Some say Ryan action will jeopardize efforts to establish safeguards

January 15, 2003

By DORI MEINERT
of Copley News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Supporters believe former Illinois Gov. George Ryan's decision to empty death row will re-ignite the national debate over the death penalty.

Others, however, warn that Ryan may have set off a backlash that will jeopardize the safeguards proposed by Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, and others to protect the innocent.

One's view of the long-term impact of Ryan's decision to commute the sentences of 167 death row inmates appears to be very much in the eye of the beholder.

"I think this will be an historic moment that will cause the public to be more unsettled about the death penalty," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Amnesty International USA's Executive Director William Schulz confidently predicted that Ryan's action "is the next domino in the movement toward ending capital punishment in the United States."

They and other critics of the death penalty hope Ryan's action highlights flaws in the current death penalty system and will bolster efforts in state legislatures and in Congress to make some changes.

However, others predict the backlash from Ryan's surprise move in his final days in office will heighten scrutiny of any effort that the public might construe as helping death row prisoners.

"That's certainly not going to help any attempt to further restrict or abolish death as a possible punishment in this country," said Robert McCullough, a prosecuting attorney from St. Louis County, Mo., and the president-elect of the National District Attorney's Association.

On Capitol Hill, LaHood, a death penalty supporter, and Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., a death penalty opponent, have pushed to improve protections for defendants facing the death penalty for the past two years - ever since then-Gov. Ryan called a temporary halt to executions in the state.

Their bill, "The Innocence Protection Act," is aimed at ensuring that poor defendants have competent counsel and providing greater access to DNA testing when it could prove their innocence.

More than half the 435 House members had signed on in support of their bill by last spring. But it lacked the support of the GOP leadership and never made it out of the House Judiciary Committee.

A similar bill was approved 12-7 by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but was never brought up before the full Senate. The legislation is certain to face greater obstacles this year with Republicans taking control of the Senate. Incoming Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, opposed the bill last year.

"The Illinois cases are a wake-up call telling Congress and the administration that reforms are urgently needed," said former Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and author of the bill, following Ryan's action.

"The death penalty is fundamentally flawed nationwide. That is why we need national reforms to prevent the sort of terrible choices that governors now face," said Leahy.

LaHood, who is traveling in Europe with the House Intelligence Committee, was unavailable for comment. But he has repeatedly argued that death penalty supporters can also support reforms: "I believe in the death penalty. But I also believe that the system is flawed and that it needs to be fixed."

While support for such death penalty reforms has grown among members of both parties on Capitol Hill in recent years, Ryan's controversial mass clemency may discourage other potential supporters, particularly two years before a presidential election, political observers said.

In addition, any lasting impact is muted by his critics' suspicion that he was trying to deflect attention from the bribery scandal that surrounded his administration. Ryan has denied the charge.

Both House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, and new Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., have refrained from taking a position on Ryan's action. Frist has said he would leave it up to individual states to decide whether to halt executions.

And, the White House this week reaffirmed President Bush's support for capital punishment despite the problems with Illinois' system that led to Ryan's decision.

But Dieter suggests the shift away from the death penalty may be part of a long-term trend.

Even before Ryan's decision, there had been a steady decline in death sentences in recent years, he said.

Currently, 38 states have the death penalty. Nine of them are conducting studies of their death penalty process as Illinois did. The Illinois decision may have some impact in those states, he said.

Yet Maryland Gov.-elect Robert Ehrlich has pledged to lift a moratorium on executions despite a recent study that found racial and geographic disparities in meting out the death penalty.

Ryan's decision "will influence the states where it's already an easy answer," said Heritage Foundation senior fellow Paul Rosenzweig. "If the governor of Georgia joins him, then I'll sit up and take notice."