DICKIE GAINES RELEASED FROM DEATH ROW AFTER SENTENCE REDUCTION
Dickie Gaines, sentenced to death in 1979, was the first Illinois death row prisoner to exhaust his state postconviction remedies and proceed to federal habeas corpus review of his death sentence and conviction. The MacArthur Justice Center represented Gaines in his habeas proceedings and won a new sentencing hearing for him. MJC attorney David Bradford won a life verdict for Gaines at a jury sentencing hearing in Cook County Circuit Court. Ultimately, Gaines' sentence was further reduced to a term of years, and he was released from prison. Gaines is now employed as a prison rights activist in Chicago.
