State holds clemency hearings for all death row inmates

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.

In all, more than 140 petitions for clemency will be heard before the end of the month. The hearings for all but a few of the state’s 160 condemned inmates come after Governor George Ryan said earlier this year that he intended to review every death penalty case before he leaves office in January.