Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed bringing back the death penalty in the state for certain cases on Monday.
Rauner says the reinstatement of the death penalty in Illinois would be specifically for mass murderers and for those who kill law enforcement officers, NBC Chicago reports.
"There must be a burden of proof where a person is guilty beyond all doubt," Rauner said.
Illinois has not put a criminal to death since the 1999 execution of Andrew Kokoraleis. Then-Gov. George Ryan put the practice on hold after learning that more than a dozen death row prisoners were actually innocent according to NBC Chicago.
In 2011, then-Gov. Pat Quinn officially signed a bill repealing the death penalty.
Rauner's notion to bring back the death penalty was part of an amendatory veto of House Bill 1468, which would have implemented a 72-hour waiting period on the sale of assault weapons in Illinois. The veto expands that waiting period proposal to all gun sales in the state.
