An indictment is expected as early as today, charging ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich with presiding over a state government awash in political corruption.

THE Illinois Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former Governor George Ryan had the power to commute the sentences of every Illinois death row inmate before he left office last year.

With just three days left in office, Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned four death row inmates he said were tortured by Chicago police into falsely confessing in the 1980s.

The State of Illinois has opened a marathon series of clemency hearings for nearly every prisoner on death row in what could be the most sweeping review of capital punishment in US history.

These are tough times for the Chicago Police Department.