Death penalty opponents in California say their movement to abolish or impose a moratorium on state executions has been revitalized by the recent actions of departing Illinois Gov. George Ryan.

In one of his final acts in office, Ryan -- who had imposed a moratorium on executions after questions of fairness were raised -- commuted the sentences of all 167 inmates on Illinois' Death Row.

Lance Lindsey, executive director at San Francisco-based Death Penalty Focus, said his group has been flooded with phone calls in the past few days by people energized by Ryan's actions.

"We're extremely encouraged by what Gov. Ryan did in his state," Lindsey said. "It will have a striking and powerful effect in California, as well as the nation, in terms of advancing the ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty."

While polls show that support for capital punishment remains strong in California, 10 Bay Area local governments -- including Berkeley, Menlo Park, Oakland and Santa Cruz city councils as well as Marin, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties' boards of supervisors -- have passed resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Last year, about 120,000 signatures were sent to the governor urging a moratorium.

California, one of 38 states that have capital punishment, has executed 10 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978 -- including five since Gov. Gray Davis took office in 1999. Executions average about one per year, prison sources said.

Opponents say there is no hard evidence that the death penalty has altered criminal behavior.

"It is clear that killing the killer is not deterrence," said Cosette Thompson, the Western regional director for Amnesty International.

California has the largest number of death row inmates in the nation -- 617 prisoners -- and the numbers are growing by about 25 per year. Most are housed in tiny cells in the antiquated San Quentin State Prison. Davis' proposed $5. 27 billion budget for the Department of Corrections includes a $220 million bond measure for a modernized, nearly 1,000-bed capacity Death Row. (It was built in 1934 with 68 beds.)

State officials say the circumstances in California are vastly different than in Illinois, where inmates were beaten up and forced into confessing to crimes that they never committed.

They said that California's process of automatic appeals, post-conviction legal representation, mandatory DNA testing and other safeguards ensure that condemned inmates are treated fairly during the appeals process -- which can stretch over 20 years.

"This careful scrutiny and years-long review is a healthy thing. If there was improper evidence or errors in the sentencing, they come to light," said Stephen Green, assistant secretary for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency.

Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said California already has in place most of the 85 recommendations that came out of the Illinois commission that looked into the process after Ryan imposed the moratorium. She said charges of racial or economic bias have been raised periodically about California's capital punishment convictions, but are unfounded.

"The California experience is completely different from Illinois," she said.

Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said the governor is steadfast in his support for the death penalty and has repeatedly opposed a moratorium on executions.

"We have no reason to question the current system," McLean said. "Under Davis' watch, the inmates in the cases were represented by some of the best lawyers in the state."

In June 2000, when the Field Poll conducted its most recent poll on the death penalty in California, about 63 percent of the 493 adults surveyed supported the death penalty for serious crimes. Pollsters noted that it was the lowest level of support in 30 years.

In addition, 73 percent of those surveyed said they favored California halting executions until the fairness of the death penalty is studied.

Meantime, critics of capital punishment are divided over whether California should build a larger Death Row.

"Allowing more space encourages more capital prosecution in the state," Lindsey said. "As soon as you built the space, the state will feel obliged to fill it."

But Steve Fama of the Prison Law Office in San Rafael said a $220 million bond measure is vital for upgrading San Quentin's antiquated Death Row.

Inmates there are kept in tiny cells -- 6 feet wide by 8 feet long -- and are single-celled by court decree. The exercise yards are sorely inadequate, Fama said, because they are small and overcrowded.

"When they built the prison 120 years ago, they weren't thinking of providing care for severely mentally ill prisoners who will be there for 15 or 20 years," Fama said. "Something has got to be done to correct the abysmal conditions."

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