Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
Outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan provoked bitter controversy Saturday when he commuted the sentences of 157 death row inmates. In a speech, he explains his decision.
Jan 14, 2003 |
Four years ago I was sworn in as the 39th governor of Illinois. That was just four short years ago -- that's when I was a firm believer in the American system of justice and the death penalty. I believed that the ultimate penalty for the taking of a life was administrated in a just and fair manner.
Today -- three days before I end my term as governor, I stand before you to explain my frustrations and deep concerns about both the administration and the penalty of death ...
During my time in public office I have always reserved my right to change my mind if I believed it to be in the best public interest, whether it be about taxes, abortions or the death penalty. But I must confess that the debate with myself has been the toughest concerning the death penalty. I suppose the reason the death penalty has been the toughest is because it is so final -- the only public policy that determines who lives and who dies. In addition it is the only issue that attracts most of the legal minds across the country. I have received more advice on this issue than any other policy issue I have dealt with in my 35 years of public service. I have kept an open mind on both sides of the issues of commutation for life or death.
I have read, listened to and discussed the issue with the families of the victims as well as the families of the condemned. And I know that any decision that I'll make today will not be accepted by one side or the other. I know that my decision will be just that: my decision, based on all of the facts that I could gather over the past three years. I may never be comfortable with my final decision, but I will know in my heart that I did my very best to do the right thing.
Having said that I want to share a story with you:
As you all know, you have heard me say I grew up in Kankakee, Illinois. And Kankakee is not far from Chicago, but it's still a thousand miles away in terms of a lot of things. It is still a small Midwestern town, a place where people tend to know each other. And I had a great neighbor, and his name was Steve Small. He and his wife would look after our young children when Lura Lynn and I were out of town. That wasn't for the faint of heart, because we had six kids and five of them were under the age of 3. But he was a bright young man who helped run the family business, and he and his wife had three children of their own. Lura Lynn was especially close because we knew that we were there for each other.
One September midnight, Steve received a call at his home. He had bought an old Frank Lloyd Wright house and was restoring it to its original form. There had been a break-in at that house, and he had to go sign a complaint with the police. When he got to the garage, he was seized at gunpoint by kidnappers. His captors buried him alive in a shallow hole. He suffocated to death before police could find him.
His killer eventually led police to where Steve's body was buried. The young man's name was Danny Edwards. He was also from my hometown of Kankakee. And he now sits on death row. I know his family. I know his brother. I know his mother and father. I share this story with you so that you know that I don't come to this without having experienced a small bit of the bitter pill the survivors of murder must swallow.
But my responsibilities and obligations are more than my neighbors and my family. I represent all of the people of Illinois and the decision that I make about our criminal justice system is felt not only here but as I found out, the world over.
I received a call from Nelson Mandela. The message he basically delivered was that the United States sets the example for justice and fairness for the rest of the world. And today the United States is not in league with most of our allies when it comes to the death penalty. We're not in league with Europe or South Africa or Canada or Mexico, most South and Central American countries. These countries have rejected the death penalty. We're partners in death with several Third World countries. Even Russia has now called a moratorium.
The death penalty has been abolished in 12 states and in none of those states has the homicide rate increased. Now, here's a good number for you to remember: In Illinois last year, we had about 1,000 murders and only 2 percent were sentenced to death. I want to know, where is the fairness and the equality in that? The death penalty in Illinois is not imposed fairly or uniformly, because of the absence of standards for 102 counties in this state and the state's attorneys who must decide whether to request a death sentence. Should geography be a factor in determining who gets the death sentence? I don't think it should. But in Illinois it makes a difference. You are five times more likely to get a death sentence for the first-degree murder in the rural areas of the state than you are here in Cook County. Five times more. Where's the fairness in that? Where is the fairness in the justice system? Where is the proportionality?
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu wrote to me this week stating that "to take a life when a life has been lost is revenge. It's not justice." He says justice allows for mercy and clemency and compassion. These virtues are not weaknesses.
I never intended to be an activist on this issue, needless to say. But soon after taking office, I watched in surprise and amazement as the freed death row inmate Anthony Porter was released from jail. Anthony Porter was 48 hours away from being wheeled into the execution chamber where the state would kill him.
It would be so antiseptic that most of us wouldn't have even paused for a second, except that Anthony Porter was innocent. He was innocent for the double murder for which he had been condemned by the state of Illinois to die.
After Mr. Porter's case there was the report by Chicago Tribune reporters Steve Mills and Ken Armstrong documenting the systemic failures of our capital punishment system. Half of the nearly 300 capital cases in Illinois had been reversed for a new trial or resentencing.
Now, how many of you people here today that are professionals can call your life a success if you're only 50 percent successful? Certainly, I can't as a pharmacist. I don't think doctors can. I don't know how the Justice Department can think they have a system that works when 50 percent of the cases are sent back for fixing.
Thirty-three percent of the death row inmates were represented at trial by an attorney who had later been disbarred or at some point suspended from the practice of law. Of the more than 160 death row inmates, 35 were African-American defendants who had been convicted or condemned to die not by a jury of their peers, but by all-white juries. More than two-thirds of the inmates on death row were African-Americans. Forty-six inmates were convicted on the basis of testimony from jailhouse informants.
I can recall looking at these cases and the information from the Mills/Armstrong series, and I asked myself and my staff: How does that happen? How in God's name does that happen? In America, how does it happen? I've been asking this question for nearly three years, and so far nobody's answered the question. Even as I stand here today, nobody's answered the question.
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