The Times gets on a high horse and calls for commutation fo all death row inmates. As a strong opponent of capital punishment I think we ought to end the death penalty. But a cheap stunt like the Times is proposing will end reform in Illinois. Blagojevich is already reluctant to look at any serious reform and the legislature is dragging its feet. A blanket commutation will inflame the incoming Governor and the legislature and stop them from passing any substantive reform. We don’t need a pyrrhic victory, we need reform.
Even better would be if some paper besides the Chicago Tribune put its money where its mouth is and actually investigate the death penalty in other states.