Chicago Sun-Times

ILLINOIS: Ryan's saving grace

There must be something comforting about being a pariah. Perhaps it makes you feel as though you have nothing left to lose.

 That must be what Gov. Ryan was thinking the other day when he announced that he just might decide to commute the sentences of all 159 inmates on Illinois' death row.

 Now, as we all know, Ryan is a guy who can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Go ahead: Hit him with some allegations about his ethics--or lack thereof. He'll respond by getting indignant. Slap him with a federal investigation, and he'll claim it's the media out to get him. No matter how hard you hit him, Ryan still will be standing in the ring while you're back in the locker room icing your hand.

 Nope. There doesn't seem to be much that fazes this governor of ours. All across the state, he has constituents who believe he is a crook, who think his election was bought and paid for by unqualified drivers who bribed their way into commercial driver's licenses.

 So what does he do? He surprises us by taking a truly principled stand. He may commute the sentences of all 159 death row residents, he said, because all of them were convicted under a system that has been proved to be highly flawed.

 Since Illinois reinstated the death penalty in 1977, 13 innocent men nearly met their end because of witnesses who lied, attorneys who failed or a system that broke down. No one knows how many of the 12 who were executed also were innocent.

 With the score 13-12 and the innocent guys winning, Ryan was right to say late last week: "How do you know who's guilty and who isn't? The system right now is, you can flip a coin and determine who's going to live and die. I don't know whether we can fix a system like that."

 "I don't know how I can pick and choose. That's why I have to determine whether it's going to be for everybody or for nobody."

 My prediction is he goes for everybody. After all, his political career is about to finish on a low note. This is his chance at legacy-building. We Illinoisans might think of him as the guy who presided over corruption in the secretary of state's office. But outside Illinois he is thought of as the guy who stood up to corruption in the legal system.

 Play to your strengths, I say. If you've got constituents who think you're a crook and mere acquaintances who think you're great, why not do what they would like? Maybe he even believes the whispers about a possible Nobel Prize. Who cares? He's actually right this time.

 Ryan already has laid the groundwork for commuting all of the sentences. He put a moratorium on executions more than two years ago after Anthony Porter came within 48 hours of a lethal injection, and he formed a commission to study the matter. That commission, however, suffered the fate of all commissions: It was forced to compromise. It stopped short of saying that because the system is flawed, the people convicted under it should not suffer the ultimate fate.

 Do I believe that some, even most, of the inmates on death row are guilty of heinous crimes? Yes. And I think they should rot in jail for the horrid things they have done. But do I believe that we as a people can risk putting to death even one innocent person? No. It is not necessary.

 And, it should be comforting to taxpayers to note, it is cheaper to keep them than to kill them. The state (meaning we, the taxpayers) spent $28 million to send 10 men to death row in 2000, much more than we would have spent to keep them in prison for life, Ryan noted in January 2001. He could save even more for our cash-starved state if he goes with his gut and commutes the sentences now. Then we taxpayers wouldn't have to foot the bill for the Prisoner Review Board's review of pending clemency petitions.

Ryan has said: "The facts are clear: This system is broken, ineffective, inefficient and racist. The death penalty can't be reformed and it needs to be abolished."

 Sadly, he doesn't have nearly the political capital it would require to abolish the death penalty. But he has the power--and the chutzpah--to end it for those prisoners still on death row.