It is a rare occassion I find myself in agreement with Irish American politicians from Illinois (King Richard Daley's machine still has a lot of political power, even downstate), especially a conservative Republican, no less. But it is nice to see even a politician do the right thing for the right reasons once in awhile. Too bad doing the right thing for the right reasons is so shocking!
From the Reuters website:
Illinois Gov. Commutes All Death Sentences Sat January 11, 2003 03:14 PM ET By Emily Kaiser
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Saying the death penalty system was broken, the governor of Illinois granted clemency to more than 150 death row inmates on Saturday, a move unprecedented since capital punishment was reinstated and likely to inflame a national death penalty debate.
Gov. George Ryan -- a Republican who leaves office Monday after one term -- stopped short of pardoning the prisoners but reduced their sentences to a maximum of life in prison.
"How many more cases of wrongful convictions have to occur before we can all agree that this system in Illinois is broken?" Ryan told a cheering audience at Northwestern University Law School that included several wrongfully convicted former death row inmates.
The blanket commutation follows an examination of the state's capital punishment system ordered nearly three years ago after investigations found that 13 prisoners on death row were innocent.
Ryan said he was a staunch supporter of the death penalty when he took office four years ago, but began to change his mind after watching a wrongfully convicted man walk free -- only 48 hours before he was scheduled to be executed.
"I may never be comfortable with my final decision, but I'll know in my heart that I did my very best to do the right thing," he said.
Democrat Rod Blagojevich, who takes over as governor on Monday, criticized Ryan's decision.
"A blanket anything is usually wrong," he said. "There is no one-size-fits-all approach. We're talking about people who committed murder."
Charles Hoffman, a death penalty defense attorney in Chicago who works for the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, said the Illinois constitution gives the governor the broadest kind of clemency powers.
"On legal grounds a pardon or clemency is final, final, final," he said.
Messages from multiple threads combined. -Joe Offer-