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Illinois Governor Spares All on Death Row

NPR | By Cheryl Corley

Published January 11, 2003 at 12:00 AM EST

On his last weekend in office, Illinois Gov. George Ryan commutes death sentences for all of the state's death-row inmates, calling the state's capital punishment system "arbitrary, capricious and therefore immoral." The move throws the death-penalty debate into sharper focus. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.