Capital punishment documentary 'Deadline' to air July 30 on NBC

Published: 2004-07-29

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An independently made documentary, "Deadline," about the turnaround made by former Illinois Gov. George Ryan on the capital punishment issue, will air Friday, July 30, 8-10 p.m. EDT on NBC. Ryan, a Methodist, had been a staunch supporter of the death penalty in successfully winning his bid for governor. But in 2000 he issued a moratorium on executions by the state after a Northwestern University journalism class not only proved the innocence of a man on death row, but elicited a confession from the actual culprit. As part of the moratorium, Ryan ordered a study on how capital punishment was carried out in Illinois. After the study's findings were published, Ryan last year freed four death-row inmates he declared to be innocent, and granted clemency to the other 167 death-row prisoners. Three of the prisoners received 40-year terms for their crimes; the rest were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

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