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Clemency suggested for a few
prisoners
By Ray Long, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff
reporter Steve Mills contributed to this report
Published January 1, 2003
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board has
recommended that Gov. George Ryan commute the sentences of fewer
than 10 Death Row inmates to life in prison, two sources familiar
with the board's recommendations said Tuesday.
The disclosure
comes as Ryan wrestles with a decision over how to conclude his
high-profile review of the Death Row cases with less than two weeks
remaining in his term as governor.
The
number of recommendations for commutations was small partly because
so many of the Death Row inmates still have multiple appeals pending
in the courts and will have another chance to bring up their cases,
said the sources, who requested anonymity.
A large portion of
these cases have "two or three bites at the apple," one of the
sources said.
Ryan, a Republican who placed a moratorium on
executions in Illinois in 2000 because of flaws in the death penalty
system, is not bound by the recommendations.
The governor put
the moratorium in place after 13 men sent to Death Row were
exonerated.
Ryan suggested on Monday that he had not made up
his mind on what to do on specific cases or on the larger question
of a blanket commutation for all of the 160 inmates on Death
Row.
Ryan spent the weekend reviewing the cases of roughly 20
Death Row inmates who did not file formal petitions seeking to have
their death sentences converted to life in prison without
parole.
An aide to Ryan had no comment Tuesday
night.
The names of the individuals and the exact number of
inmates recommended for commutation were not available late
Tuesday.
But one source said, "There's no doubt in my mind
that it was fewer than 10."
The inmates can appeal a denial
one year from the date when clemency is denied.
The Prisoner
Review Board held a string of emotional hearings this fall in the
cases where inmates were pressing to be removed from Death
Row.
Hundreds of the nation's law professors have weighed in,
saying Ryan would be justified in granting clemency to all Death Row
inmates. They cited precedents in other states.
But Cook
County State's Atty. Richard Devine and other members of the
Illinois State's Attorney Association oppose blanket
commutations.
Ryan said he plans to notify victims' family
members, likely by letter, before making public his intentions on
commuting the sentences of any of the Death Row inmates.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
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