EVEN LAME DUCKS are leery of defying the public. But not Gov. George Ryan, who is taking the extraordinary and courageous step of reviewing the 163 pending death sentences in Illinois before he leaves office. Mr. Ryan imposed a moratorium on executions two years ago in the face of compelling evidence that the administration of the death penalty is broken in Illinois. More people had been released from Death Row because they were wrongfully convicted -- 13 -- than had been executed because they were guilty -- 12.

Since the moratorium was imposed, the Legislature and the Illinois Supreme Court have enacted reforms providing for better-paid defense lawyers and better-trained judges and prosecutors in capital cases. But much remains to be done. Some capital reforms have been blocked by prosecutors. In addition, the commission that Mr. Ryan appointed to study the capital punishment system has not yet reported back. "If the government can't get this right, it ought not be in the business of passing such final, irreversible judgment," Mr. Ryan said in a speech Friday night. The governor said that he might even consider commuting the sentences of all 163 people on Death Row to life in prison.

This newspaper opposes capital punishment under all circumstances, believing it is immoral for the state to take a life. But even supporters of the death penalty cannot countenance the execution of a person who may be innocent. The death penalty is a punishment of such finality that it should not be administered in the absence of certainty. Madison County State's Attorney William Haine complains that Mr. Ryan's actions could lead to a crisis of confidence in the legal system. "It would be a slap in the face to every police officer, every victim of every murderer ... every juror who ever rendered a verdict," he said.

Where has Mr. Haine been? There already is a crisis of confidence in a court system that condemns as many innocent people as it executes. One of the reasons there still is a crisis of confidence is that the state's prosecutors have blocked a number of commonsense reforms passed by the Illinois House. These bills would curb the use of jailhouse informers and unreliable eyewitnesses, and would force prosecutors to turn over evidence that might help the accused. Prosecutors can't very well bottle up bills to fix the system and at the same time demand that those condemned by the faulty system be put to death.

Gov. Ryan's greatest legacy could be that he took a system that sentenced innocent people to death and made sure that never happened again.

Published in the Editorial section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, March 5, 2002. ©2002, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

©2002 Illinois Coalition Against The Death Penalty