Gov. Ryan Granted 643 Clemencies
Former Gov. George Ryan was quietly issuing hundreds of clemencies long before he decided to empty Illinois’ death row last month, an Associated Press review of state records found.
Including the 167 death sentences he commuted days before he left office, the Republican granted 643 clemency requests during his four-year term -- nearly twice as many as his predecessor granted in eight years.
Ryan’s decision to wipe out every death sentence, reducing most to life in prison, brought international attention to a state system where 17 people sent to death row had been cleared since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.
Death penalty opponents celebrated the decision and nominated Ryan for the Nobel Peace Prize. Prosecutors and victims’ families accused him of making a mockery of justice.
Records kept by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board show Ryan granted more than one in every three requests for clemency filed during his term. Beneficiaries include state workers, Republican officials and a former aide to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The majority, though, were ordinary people.
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