The Republican politician spoke before an audience that included former death row inmates released after proving wrongful conviction, along with many other fighters against the death penalty. He urged state legislators to enact reforms that would rehabilitate the death penalty.

Ryan’s explanation for the decision included themes that many of those present had organized around, in opposition to lawmakers, cops, and judges. He mentioned unjust convictions leading to death sentences, inadequate legal representation for people accused of murder, and the fact that death row is disproportionately occupied by young Black men.

Ryan had declared full pardons for four prisoners on death row the previous day. The convictions of Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, LeRoy Orange, and Stanley Howard, he said, had relied heavily on confessions obtained by police torture under the supervision of ex-Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine announced he would have to review the matter before deciding whether to consider the four cases closed or to reopen the investigations.

In his January 11 speech, Ryan said that one overturned death sentence after another shows that "the death penalty process is deeply flawed." Among many others, he cited the case of Anthony Porter, whose conviction and death sentence were overturned, through the efforts of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, whose members have played an important part in other exposures.

After the Porter case, he said, a Chicago Tribune investigation documented "the systemic failures of our capital punishment system. Half of the nearly 300 capital cases in Illinois had been reversed for a new trial or resentencing."  
 
Black men on death row
"More than two-thirds of the inmates on death row were African Americans," said the governor. Of the more than 160 death row inmates in Illinois, he added, "35 were African American defendants who had been convicted or condemned to die by all-white juries."

The controversy around these and other outrages--including unscrupulous prosecutors and the incompetent attorneys often assigned to defend those accused of capital crimes--persuaded Ryan that the strong support he had expressed for the death penalty early in his political career was no longer tenable.

In January 2000, when Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in the state, he noted that between 1978 and 2000, 12 people had been executed and 13 cleared of the crime for which they were convicted. Those exonerated had been on death row for an average of 12 years as they fought their way through multiple appeals or retrials to establish their innocence.

Ryan expressed frustration that the state legislature did not enact reforms called for by his commission on the question. "One of the few disappointments of my legislative career is that the General Assembly failed to work with me to reform our deeply flawed system," he said.

His package of reforms, he stated, would restrict the use of jailhouse snitches, create a statewide panel to determine death eligible cases, and reduce the number of crimes eligible for death. "These reforms...would have dramatically reduced the chance for error."

"I don’t know why legislators could not heed the rising voices of reform," he said. Over the two days of his pardons and commutations, supporters of reforming the Illinois capital punishment system have stepped up their appearances on TV, radio and in newspapers speaking on the need for action in the next state legislative session.

He also noted the inhumane and mind-deadening conditions that the men and women will face in the state’s jails. One prisoner had even petitioned him not to commute his sentence, he said, preferring to die rather than face long years of confinement.

The governor’s dramatic action received headlines around the country. Noting that "governors have broad, virtually unchecked constitutional powers for pardons and clemency," the New York Times reported that Ryan is at least the fourth to take such sweeping action. The largest number ever released from death row before, however, had been 22.  
 
Struggles against the death penalty
Ryan’s pronouncements on the issue have not been uttered in a vacuum. Many rallies and public meetings across the state have involved growing numbers of exonerated death row inmates, families of prisoners, church and campus groups, civil rights organizations, organizations of law professionals, and political parties.

In a "Dead Men Walking" protest in mid-December, men from around the United States whose death sentences have been overturned took part in a relay. Accompanied by a prominent companion walker, each one walked one mile of a 37-mile route beginning at the Statesville Correctional Center near Joliet--the Illinois state executions site--and ending at the downtown office of Gov. George Ryan.

The powerful protest of the formerly condemned men was one of several actions organized late last year by members of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Thirty-nine former death row inmates traveled to Illinois to urge Ryan to exercise his prerogative as outgoing governor and empty death row.

Exonerated prisoners and the families of death row inmates also played a prominent part in earlier protests on the issue. Upon their release, many former death row inmates have joined campaigns to win the freedom of others and to abolish the death penalty. These efforts gained momentum this year as the state legislature considered but failed to pass any of the reforms recommended by the governor’s commission.

For example, upon release the day before from Pontiac Correctional Center, Aaron Patterson--one of those whom Ryan pardoned January 10--told the Chicago Tribune that "there are more innocent people locked up." Although he was fully pardoned for the crime for which he spent 12 years on death row, Patterson was informed by prison authorities that he would be on "supervised release for three years" and might be home monitored.

In October families of both prisoners and murder victims appeared before a series of hearings by the governor-appointed Prisoner Review Board assigned to advise him on the granting of clemency. The board recommended commutations, stating that "the question is whether a system that was as riddled with problems as the Illinois capital punishment system can generate the level of confidence necessary before we kill another human being."

Ryan’s actions have not been well received in all quarters. Bristling at his use of the term "torture" to describe the actions of Chicago city detectives, Police Superintendent Terry Hillard dissociated himself from Commander Burge, and said that the department was cooperating with a special prosecutor’s investigation into the torture allegations.

Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich, who is a Democrat, characterized Ryan’s decision as "a big mistake." Blagojevich said he backs the death penalty in "clear-cut and extreme cases." He also said he would uphold the moratorium "until he is comfortable the system is overhauled."

Around the country moratorium resolutions affect at least 19 states and 24 municipalities.

At a victory party on the evening of Ryan’s speech, held at Anthony Porter’s house, David Bates of the Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago passed out fliers for a Town Meeting on Police Brutality January 15, to focus on accusations directed at Commander Burge. Bates himself spent several years in prison after being framed by Burge and his squad. "We have to push this issue now, while the heat is on," he said.

Pattie Thompson is a sewing machine operator and member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) in Chicago.
 
 
Related articles:
Abolish the death penalty!  
 
 
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