George H. Ryan

About the author: George H. Ryan is the Republican governor of Illinois.

Investigations of death-penalty cases in Illinois have revealed a pattern of discrimination, legal and judicial flaws, and wrongful convictions. Most startling was the revelation in the year 2000 that thirteen of the state's death-row inmates had been declared innocent of the crimes they were originally convicted for—one more than the twelve who had already been executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in Illinois. The gubernatorial moratorium on executions that was declared on January 31, 2000, was an ethical decision. Capital punishment should be suspended until the legal system can ensure that no innocents are put to death.

Editor's note: In January 2003, George H. Ryan granted clemency to all of Illinois' death-row inmates, commuting most of the state's death sentences to...