I don't want any of my tax dollars going to feed, shelter and comfort anyone on death row. Runge raped and killed a ten year old ... and now I (we) get to take care of him. Quinn, you screwed up again!

What is wrong with Quinnocchio? Maybe these rapists and murderers should move in with him :)

Leave it to a freaking liberal to overturn the will of the people (jury.) He was sentenced to death and that's what he should get. I grew up in Oak Forest and knew Paul before he flipped out. I also knew the 13 yr old girl he rapped and basically got away with because he was a minor. He deserves his place in Hell, let him go.

All these states that don't want the death penalty should be forced to fund a national supermax prison to house them all - oh, and sheriff Joe (AZ) should be made the warden.

You have got to be kidding me. Let's support these criminals for the rest of our lives when we can barely feed ourselves. Totally ridiculous............Wow... just keeps coming.

As angry as I am about Quinn's decision, it's almost like nothing has changed. We've got inmates who have been on death row for years, some for decades. If the states would set a limit on the time to file an appeal and then being that to court immediately, we wouldn't be paying to house, feed, clothe and medical expenses for these................I don't even know what to call them. If there is no substantial new evidence to change the verdict, then flip the switch and be done with this scourge on humanity. The state is broke and in debt up to their ears, but now we decide to pay to keep these animals alive for decades to come. Just one more reason we want to move out of Illinois.

I hate this BASTARD!!! GOV. Quinn you are as bad as the last 3 or 4 Govs If I had the back bone I'd kill Paul F. Runge If the state did there job right the 1st time he was in jail Stacey and the others would be alive

Bring back the firing squad and don't give them f'ers any speaks or last cig

Oops I meant appeals

I wonder how he would feel if it was his wife and daughter? I am sure Runge would be dead already.

If this is about money, it costs less to house them for life than to execute them. So this is a money saving measure. There is a lot of published information supporting this. in the state that loves to execute people, Texas, it costs $2.3 million for a death penalty case. This is more than what it would cost for a single cell in a maximum security prison for 40 years. So this is not about money, but revenge. While this puke here is a poster boy for the death penalty, too many innocent people have been falsely convicted. Better to leave a hundred of this kind locked up for the rest of their miserable lives than to kill one innocent person.

The crimes of which these men were convicted are disgusting. However, I am not sure that society should be in the business of putting anyone to death. It's not as though these men are being set free. Like MANY other inmates, they are serving life without parole. Of course it costs taxpayer money, but it costs us money to house millions of inmates, ranging from petty crimes to the most heinous. The appeals process in death penalty cases is also very costly, and that will be mitigated a bit by this decision.

I applaud the Governor for this decision, and hope it can lead to a serious discussion about our prison system. However, we first need to get past the emotional reaction of feeling like these men got a "break" of some kind.

If you are against abortion, it's hard to be for the death penalty. Many of us in our area are active in churches that honor life. It's perfectly understandable to hate Runge for what he did. He should never be released from prison. With everyone like him, it's right to say, throw away the key. But, it's wrong to kill him. Thank you, Governor Quinn, for making a hard but necessary decision.

How about we let the victim's family decide what they want to do with them. No one can honestly say what they would do and how they would feel if confronted with the death of your child by some violent act. What about the man who ate the flesh of a child? Would it really be ok to let him live? I hope I am never in that position. My heart goes out to the families that have to go thru such hell with losing some one and the person who does it gets to live.

Yet another reason why I didn't vote for Mr Quinn.. Next time maybe everyone will learn and vote republican because this would have been a death sentence! Do you think Brady would have saved this guy?? Negative.

The death penalty is simply wrong. Killing people is wrong. The government spends billions housing criminals of all sorts. Life without the possibility of parole sounds like an appropriate punishment.

Seriously? Let me get this straight, it's o.k. for the criminals to kill people, but, it's not o.k. for the state to do it? I agree that there are some innocent people on death row, but, after a certain amount of time has lapsed for appeals, get it done already. And as for the ones where there is DNA proof of guilt? Why should they even be allowed an appeal? This is wrong on soo many levels.

The problem why this piece of garbage is going to live is not just due to a spineless govenor but to the hundreds of overzealous prosecutors and police officers. Look at all of the innocent people being freed from prison due to be falsely prosecuted and sent to prison. The States Attorney should be looking at all of the past cases and doing DNA etc. Police Officers and Prosecutors are only concerned about numbers, thats it. What ever happened to justice, one of the very values this country was founded on. Oh, thats right, witout hign numbers these people can't get promoted. I have an idea, how about charging the Prosecutors and Police Officers with a crime when the false accuse and prosecute an innocent person. If a falsely accused person is then sentenced to death or awaiting to be sentenced to death, how about charging them with murder or attempted murder. This way they will understand the importance of justice. The governor shouldn't of ended the death penalty, he should of overhauled the system.

I feel that it was wrong to go against what the jury of peers decided. A group of minds came to a decision after exaustive discussion but that is reversed by one single mind? Shouldn't be possible but another flaw in the system I think. I don't think of it as society making the decision to kill a peron. Is that really a right society has? I think of it as the decision was made by the criminal and society has the right to determine guilt or innocence and distribute the punishment that was already earned by the decisions of the criminal. I will not vote for Quinn again of course.

Let me tell you from first hand experience... he should be DEAD he shouldn't be able to take a breath period because he isn't one of the the INNOCENT ones.. he admitted to the murders isn't that enough? My mother is laying 6 feet underground and will never take a breath again thanks to THIS MONSTER. I an effed up for life and go through struggles everyday and not a day goes by when I don't think about what it would be like is THIS MAN never came to my house and did what he did to my mother. it's disgusting and it breaks my heart every minute of the day.

I am sorry Ashley. I know how you feel.. My Dad was murdered during a robbery when I was a teenager. People who have not been through this do not understand. Frederick should die a horrible death and so should his idiot wife .. And the Governor should be put under the prison!

Eye for an eye. When he confessed to these unthinkable crimes, he should have been 'put down' like the rabid dog he is. ~God Bless these poor families who have lived through hell on earth.~

I just finished watching a documentary on this evil person. After he was confronted with the DNA evidence, he confessed. I think it's criminal to commute the sentence to life without parole after jury(s) and Judge(s) have passed a death sentence. My heart goes out to these families who have been forever wounded; not only by the evil Paul Runge, but certainly by Gov. Quinn as well.