glucose Transporter GLUT-1 Is a Receptor for HTLV
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00881-X
  13. The prevalence and clinical associations of HTLV-1 infection in a remote Indigenous community
    https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/205/7/prevalence-and-clinical-associations-htlv-1-infection-remote-indigenous
  14. Establishment of the milk-borne transmission as a key factor for the peculiar endemicity of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1): the ATL Prevention Program Nagasaki
    https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/pjab/87/4/87_4_152/_article
  15. Higher Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Subtype C Proviral Loads Are Associated With
    Bronchiectasis in Indigenous Australians: Results of a Case-Control Study
    https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ofid/ofu023
  16. Variant Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1c and Adult T-cell Leukemia, Australia
    https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/10/13-0105_article
  17. Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Subtype C Molecular Variants among Indigenous Australians: New Insights into the Molecular Epidemiology of HTLV-1 in Australo-Melanesia
    http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0002418
  18. Detailed phylogenetic analysis of primate T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (PTLV-1) sequences from orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) reveals new insights into the evolutionary history of PTLV-1 in Asia
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567134816302180
  19. Nonspecific integration of the HTLV provirus genome into adult T-cell leukaemia cells.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6328324
  20. Antibodies to HTLV‐I in populations of the southwestern Pacific
    https://ift.tt/2GqBKQG

The post Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1): a primer appeared first on Virology Down Under.

Illinois Governor Uses Gun-Control Veto to Attempt to Re-Enact Death Penalty

What follows is the definition of a political A-hole trying to save his skin by “looking” tough and undermining the democratic process!

lllinois Governor Bruce Rauner has conditionally vetoed a gun-control initiative unless the legislature agrees to reinstate capital punishment in the state. Exercising an amendatory veto—a power some governors are granted that permits them to amend legislation in lieu of an outright veto—Rauner called for making the killing of a police officer or any murder in which more than one person was killed a new crime of “death penalty murder.” In a May 14, 2018 news conference at the Illinois State Police forensic laboratory in Chicago, Rauner said “individuals who commit mass murder, individuals who choose to murder a law enforcement officer, they deserve to have their life taken.” He attached his death-penalty plan and several other gun-control amendments to a bill that would have established a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of assault rifles in Illinois. Legislative leaders and major Illinois newspapers blasted the action as diversionary political gamesmanship by a weakened governor facing a difficult re-election campaign, and said the death-penalty plan had little chance of enactment. Democratic state Rep. Jonathan Carroll, the gun-control bill’s sponsor, said the governor had not consulted him about possible changes and had “hijacked my bill and put politics ahead of policy.” Senate President John Cullerton said: “The death penalty should never be used as a political tool to advance one’s agenda. Doing so is in large part why we had so many problems and overturned convictions. That’s why we had bipartisan support to abolish capital punishment.” Thomas Sullivan, the co-chair of Commission on Capital Punishment in Illinois appointed by Republican Gov. George Ryan, said Rauner’s plan was a “lousy idea.” He called the death penalty expensive and time-consuming, and said, “It doesn’t reduce crime.” The Chicago Tribune editorial board characterized Rauner’s amendatory veto as “cynical” and a “death penalty ploy” that the paper said was intended “to re-establish [Rauner’s] bona fides with disgruntled conservative Republicans.” A Chicago Sun-Times editorial said the governor knew he was “load[ing] up the bill with so many major new provisions that there is no way” the state legislature would approve it, enabling Rauner to claim he “didn’t technically kill the cooling off period … without strictly telling a lie.” In 2000, after a series of death-row exonerations, Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in Illinois and appointed the commission, and in 2003 commuted the sentences of everyone on the state’s death row. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill to abolish the state’s death penalty in 2011. The Tribune editorial said: “The death penalty issue in Illinois was examined and debated for years in light of notorious incidents of wrongly convicted defendants sent to death row. In Illinois, the legitimate sentiment of many that certain heinous criminals should be put to death was weighed against the risk of errors, and the decision was made to end capital punishment. … [N]othing has changed to make Rauner’s [May 14] announcement worthy of consideration.”

Rauner’s plan would mandate the death penalty upon conviction of “death penalty murder.” A conviction would require proof “beyond all doubt” and appeals courts would conduct an independent review of the evidence without deferring to the jury’s judgment. Although the jury would be told a death sentence would be imposed upon conviction, there would be a separate hearing before a judge in which the defendant would present mitigating circumstances in an attempt to spare his or her life. Mandatory death sentences and falsely instructing juries about the law both violate the constitution, and the judicial factfinding provision may violate a capital defendant’s right to a jury trial. 

A Death Penalty Information Center analysis of U.S. murder data from 1987 through 2015 has found no evidence that the death penalty deters murder or protects police. Instead, the evidence shows that murder rates, including murders of police officers, are consistently higher in death-penalty states than in states that have abolished capital punishment. The data showed that 18 of the 20 states that have the highest rate of officer victimization are death-penalty states, while 8 of the 9 safest states for police officers do not have the death penalty. The study hypothesized that if the death penalty contributed to the safety of police officers, death penalty states would experience comparatively fewer killings of police officers as a percentage of all murders. But the data showed no such effects, and states without the death penalty—including Illinois—comprised 9 of the 10 states with the smallest percentage of homicides involving law-enforcement victims. 

(Kim Geiger, Monique Garcia, and Dan Hinkel, Rauner proposes reinstating death penalty in Illinois, which outlawed it earlier this decade, Chicago Tribune, May 14, 2018; John O’Connor, Gov. Rauner seeks to reinstate death penalty, Associated Press, May 14, 2018; Editorial: Rauner’s death penalty ploy, Chicago Tribune, May 14, 2018; EDITORIAL: Bruce Rauner plays pure politics with death penalty and guns, Chicago Sun-Times, May 14, 2018.) Read Governor Rauner’s amendatory veto message. See Editorials and Recent Legislative Activity.

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