Illinois - Gen. State Attorney sues to halt clemency

[Brena]

"Jim Ryan sues to halt clemency
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Attorney general denies bid political

By John Chase and Steve Mills, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter David Mendell contributed to this report

September 18, 2002

Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan on Tuesday sued Gov. George Ryan and the state Prisoner Review Board to halt an unprecedented series of clemency hearings next month for 157 inmates on Death Row.

Saying the hearings would be too rushed and deny fundamental fairness and dignity to victims of crime, Jim Ryan also insisted the lawsuits had nothing to do with politics even though he is battling Democrat Rod Blagojevich to succeed George Ryan as governor.

Trailing badly in the polls, Jim Ryan has blamed his campaign problems on voter confusion over his name and fallout from George Ryan's unpopularity and has repeatedly sought to distance himself from the incumbent even though both are Republicans.

"It's not a political move. Our lawyers researched this," Jim Ryan said. "It's not about politics, it's about doing my job as attorney general."

The lawsuits filed by the attorney general in Springfield are the first legal challenges to the process that could allow Gov. Ryan to commute the sentences of everyone on Illinois' Death Row before he leaves office in January.

While not questioning the governor's right to exercise his powers of executive clemency, the attorney general said some restrictions still should apply.

One lawsuit asked a Circuit Court judge in Sangamon County to stop the Prisoner Review Board from holding the hearings because the board will allow victims' families and prosecutors only 15 minutes to speak--something the board claims is not true.

In the other suit, filed directly with the Illinois Supreme Court, the attorney general argued that 33 Death Row inmates do not qualify for clemency hearings because they either did not cooperate with their attorneys and sign petitions asking for clemency or because their death sentences have been vacated.

"The right to clemency is a constitutional right, but so is the right to respecting crime victims," the attorney general said. "There has to be balance."

Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for George Ryan, said the governor has "always been concerned with ensuring the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system" and believes the clemency review process under way is legal, moral and just.

Nevertheless, Culloton said the governor "welcomes the attorney general's newfound concern for fairness and justice."

The sniping between the state's top two Republicans continues a string of run-ins in recent months in which the death penalty issue has played a role, with the governor calling for an overhaul of the capital punishment system and the attorney general taking a more cautious approach, though supporting many reforms.

Indeed, Jim Ryan's own personal involvement in one of the most controversial death penalty cases, that of Rolando Cruz, has left him open to criticism for being slow to fix the system. He headed the DuPage County state's attorney's office when Cruz was convicted for participating in the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Cruz was later acquitted at a third trial amid charges that police and prosecutors fabricated evidence.

The Cruz case was one that spurred George Ryan to declare a moratorium on executions in 2000.

On Tuesday, the attorney general acknowledged that there are enough problems with the state's criminal justice system to justify the moratorium.

"While we are trying to improve the accuracy and fairness of the system, we also have another job to do, and that is to respect the dignity and the rights of crime victims," Jim Ryan said. "We have to do both."

The debate also comes as the state General Assembly is being pressured to consider legislative reforms and as anti-death penalty activists try to take advantage of Gov. Ryan's willingness to consider commutations before he leaves office.

"Why does it all have to get done before he leaves office?" Jim Ryan asked. "Someone else can do this."

Jim Ryan and Blagojevich both oppose blanket commutations. If he is elected governor, Jim Ryan vowed to consider commutation petitions on a case-by-case basis.

"From Jim Ryan, we have heard silence about fixing the system until now," said Doug Scofield, who is Blagojevich's deputy campaign manager. "He might have gotten this issue right now, but it took him too long to get there and it is too late to view him as a proponent of death penalty reform."

In announcing the lawsuits, Jim Ryan was surrounded by a dozen family members of murder victims whose cases could be affected by the clemency hearings.

Some of the family members said the 15-minute time limit was too restrictive.

"My sister wasn't given a time limit," said Katy Salhani, whose sister, Debra Evans of Addison, was murdered and had a fetus cut from her womb. Also killed was Evans' 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. One of those convicted of the crime, Fedell Caffey, is seeking clemency.

"I understand that there are problems with the system," Salhani continued. "But not everyone on Death Row has been wrongfully accused."

Ken Tupy, chief legal counsel for the Prisoner Review Board, said the 15-minute rule is not a strict one but only a guideline for the panel to follow so the hearings can be completed as scheduled in four days in mid-October. Until a year ago, the board had a 20-minute guideline but shortened it to deal with a heavy caseload, he said.

Never before has the attorney general's office made an issue of the time limit, he said.

"There's no other way to hear so many petitions in a timely fashion," Tupy said. "But it's not like the panel would cut off a victim in the middle of a statement." In the suits, Jim Ryan maintains that state law requires executive clemency not be commenced on behalf of a person sentenced to death without the written consent of the defendant. In the court filing, the attorney general's office argues that 24 defendants did not sign their petitions.

But Lawrence Marshall, of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, said Jim Ryan has incorrectly interpreted the law and that the governor has the power to grant commutations even when inmates do not seek them.

"It seems very plain that this whole filing is a very cynical political ploy," said Marshall, who worked on the petitions for the inmates who refused to petition for clemency. "


This one makes me wanna puke...

[jdswifey02]

"nothing to do with politics" my A$$!!!!

[Joy]

The value of human life to some people :argh