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Until I Could Be Sure - How I Stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois (Paperback)
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Until I Could Be Sure - How I Stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois (Paperback)
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In January 2000, Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a
moratorium on executions-the first such action by any governor in
the history of the United States. Despite a long history as a death
penalty proponent, Ryan was emotionally moved after allowing an
execution in 1999. He was also profoundly disturbed by the state's
history-12 men had been executed and 13 had been exonerated since
the return of the death penalty in Illinois in 1977. More had been
proven innocent than had been executed. Three years later, in 2003,
Ryan pardoned four death row inmates based on their actual
innocence and then commuted the death sentences of 167 men and
women. This was the largest death row commutation in U.S. history.
At that time, 12 states and the District of Columbia barred the
death penalty. His actions breathed new life into the movement to
abolish the death penalty in the United States. Over the next 15
years, Illinois and seven other states would abolish the death
penalty-New Jersey, Maryland, New Mexico, Connecticut, Delaware,
New York and Washington. Today, the push to reform the criminal
justice system has never been stronger in America, a nation that
incarcerates more men and women than any other country in the world
and also wrongfully convicts hundreds of men and women. Although
the number of executions carried out every year continues to drop
in the U.S., the death penalty still exists in 31 states. Moreover,
in some non-death penalty states, factions seek to reinstate it.
Until I Could Be Sure: How I Stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois
is, in his own words, the story of George Ryan's journey from death
penalty proponent to death penalty opponent. His story continues to
resonate today. He defied the political winds and endured the fury
and agony of the families of the victims and the condemned as well
as politicians, prosecutors and law enforcement. It is a story of
courage and faith. It is a timely reminder of the heroic acts of a
Republican Governor who was moved by conscience, his faith and a
disturbing factual record of death row exonerations.
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