At 9 a

At 9 a.m. members of Illinois' Prisoner Review Board will begin revisiting a quarter century worth of the state's most vicious crimes.
In Chicago and Springfield, 157 men and women convicted of capital crimes will get a chance to convince the outgoing governor to commute their sentences. Three other inmates declined to participate in the review process.
This will be the largest number the board has ever considered at one time, and likely the largest number for any state at one time.
"This is remarkably historic and without precedent," said David Elliot, of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "All eyes in the death penalty movement are on Illinois."
In the end, any decision on clemency will be up to Gov. George Ryan. There has been speculation that if the hearings turn up a hint of just one more innocent person, Ryan will grant clemency to all. He has suggested in recent months that he might grant a blanket clemency, but he has not made clear how he would come to such a decision.
Ryan, a Republican, has been at the centre of the national debate on capital punishment since he imposed a moratorium on executions nearly three years ago. In March, he said he would review each case before he leaves office in January.
"He fears there is another Anthony Porter case or another Rolando Cruz case out there," Ryan spokesman Dennis Culloton said, referring to men sentenced to die and later freed.
Porter was released after evidence showed somebody else committed the crime, and Cruz after being acquitted in a third trial.
The hearings are scheduled to last about an hour each, during which each side will present its case and answer questions. The board won't make any public findings, but will make recommendations to Gov. Ryan.
Defence attorneys are expected to attack the death penalty on two fronts. They will say the capital punishment system in Illinois is so deeply flawed that it cannot be trusted. And they will try to poke holes in specific cases.
Prosecutors will argue that "each case stands on its own merit," said Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine.
There are still many questions about what will happen during and after the hearings. They are not mini-trials, where the rules of evidence apply. Lawyers and family members can allege pretty much what they want. Ryan can follow or ignore the board's recommendations. He can make a decision based on one case or all of them.
The unknowns as well as recent comments by the governor have fuelled concern among death penalty proponents and optimism among opponents that Ryan, who is nearing the end of his term, may end his career with clemency for every death row inmate.
Some say the effects of a blanket clemency would ripple beyond Illinois.
"One thing it would definitely say to governors and legislatures around the country is if you don't address the flaws in the system, this is an option," said Peter Loge, of The Justice Project, a Washington D.C.-based group.
The hearings are the latest chapter in a story that began with Ryan halting executions three years ago. In April, a panel commissioned by Ryan proposed dozens of reforms in the criminal justice system and said capital punishment should be abolished if those reforms were not enacted. So far, the major ones have not.
The most recent precedent for a blanket clemency came 16 years ago when the governor of New Mexico commuted the death sentences of the state's five death row inmates.
The gravity of the decision facing Ryan is much greater, with the fate of the nation's eighth largest death row at stake.