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.
