The New York Times

Saturday, February 19, 2000

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR HOPES TO FIX A "BROKEN" JUSTICE SYSTEM

By Dirk Johnson

Springfield, Ill. - Sitting in a chair facing a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, Gov. George Ryan shuddered as he recalled "the most anguishing period of my life."

Mr. Ryan has been asked to grant a stay of execution last year for a man convicted of a brutal slaying and mutilation.

"I was miserable, absolutely miserable," said Mr. Ryan, 65, a stocky former high school linebacker with a florid complexion and a stock of with hair. "The idea that I have the power to decide whether a man should live or die. It was awful."

In the end, Mr. Ryan, a supporter of the death penalty, denied the stay, and the man was executed. The governor hoped he would never be faced with such a decision again.

But a little over a month ago, the state Attorney General, Jim Ryan, told the governor that another execution would soon be scheduled in Illinois, a state that has seen 13 wrongfully convicted and sent to death row since 1977.

With more details surfacing about flaws in the justice system that led to the wrongful convictions, Mr. Ryan took a step that made national headlines and rekindled the roiling debate in his state over capital punishment.

"I'm going to put a stop to this," the governor told the attorney general. "The system is broken, It's time we take a look and see what's wrong."

A few days later, Governor Ryan declared a halt to executions in Illinois, making him the first governor to impose a moratorium.

While Mr. Ryan said he acted out of conscience, some of his critics wondered at the timing of the announcement, coming in the middle of a federal investigation into a scandal that had tarnished his administration.

The latest in a long line of moderate Republican governors of Illinois, Mr. Ryan has been overshadowed by Midwestern governors with more activist agendas, like Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin and John Engler of Michigan.

But the moratorium has changed that.

It has also highlighted Mr. Ryan 's willingness to split with conservative Republicans here, who have accused him of governing as a liberal.

He has pushed for strong gun control and broader protection for gay people. He raised taxes on alcohol and increased fees on driver's licenses, in part, to pay for a $12 billion public works program that was hailed by trade unions.

He maintains a close working relationship with Mayor Richard M. Delay of Chicago, a Democratic, and has worked on some measures with Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a Democratic who is anathema to many conservatives. He has also met with Fidel Castro and called for lifting the trade embargo on Cuba.

Acknowledging that "conservatives have raised hell" about some of his moves, Mr. Ryan said he has tried to base his decision on fairness, not partnership.

Supporting rights for gays, he said, was "just a matter of common sense," not a democratic or Republican position. "Why would anyone want to discriminate"" he asked.

On gun control: "People have good reason to be afraid of guns."

On the Cuba embargo: "It's a humanitarian issue."

As for his relationship with Mayor Daley, a stark departure from the traditional political rivalry in Illinois between the mayor of Chicago and the governor, Mr. Rayan said it was simply good governance. "If I have an idea I want to bounce off the mayor, I pick up the phone and call him," he said. "And he does the same."

A native of the farm-and-factory town of Kankakee, Mr. Ryan is a druggist's son. After a stint in the Army in Korea, he enrolled at Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Mich., where he studied pharmacy. He married Laura Lynn Lowe in 1956 and joined the family business.

" We had this soda and lunch fountain and during the morning, people would come in to drink coffee, shoot the breeze and complain about the government," Mr. Ryan recalled. "Finally I said, `Somebody ought to run for office and do something about things.`"

He worked to elect his brother, Thomas Jr., mayor of Kanakakee County Board.

In nearly 35 years as a politician Mr. Ryan has never lost an election. He served 10 years in the Illinois Legislature, won election twice as lieutenant governor and then served two terms as the secretary of state, before his successful bid for governor in 1998.

While the moratorium on the death penalty has drawn most of the attention outside of Illinois, inside the state just as much has been focused on a growing scandal involving the secretary of state's office during Ryan's tenure. Some 17 people have pleaded guilty to taken bribes, and a top aide to Mr. Ryan has been indicted. Some of the money found its way to Mr. Ryan's campaign for governor.

"It's embarrassing," Mr. Ryan said. "It happened on my watch and I've apologize for it."

Critics have said that Mr. Ryan should have known about the wrongdoing, and a Federal investigation is continuing.

Mr. Ryan has angered some conservatives by reversing his Republican predecessor's ban on alcohol at the governor's mansion.

"I drink a beer once in a while," said Mr. Ryan the father of six grown children, including triples girls.

Mr. Ryan said his political hero was Richard Ogilvie, a Republican governor who put through a state income tax, a move that cost him the next election. To Mr. Ryan, it was an act of courage that he said he has tried to emulate. Speaking of his critics, he said, "I'd like to see those people sit in that chair and make the decisions I have to make."