SPRINGFIELD – For the first time in more than a third of a century, Illinois law does not include capital punishment.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Wednesday in Springfield repealing the death penalty that has been on the books since 1977.

Quinn's action followed dramatic House and Senate debate and votes in January to repeal the death penalty. Illinois is now the 15th state to rescind its death penalty law.

The governor said he believed Illinois' "system of imposing the death penalty is inherently flawed. The evidence presented to me by former prosecutors and judges with decades of experience in the criminal justice system has convinced me that it is impossible to devise a system that is consistent, that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, geography or economic circumstance, and that always gets it right."

Within two hours of Quinn's bill-signing, which was conducted privately in his office with supporters and sponsors of the repeal, three west suburban Republican lawmakers criticized the decision. Two have introduced legislation aimed at undoing the repeal.

Rep. Dennis Reboletti, R-Elmhurst, noted that Quinn had said in the past that he supported the death penalty.

"He has stated that the will of the people should be the law of the land," Reboletti said, noting that he is sponsoring legislation calling for a nonbinding statewide referendum on the death penalty. The bill is stuck in the House Rules Committee.

Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, is sponsor of a bill to reinstate the death penalty for "the worst of the worst" offenses, including serial killers and murderers of children, police and correctional officers. Dillard's legislation would not leave the decision to prosecute death penalty cases to local state's attorneys but would leave it with a statewide panel of five people, including the attorney general, the Cook County state's attorney, the president of the Illinois State's Attorney's Association, another state's attorney appointed by the governor and a retired judge appointed by the governor.

"I've moved a great deal in my personal thinking on the death penalty," Dillard said. "I know its pitfalls. I know we have to have a perfectly flawless system. But I believe that a majority of Illinoisans believe that we should continue the death penalty for the worst of the worst."

Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, disputed the notion that Illinois' death penalty system is still flawed after several legislative reforms have been passed in the last decade. He said Illinois' system "is better than any other state in the union" and that the 15 men who had been on Illinois' death row until Wednesday "have been given more than due process."

"Our system is not broken. It was fixed," Durkin said. He said he does not believe the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but "it is important to have the option available. A lot of times we forget about the families that lost somebody. If this penalty is available, this option, to bring closure to those families, I think we need to have that."

But Quinn noted that 20 people on death row in Illinois have been exonerated since 1977, including seven since a capital punishment moratorium was imposed in 2000 by former Gov. George Ryan.

"That is a record that should trouble us all," he said. "To say that this is unacceptable does not even begin to express the profound regret and shame we as a society must bear for these failures of justice."

In abolishing the death penalty, Quinn also commuted the death sentences of 15 men, including Anthony Mertz, who was convicted of the 2001 rape, murder and mutilation of Shannon McNamara, a student at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

"When we abolish the death penalty in Illinois, we should abolish it for everyone," Quinn said.

Mertz and the other 14 are now in prison for natural life, without the possibility of parole or release.

State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, a former prosecutor whose district includes Charleston, decried the decision to commute Mertz's death sentence.

"There was absolutely no doubt about his guilt," Rose said. "I don't think this is right. There are cases where the crime is so heinous and there's absolutely no doubt, that death is the appropriate sentence. I think it was a lawful and appropriate sentence in his case."

McNamara's mother, Cindy, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, sent a letter to Quinn urging him to retain the death penalty.

"We have the death penalty for a reason. This is the reason!" she wrote.

Meanwhile, Quinn said "that if he was in my shoes I think Abraham Lincoln would have signed the legislation that I signed. I think this is a decision that is in the best interest of our state and our people."