Title: To execute or not: A question of cost?
Headings: To execute or not: A question of cost?
To execute or not: A question of cost?
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Content: Some of the worst cases occurred in Illinois. In 2000, then-Gov. George H. Ryan placed a moratorium on executions after 13 people had been exonerated from death row for reasons including genetic testing and recanted testimony. Ryan declared the system "so fraught with error that it has come close to the ultimate nightmare, the state's taking of innocent life." He commuted the sentences of all 167 death row convicts, most to life imprisonment without parole. His moratorium is still in effect. Across the country, the number of prisoners exonerated and released from death row is more than 130, with thousands of appeals clogging the courts. Death penalty trials are more expensive for several reasons: They often require extra lawyers; there are strict experience requirements for attorneys, leading to lengthy appellate waits while capable counsel is sought for the accused;