[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 5 (Monday, January 31, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S139-S140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DECISION TO SUSPEND EXECUTIONS IN ILLINOIS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, earlier today, Governor George Ryan of 
Illinois made an announcement that is absolutely unprecedented for a 
sitting governor since the reinstatement of the modern death penalty 
almost 25 years ago. Governor Ryan plans to effectively block 
executions in Illinois by granting stays of all scheduled executions on 
a case-by-case basis until a State panel can examine whether Illinois 
is administering the death penalty fairly and justly. Governor Ryan is 
right to take this step, because real questions are being raised about 
whether innocent people are being condemned to die.
  Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1976 Gregg decision finding the death 
penalty constitutional, Illinois has executed 12 people and and found 
13 people on death row to be innocent. This is truly extraordinary. 
After condemning people to death, Illinois has actually found more 
death row inmates innocent than it has executed! Some of the innocent 
were exonerated based on a new DNA test of forensic evidence. Others 
successfully challenged their convictions based on inadequate 
representation by disbarred or suspended attorneys or a determination 
that crucial testimony of a jailhouse informant was unreliable. 
Illinois has exonerated 13 individuals but the numbers are sure to 
grow, as other cases continue to be investigated and appeals make their 
way through the courts.
  What is even more troubling is that the lives of some of these 13 
innocent people were saved not by the diligence of defense counsel or a 
jury or judge, but by a group of students taking a journalism class at 
Northwestern University. These Northwestern University students 
uncovered evidence, which led to the exoneration of people like Anthony 
Porter, who spent 15 years on death row and came within 2 days of 
execution. The criminal justice system failed to do its job. These 
students and their journalism professor--actors very much outside the 
criminal justice system--did the footwork to uncover exculpatory 
evidence. Governor Ryan supports the death penalty as a form of 
punishment in Illinois. I do not. But he has courageously acknowledged 
what many lawyers, scholars, and journalists have argued for some time: 
the criminal justice system in Illinois is broken and it must be fixed.
  I applaud Governor Ryan for what is unfortunately unusual courage. 
Many political leaders, even those who may be personally opposed to the 
death penalty, nevertheless feel it is somehow ``political suicide'' to 
support a moratorium on executions. They fear being

[[Page S140]]

labeled ``soft on crime.'' But, last year, the Nebraska legislature 
passed a moratorium initiative, unfortunately, it was only to be vetoed 
later by the governor. But Governor Ryan--a Republican Governor and the 
Illinois chair of Republican Presidential hopeful George W. Bush's 
campaign--has decided he will lead the people of Illinois to expecting 
more from their criminal justice system. He has decided to hold out for 
what should be the minimum standard of any system of justice: that we 
do all that we can not to execute an innocent person.
  As a result of the Governor's action, Illinois is the first of the 38 
States with the death penalty to halt all executions while it reviews 
the death penalty procedure. But the problems of inadequate 
representation, lack of access to DNA testing, police misconduct, 
racial bias and even simple errors are not unique to Illinois. These 
are problems that have plagued the administration of capital punishment 
around the country since the reinstatement of capital punishment almost 
a quarter century ago. I hope the Federal government and the other 37 
States with capital punishment follow the wisdom of Illinois and halt 
executions until they, too, review their administration of the death 
penalty. At the Federal level, I call on the President and the Attorney 
General to suspend executions until the Federal government reviews the 
administration of the Federal death penalty.
  Are we certain that the Federal death penalty is being applied in a 
fair, just and unbiased manner? Are we certain that the Federal death 
penalty is sought against defendants free of even a hint of racial 
bias? Are we certain that the Federal death penalty is sought evenly 
from U.S. Attorney district to U.S. Attorney district across the 
Nation? I don't think we have a clear answer to these questions. Yet, 
these are questions, literally, of life or death.
  There isn't room for even a simple mistake when it comes to the 
ultimate punishment, the death penalty. For a nation that holds itself 
to principles of justice, equality and due process, the Federal 
government should not be in the business of punishing by killing. As 
Governor Ryan's spokesperson aptly noted, ``It's really not about 
politics. How could anyone be opposed to this when the system is so 
clearly flawed?''
  Let us not let one more innocent person be condemned to die. Let us 
demand reform.
  In a moment, I intend to offer an amendment to the bankruptcy bill. I 
suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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