Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium...

Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in his state, pending an investigation into the state's capital punishment system. Ryan appointed a 14-member study commission, including former US Sen. Paul Simon, Scott Turow, former US District Judge Frank H. McGarr, former US Attorney Thomas Sullivan, to study the state's capital punishment system in conjunction with the moratorium. The state has executed 12 inmates in the same time that 13 other inmates were freed because they were later found to be innocent. Governor Ryan's moratorium received praise from President Clinton, who urged other state governors to examine their death penalty systems. "I now favor a moratorium, because I have grave concerns about our state's shameful record of convicting innocent people and putting them on death row," Governor Ryan said. "And, I believe, many Illinois residents now feel that same deep reservation. I cannot support a system, which, in its administration, has proven to be so fraught with error and has come so close to the ultimate nightmare, the state's taking of innocent life. Thirteen people have been found to have been wrongfully convicted." Governor Ryan noted that while he still believes the death penalty is a proper societal response for crimes that shock sensibility, he believes Illinois residents are troubled by the persistent problems in the administration of capital punishment in Illinois. "Until I can be sure that everyone sentenced to death in Illinois is truly guilty, until I can be sure with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing a lethal injection, no one will meet that fate," Governor Ryan said. Last year, House Resolution 60 passed in the Illinois House of Representatives, 67-47, which calls for a six month moratorium and set up an independent, non-partisan Task Force to study the application of the death penalty in Illinois.Four commissions have been set up by various bodies to look at the death penalty and prosecutorial misconduct and suggest reforms. An abolition bill is being planned for January 2002.