State governor to decide fate of 160 Death Row inmates

A series of clemency hearings will begin in the United States this morning that could lead to the emptying of a state's Death Row.

Over the next three daysthe Illinois prison review board will consider clemency for 140 of the 160 inmates sentenced to death. The process was initiated by Governor George Ryan, who imposed a moratorium on executions in Illinois in 2000 after identifying deep flaws in the system.

The exercise is highly controversial, not least because the board will give only about 15 minutes to each individual case. This has provoked outrage from many of the relatives of the victims of the killers.

The final decision in every case will rest with Governor Ryan, who has the power to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment. He has indicated that he may respond by giving blanket clemency to every inmate on Death Row, including the 20 inmates who did not even apply to have their sentence reconsidered.

"I don't know how I could pick and choose," remarked Governor Ryan, who will leave office at the end of the year under the shadow of a long-running bribery scandal. "That's why I have to determine whether it's going to be for everybody or nobody."

Since Illinois reintroduced capital punishment in 1977, the state has executed 12 people. Over the same period, 13 people on Death Row have had their convictions overturned, and in some cases walked free from prison.

"I want to make sure we don't put innocent people to death, that's my concern," Governor Ryan explained recently. "The system right now is you can flip a coin to determine who's going to live and die."

Last week a judge rejected a complaint that the hearings would be unfair because of the short time that was being allotted to each case.

Many of the families of murder victims are voicing anger over the process. They say that the solace they gained from the knowledge that the killers of their loved ones would themselves pay with their lives is now being taken away.

"I thought the hell of this is over and we could heal," said Jim Dudovick, who is still trying to recover from the murder of his daughter, Dawn, in her apartment in 1988. The man convicted of stabbing her 30 times, William Peeples, is among those who may now elude the executioner.

As with so many others, Mr Dudovick will find himself given barely a few minutes to express his feelings before the review board. "Now it seems like we're fighting for justice for my daughter all over again," he said.

Similar frustration was voiced by Jamie Tsambikou, who continues to grieve for his sister, Bridget Drobney, who was murdered in 1985. The man convicted of the killing, Robert Turner, is also hoping for a reprieve. "I tell you what this means if this happens," Mr Tsambikou said. "It means what little justice my sister got will be undone. That will be the legacy of Governor Ryan."

Prosecutors across Illinois have been fighting to halt the hearings. Many have said the evidence in many cases being reviewed was overwhelming. "They didn't leave bread crumbs," a spokesman for the district attorney of Cook County noted. "They left whole loaves of bread."

Other states, including Nebraska, have moved recently to slow or even halt executions because of concerns about the legal system. However, America remains very far from repealing the death penalty, with poll after poll showing strong support for it from voters.

Governor Ryan, who is not running for re-election because of a scandal about the sale of drivers' licences for bribes, has acknowledged the pain of victims' relatives. But that has not dissuaded him. "Nobody can know what they go through," a spokesman for the governor said. "What would make those tragedies worse is executing the wrong person, as we almost did 13 times."