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Illinois Starts Massive Death Row Review

By AP/KWMU

Springfield, IL – The Illinois Prisoner Review Board starts a nine-day review of more than 140 Death Row cases today. The Board will suggest whether inmates' sentences should be switched to life in prison.

Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine says most of the cases under review should not be overturned and that to do so would insult the families of the victims. He cited the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, whose interigation was not videotaped, meaning he would have been taken off death row if he was still alive.

Governor George Ryan has said he's considering commuting all death sentences to life in prison. Devine says if the Governor plans to do that, he should do so before the hearings start.

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