Illinois Governor Kills Death Penalty.

• Position: Republican George Ryan puts moratorium on capital punishment - Brief Article

Citing a "shameful record of convicting innocent people and putting them on death row," Governor George Ryan of Illinois has halted all executions in the state, the first such moratorium in the nation.

A moderate Republican who supports the death penalty, Ryan says that since 1977, Illinois has sentenced at least 13 men to death for crimes they did not commit, including the 10 pictured below. All were later exonerated and freed by the courts.

Opponents of the death penalty say that mistaken convictions are...