The Republican-controlled Illinois Senate approved...

The Republican-controlled Illinois Senate approved a watered-down version of Gov. George Ryan's plan to establish safeguards against executing innocent people.
However, the fate of the bill was uncertain because of likely opposition from Democrats, who control the House, and a possible veto from Ryan, a Republican who has championed death penalty reform.
The key provision in the bill would give the state Supreme Court expanded authority to review death penalty appeals and reduce sentences to life in prison without parole.
However, the bill omits Ryan's proposals to limit the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty or require videotaping of interrogations in capital cases. The governor previously reviewed a version of the bill and said he would veto that measure.
Senate President James "Pate" Philip, a Republican, said a governor's veto would be a mistake because he is getting "70 percent of what he wants."
Democrats will control the Senate next year, and the future Senate president said he will push for a broader overhaul of the death penalty system.
Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions nearly three years ago after 13 people on death row were found to have been wrongly convicted. That's one more than the state has executed since reinstating the death penalty in 1977.