Death Penalty foes gathered today in Chicago "to draw attention to flaws in the administration of capital punishment and encourage one of the anti-death penalty movement's darlings, Gov. George Ryan."

"Ryan, who in 2000 imposed a moratorium on executions in Illinois, is considering the clemency petitions of more than 140 death row inmates. Forty former death row inmates from around the country spoke briefly about their cases at the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University's law school. Two of the inmates read a letter asking Ryan to grant clemency to all 160 prisoners on death row in Illinois."

"Center director Lawrence Marshall also asked for a blanket clemency, saying Ryan "holds the fate of 160 men and women in his hands." "How do we tell the mother of a death row inmate that we have to kill your son even though we know the system is wrong ... to bring closure to other people?" Marshall asked."

Ryan leaves office in a month. Retired judges have written him , asking him to grant clemency to any death row inmate impacted by the unfair system in Illinois. Families of the victims want him to deny clemency.

We doubt Ryan will grant blanket clemency to all on Death Row, as he has said he will not. Instead, he has said he will take a hard look at each case individually. We would prefer a blanket commutation. As the New York Times opined a few months ago:

"Governor Ryan, who has made fairness in administering the death penalty a hallmark of his governorship, will end his tenure on a high note if he takes one last stand for justice and issues a blanket commutation."

We hope he at least takes the retired judges' advice, and commutes the death sentence to one of life without for any death row prisoner who didn't get a fair trial or sentencing hearing, is retarded, was a juvenile at the time of the offense, was a minor player in the offense, or may be factually innocent of the crime.

Ryan has faced political pressure on the issue before and has always chosen to stand up for what he knows is right. We don't expect any less of him this time.