Terri
01-12-2003, 11:21 PM
By Paul Walfield
GOPUSA News
January 13, 2003
(GOPUSA News) -- On Saturday, just 2 days before he leaves office, Illinois Gov. George Ryan ordered a blanket clemency for 167 convicted murderers, whose combined convictions included the murders of 250 men, women, and children.
Gov. Ryan referred to his states handling of capital punishment as "haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die."
All who had been sentenced to death in Illinois are now sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The latest Gallup poll on this issue, taken in 2001, shows that 70% of Americans support the death penalty.
State executions in Illinois date back to 1928. Before that, County officials presided over executions. Among the prisoners who have been executed in Illinois was serial killer John Wayne Gacy who murdered at least 33 people.
Full Story (http://gopusa.com/news/2003/january/0113_death_sentences .shtml)
There is a previous related topic posted for discussion at Illinois Governor Pardons Four Death Row Inmates (http://gopusa.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.pl?act=ST; f=1;t=849)
GOPUSA News
January 13, 2003
(GOPUSA News) -- On Saturday, just 2 days before he leaves office, Illinois Gov. George Ryan ordered a blanket clemency for 167 convicted murderers, whose combined convictions included the murders of 250 men, women, and children.
Gov. Ryan referred to his states handling of capital punishment as "haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die."
All who had been sentenced to death in Illinois are now sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The latest Gallup poll on this issue, taken in 2001, shows that 70% of Americans support the death penalty.
State executions in Illinois date back to 1928. Before that, County officials presided over executions. Among the prisoners who have been executed in Illinois was serial killer John Wayne Gacy who murdered at least 33 people.
Full Story (http://gopusa.com/news/2003/january/0113_death_sentences .shtml)
There is a previous related topic posted for discussion at Illinois Governor Pardons Four Death Row Inmates (http://gopusa.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.pl?act=ST; f=1;t=849)