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The attorney general sued to halt
clemency hearings for the nearly 160 death row inmates who
petitioned the Prisoner Review Board, the PRB, for their sentences
to be commuted from death to life without parole.
One suit, filed in Sangamon County
Court, seeks an order for the board to hear cases beyond the
15-minute limit on testimony. However, last week the PRB voted that
the 15-minute limit was merely advisory, apparently rendering the
attorney general’s lawsuit moot.
The other suit, filed before the
Illinois Supreme Court, seeks to enjoin the governor and the PRB
from considering the cases of 33 inmates who may not have signed a
petition for clemency or whose death sentences have been vacated for
resentencing. Through his attorneys, Gov. Ryan will vigorously
contest this effort to diminish the powers of governors to act in
the interest of justice as provided by the state constitution, a
power that past governors have also interpreted broadly.
"I am
delighted that Gov. Thompson and Kimball Anderson will be
representing me and the Prisoner Review Board. They are attorneys of
the highest caliber. Further, I am confident that the facts and the
law are on our side and that we will prevail in both courts," Gov.
Ryan said.
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release]
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