Moratorium hasn't deterred death sentences

By John Patterson Daily Herald State Government Writer SPRINGFIELD - Almost a year ago Gov. George Ryan declared he would not allow any more executions in Illinois because he'd lost faith in the system and feared an innocent person would be put to death. The system that caused him such grave concern, however, has continued along despite Ryan's death penalty moratorium. While no one has been executed, Ryan's actions appear to have had little effect on prosecutors' willingness to seek and ability to receive the death penalty for convicted killers. Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections and attorney general's office show 14 people were added to death row in 2000, this year, more than any year since 1990. Eight of those were sentenced to die after Ryan announced on Jan. 31 an end to all executions until the system he described as "shameful" was changed to assuage his fears of the state putting to death an innocent person during his watch. And while Ryan's main concern was the 13 men who'd been released from death row because they'd been wrongfully convicted - one more than the number the state has executed since reinstating the death penalty in 1977 - he also cited concerns over the disproportionate number of minorities on death row. Nearly 68 percent of the state's 165 death row inmates are minorities; 62 percent are black. So far the moratorium doesn't appear to have ushered in any change to what Ryan saw as a disturbing trend. Of the eight men sentenced to die during the moratorium, five are black, one is Hispanic, and two are white. The governor, however, said there is little else he can do and that he never intended to take the option of seeking a death sentence away from prosecutors. "If they want to sentence them to death, that's OK. That's part of what the prosecutors do. That's not my problem," Ryan said. "All we did was say that if you want to sentence people to death we're not going to execute them. I'm not going to put them to death until I a�certain that somebody isn't innocent." But opponents of the death penalty who have embraced Ryan's moratorium called the statistics from the past year sad. "I'm disappointed that the prosecutors in many counties have gone forward as if there's no problem," said Chicago lawyer Richard E. Cunningham, a member of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Cunningham has represented death row inmates since 1978. He was the lawyer for Ronald Jones, one of the 13 men released from death row. Jones was convicted of rape and murder in Cook County and condemned to death in 1989. But he was released from death row in 1997 because DNA tests could not link him to the crimes. Nearly two years later, the charges were dropped. Cunningham said prosecutors should have cut back the number of cases in which they sought the death penalty or ceased seeking it at all in response to Ryan's moratorium. Many prosecutors clearly disagree. DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett maintains he and his peers are getting an unfair shake in all that's happened. Birkett said Ryan's continued criticism of the justice system feeds an anti-death penalty media and has damaged reputations and images. "We have a responsibility to correct misperceptions," he said. Whereas Ryan believes more strongly than ever that his halting of executions was the right thing to do, Birkett couldn't disagree more, calling the blanket moratorium an "abuse of discretion" by the governor. He said it has not changed a thing he's done in DuPage County.Only two days after Ryan announced the moratorium, Birkett announced his intention to seek the death penalty for Marilyn Lemak, the Naperville woman accused of killing her three children. Two months later, Birkett became the first prosecutor in the state to successfully argue for a death sentence in the post-moratorium era when convicted killer Raul Ceja was sentenced to death row for the gang-related killing of two men in Elmhurst. Ceja's accomplice, Rene Soto, also was convicted of murder, and Birkett already said he'll seek the death penalty during sentencing this month. "The fact that the governor is choosing not to proceed with executions doesn't relieve us of our responsibility to carry out our duties," Birkett said. Meanwhile, a commission appointed by Ryan to study potential reforms to the death penalty system continues its work. No deadlines have been set and Ryan said he will not push for results. In recent remarks, the governor opened up the possibility that the commission may very well say the system cannot be fixed to the extent he desires. "If the commission says it can't be done, I'll certainly be in favor of looking at another sort of system," Ryan said. "I would be a fool to say, 'Well, they told me the system can't be fixed but we're going to go ahead.'�" Although he said he still supports the death penalty, Ryan has armed himself with poll numbers showing growing public support for locking away killers for life with no chance for parole. A recent Gallup poll shows 49 percent of those surveyed favor executions and 47 percent would rather have criminals serve life sentences. Just one year earlier, 56 percent of people polled supported the death penalty, versus 38 percent for life imprisonment.  "That seems to be the popular backup to the death penalty," Ryan said of life sentences. "Not that I care what the popular position is."