Illinois' marathon death penalty clemency hearings...

Illinois' marathon death penalty clemency hearings drew to an end after more than two weeks of gruesome accounts and tearful pleas by victims' families.
Now, defence lawyers hope their written pleadings will counteract some of the emotional testimony heard by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
"The issue is not whether victims' families are hurting, but whether the system is run in a way to create a level of certainty and fairness we need in order to kill," said Larry Marshall, a Northwestern University law professor and a critic of the state's capital punishment system.
The hearings for 142 inmates prompted criticism of Gov. George Ryan, who imposed a moratorium on executions in 2000. The governor maintained that problems with the capital punishment system in Illinois justified any pain the hearings might cause.
"Look, there's no question the families are going through a lot of grief," he said. But he then pointed out that 13 inmates spent years on death row before they were exonerated. "Now, I think that's probably a worse nightmare than having to rehear the testimony of victims," he said.
The board will meet this week to discuss and vote on each clemency request, then forward its recommendations to the governor. Ryan said he will make a decision on the recommendations before leaving office in January.