And this, too, we knew was coming.
Prosecutors, survivors rip RyanThey wept--again. And they were angry--again. For the many relatives of victims of some of Illinois' most brutal murders, Sunday was the day to let the world know how they felt about Gov. Ryan's decision to commute the sentences of 167 Death Row inmates. "The governor has walked out of office and walked on our hearts," said Ron Gierlowski, whose sister Darlene Dudek was killed in a 1986 Aurora murder. "That's a terrible thing."
Various prosecutors are promising to try to undo the clemency, but by the Illinois state constitution, there is absolutely nothing that they can do. The governor's power of clemency is absolute; it is practically the only absolute power the governor has, because it is used so very rarely.
What is likely to happen now is that various groups will lobby the General Assembly to place restrictions on the governor's power of clemency so that such a thing can never happen again. I'm not sure that it can be done without an amendment to the state constitution, but people will try.
Prosecutors are now stating that there should be debate on the death penalty in this state ... so that victims' familes do not have to endure clemency hearings again. So nice to see that they are so terribly concerned that the system as it is has led them to prosecute innocent men. So nice to see that they're so happy that some innocent men were released through this process.
Posted by iain at January 13, 2003 11:17 PMComments
