Ryan Empties Death Row as Ehrlich Prepares to Lift Moratorium
Feature Story by Civilrights.org staff - 1/14/2003
The national debate around the death penalty has intensified in the wake of outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan's (R) decision to pardon four inmates awaiting execution, and empty the remaining death row of 156 inmates and 11 others awaiting hearing, by commuting their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Calling the Illinois death penalty system "arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral," Ryan made clear that he was concerned not only that the state had come close to executing innocent people, but also that the Illinois system does not fairly decide who among the guilty should receive the ultimate punishment.
The hour long speech, delivered on January 11, 2003 at Northwestern University, included strong criticism of the Illinois legislature for not enacting any of the 85 reforms recommended by the blue ribbon commission that Ryan appointed to study the death penalty in Illinois.
Ryan's decision followed an exhaustive review of Illinois's death row cases, which began three years ago when the governor halted executions in the state after 13 death row inmates were found to be innocent, largely based on the work of journalism students at Northwestern University and the use of DNA evidence. One of the men freed from death row in recent years came within 48 hours of being executed.
But Maryland's incoming governor has said that neither Ryan's action, nor the conclusions of a new study calling into question whether the death penalty is administered fairly in his state, will affect his decision to end the state's moratorium on executions, reported The Washington Post.
Governor-elect Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (R) told The Washington Post that he believes that "most Marylanders share my view that, in the most egregious cases, [the death penalty] is the most appropriate sanction."
The authors of a sweeping University of Maryland study that found racial and geographic disparities in the imposition of capital punishment in the state have urged lawmakers to impose prosecutorial limits in capital cases and mandate further court review to see if capital punishment is being imposed fairly.
The study analyzed nearly 6,000 homicide cases over two decades. It found that defendants accused of killing white victims are significantly more likely to face the death penalty than cases with non-white victims. Prosecutors in different jurisdictions exhibit considerable variation in the extent to which they seek the death penalty, with Baltimore County significantly more likely to file initially for a death sentence than other Maryland jurisdictions.
Last year, Senator Patrick Leahy, D. Vt., introduced "The Innocence Protection Act," a bill that seeks to improve the administration of justice by ensuring the availability of post-conviction DNA testing in appropriate cases and encourages states to establish standards for the appointment of legal counsel for defendants facing the death penalty.
In a letter supporting passage of the Innocence Protection Act, Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, stated that, "the interests of all Americans are served if capital defendants have access to evidence that may establish innocence and if they are represented by competent lawyers."
Concluded Henderson, "While this bill will not fix every problem in the administration of the death penalty, it will go a long way toward improving the fairness and reliability of capital trials, and in so doing will help restore confidence in the integrity of our criminal justice system."
