Gov. Ryan wants to meet with families of murder victims

CHICAGO -- Gov. George Ryan plans to meet with at least some families of murder victims regarding clemency requests for 142 death row inmates, the governor said Friday.

He said he has not decided how the meetings would be held, when they would be held or which families he would meet.

"If they want to bring all the victims' families into a room and hear me talk, I'll be glad to talk," Ryan said after addressing the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at a downtown hotel. " I don't know how they want to set this format up. I can't sit down with each one individually. There's no question about that."

Nine days of unprecedented clemency hearings in Springfield and Chicago for almost all the inmates on Illinois' death row ended on Monday.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board now must give recommendations on the clemency requests to Ryan, who makes the final decision on whether to commute sentences to life in prison without parole.

The hearings came more than two years after Ryan halted all executions in Illinois, citing the wrongful convictions of 13 inmates who had been on death row.

Ryan said he is familiar with many of the cases that the board heard, but he feels that meeting with some of the families might benefit them.

"They may get something from it. I certainly sympathize with them, I understand their agony. Whatever makes life easiest for them," Ryan said.

At the emotional hearings, family members toted photographs of their loved ones into the hearing rooms and often cried as prosecutors spoke. Then they often stood and begged the board not to do anything that might keep the state from carrying out the inmates' death sentences.

"No one wants to see the families of victims go through any more pain," Ryan said. "They've been through a lot of pain these last few weeks."

He also said he is growing more disillusioned with the criminal justice system, and said each clemency request will be reviewed individually.

"I'm going to take the time that's needed to promote the interests of justice for all," Ryan said.

After his speech, Ryan said that granting a blanket commutation to Illinois death row inmates was an option that he "probably won't exercise after the hearings." Earlier this year, Ryan had hinted he might grant a blanket commutation of death sentences, but recently he has been backing away from that.

"My heart certainly goes out to the members of the families of murder victims who once again have had to relive their experiences," Ryan told the criminal defense lawyers. "I'm not trying to release any killer. I don't want to punish families of victims. I just don't want to execute an innocent person."