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| State asked to drop Death Row suit |
| By Chicago Tribune |
| Published: 12/29/2003 |
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Saying a return to Death Row would amount to "psychological torture," a group of death penalty opponents asked state Ill. Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan Dec. 22 to halt her lawsuit challenging the commutation of 32 Death Row inmates. "Let's not turn back now," said Robin Thompkins, whose father, Willie, is among the men named in Madigan's lawsuit. "Many, such as my father, have maintained a plea of innocence and have yet to be heard." The inmates were among the 167 people removed from Death Row in January when former Gov. George Ryan issued a blanket commutation. In September, Madigan asked the state Supreme Court to overturn 32 of the commutations for a variety of reasons. Some of the men, she said, were not eligible for clemency because they had not sought it. Others technically were not facing the death penalty because their sentences had been vacated and lower courts were reconsidering their cases, she said. At a news conference, members of the group opposing Madigan's lawsuit said the Supreme Court could rule soon on the matter. The group delivered a petition signed by about 500 people for Madigan, along with a letter from former Death Row inmate Renaldo Hudson, who is among the 32 men named in Madigan's suit. "We believe that sending even one person back to Death Row would be nothing short of psychological torture and would only serve to deepen the wounds of victims and the prisoners' family members even more," Hudson wrote. Hudson, a convicted murderer, described the death-penalty process in Illinois as being "clearly broken," and wrote that sending him and others back to Death Row would be "a tragedy and another dreadful day in Illinois." Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was at the news conference, urged abolishing the death penalty in Illinois, saying the system is rife with corruption and racism. Madigan's spokeswoman, Melissa Merz, said the issue is in the hands of the state Supreme Court. |
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