It was just over a year ago that former Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned all on death row. Now, with new Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, the debate is heating up again:

On one side of the new debate are legislators and prosecutors who say landmark reforms state lawmakers have adopted in recent months mean it is time to begin executions again. On the other side are critics of capital punishment who praise the reforms but say many more must be made before Illinois can be certain it is not executing an innocent person — if that can ever be assured.

The reforms instituted by the Illinois legislature over the past year are good ones. But they have not been in place long enough to fix the broken system. According to Edwin Colfax, executive director of the Illinois Death Penalty Education Project:

"Our big concern is that people see the substantial progress we've had to date and are under the impression that the death penalty has been fixed," Mr. Colfax said. "That would be a tragedy. The reality is that there is such a long way to go. We are not on the cusp of a death penalty system that deserves our confidence."