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Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois represented in the General assembly That in all convictions for the crime of Manslaughter hereafter committed the punishment
shall be by confinement in the Penitentiary for any term not exceeding ten years and
fined not exceeding one thousand dollars2
Sec. 2. The term of three years prescribed in the forty seventh section of the aforesaid
act prescribing the limits of imprisonment for the crime of Mahem is hereby declared to be extended to fifteen years for such crime committed hereafter.3
Sec. 3. If any person being an elector shall vote more than once as prescribed in the
one hundred and thirty ninth section of the act aforesaid, or if any person knowing
himself not to be a legal voter.4 shall vote at any such election every person so offending shall be subject to indictment
and on conviction, shall be fined in a sum not less than one hundred nor more than
five hundred dollars. 5Provided always that any ^9^ free white male inhabitant whether naturalized or unnaturalized, who shall be twenty
one years of age and who shall have resided in the state of Illinois for six months next preceding any election and shall be an inhabitant of the county
in which he may have voted, shall be considered an elector and unless he shall vote
more than once at the same election6 shall not suffer the pains and penalties provide^d^ for by this section, any law, in any wise to the contrary notwithstanding.7 8
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An act to amend an act relative to criminal Jurisprudence
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02/[12]/[1841]
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Jud[Judiciary]
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[Tues?]. of passage
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[01]/[22]/[1861]
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Engrossed
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[02]/[19]/[1841]
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Laid on table
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02/11/1841
02/11/1841
passed
1Wickliffe Kitchell introduced HB 118 in the House of Representatives on January 16, 1841. On January 19, the House rejected an amendment abolishing capital
punishment by a vote of 33 yeas to 42 nays, with Abraham Lincoln not voting. The House amended the third section by striking out the words “knowingly”
and “not” after the word “person,” and inserting the words “knowing himself not to
be a legal voter.” The House further amended the third section by adding a proviso,
agreeing to the amendment by a vote of 58 yeas to 27 nays, with Lincoln not voting.
On February 6, the House amended the third section by adding after the word “and”
in the third line from the bottom the words “unless he shall vote more than once at
the same election.” The House rejected an amendment relating to confinement in the
State Penitentiary by a vote of 32 yeas to 39 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House amended the
third section by striking out the words “be punished by confinement in the penitentiary
for any term not more than two years,” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “shall
be fined in a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars,”
approving the amendment by a vote of 39 yeas to 34 nays, with Lincoln voting nay.
The House passed the bill as amended on February 11. On February 12, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary
reported back the bill on February 19, recommending its rejection. The Senate tabled
the bill.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 234, 246-47, 262, 344-45, 366-67, 368; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 293, 307, 349-50.
2Section 29 of the Criminal Code prescribed the punishment for manslaughter to be imprisonment
for up to three years and a fine of up to $1,000.
“An Act relative to Criminal Jurisprudence,” 1 July 1833, Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), 203.
3Section 47 of the Criminal Code prescribed the punishment for mayhem to be imprisonment
for 1-3 years.
“An Act relative to Criminal Jurisprudence,” 1 July 1833, Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), 206.
4On January 19, 1841, the House of Representatives added the words “knowing himself not to be a legal voter.”
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 247.
5On February 6, 1841, the House of Representatives added the words “shall be fined in a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more
than five hundred dollars.”
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 345.
6On February 6, 1841, the House of Representatives added the words “unless he shall vote more than once at the same election.”
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 344.
7On January 19, 1841, the House of Representatives added the proviso. Ebenezer Peck offered this amendment in response to a decision by Judge Daniel Stone, made in 1838, which denied the right of aliens to vote in his circuit. This case
went to the Illinois Supreme Court, which overturned Stone’s decision.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 247; Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL), 29 January 1841, 2:7, 3:1-2, 5.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 75, HB 118, GA Session 12-2,
Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,