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73-677: Menard Correctional Center opened in March 1878; it is the second oldest operating prison in Illinois, and, by a large margin, the state's largest prison. Menard once housed death row; however, on January 10, 2003, the Condemned Unit closed when then Governor George Ryan granted clemency to all Illinois death row inmates. It is a part of the Illinois Department of Corrections . Menard Correctional Center's average prisoner age

146-529: A Pulitzer Prize and other journalism awards, with reporting focused on various issues, including prison abuse and rape, privatized prisons , and the treatment of incarcerated youth and mentally ill people. Keller retired in 2019 and was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Susan Chira . On February 29, 2024, The Marshall Project newsroom staff announced publicly that it was unionizing under the NewsGuild of New York. As of August 2021, The Marshall Project had

219-613: A Salvation Army halfway house in Chicago on January 30, 2013. Less than three hours later, he was released back to his home in Kankakee where he remained on home confinement until July 3, 2013. The Marshall Project The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about inequities within the U.S. criminal justice system . The Marshall Project has been described as an advocacy group by some, and works to impact

292-584: A high school English class. She grew up in Aroma Park , where her family (originally from Germany ) had lived since 1834. Her father owned one of the first hybrid seed companies in the United States. The couple had five daughters (including a set of triplets); Julie, Joanne, Jeanette, Lynda and Nancy; and one son, George Homer Ryan, Jr. Lura Lowe died of lung cancer at Riverside Hospital in Kankakee on June 27, 2011. Ryan's brother, Tom,

365-841: A scandal . He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement . He was released from federal prison on July 3, 2013. George Homer Ryan was born in Maquoketa, Iowa to Jeannette (née Bowman) and Thomas Ryan, a pharmacist. Ryan grew up in Kankakee County, Illinois . After serving in the U.S. Army in Korea , he worked for his father's two drugstores. He attended Ferris State College of Pharmacy (now Ferris State University ) in Big Rapids, Michigan . Eventually, he built his father's pair of pharmacies into

438-532: A 22-count federal indictment. The charges included racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud. The indictment alleged that Ryan steered several state contracts to Warner and other friends; disbursed campaign funds to relatives and to pay personal expenses; and obstructed justice by attempting to end the state investigation of the license-for-bribes scandal. He was charged with lying to investigators and accepting cash, gifts and loans in return for his official actions as governor. On September 19, 2005,

511-487: A Peabody Award for "Anatomy of Doubt". In 2018, The Marshall Project was awarded a national Edward R. Murrow Award for "Overall Excellence" for a small digital newsroom. It also won the award for General Excellence in Online Journalism from Online News Association . Its 2017 documentary series "We Are Witnesses" was nominated for the 39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Award . Its 2019 installment of

584-405: A commission to study the issue, while noting, "I still believe the death penalty is a proper response to heinous crimes ... But I believe that it has to be where we don't put innocent people to death." The issue had garnered the attention of the public when a death row inmate, Anthony Porter , who had spent 15 years on death row, was within two days of being executed when his lawyers won a stay on

657-419: A daily population of around 3,416 inmates. The racial breakdown is 62% black, 28% white, and 9% Hispanic. Of the inmates housed at Menard, 51% are incarcerated for murder, 21% have life sentences, and 33% are serving more than 20 years. The average age of inmates at Menard is 34 years old. By 1931, Menard was one of three sites in Illinois where executions were carried out by electrocution. Between 1928 and 1962,

730-482: A failed bid to challenge Ryan in the 1994 general election for Secretary of State. On August 30, 1997, incumbent governor Jim Edgar announced he would retire after his second term; three days later, Ryan announced his candidacy for governor. He won the Republican nomination with minimal opposition and defeated his opponent, Glenn Poshard , in the general election by a 51–47 percent margin. Ryan's running mate

803-499: A former Republican state representative who was hired by Ryan and testified against Fawell, pleaded guilty to wide-ranging corruption, admitting he paid kickbacks to win state contracts and campaign business, secretly mailed out vicious false attacks on political opponents and helped obtain ghost-payrolling jobs. The investigation finally reached the former governor, and in December 2003, Ryan and lobbyist Lawrence Warner were named in

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876-493: A new and experimental non-profit journalism format. It has been compared with the non-profit ProPublica , the Center for Investigative Reporting , Inside Climate News , and The Texas Tribune , and also with recent for-profit journalistic experiments such as Vox and FiveThirtyEight . The Marshall Project has also been praised for its timely launch given current bipartisan interest in criminal justice reform in

949-507: A parade of other witnesses (including Juliano) followed Fawell. On April 17, 2006, the jury found Ryan and Warner guilty on all counts. However, when ruling on post-trial motions, the judge dismissed two counts against Ryan for lack of proof. Ryan said that he would appeal the verdict, largely due to the issues with the jury. Patrick Fitzgerald , the federal prosecutor , noted, "Mr. Ryan steered contracts worth millions of dollars to friends and took payments and vacations in return. When he

1022-400: A ratio of roughly 1 to 20. By 1931, the inmate population had risen to 2,285 with four yard offices and 130 guards, or approximately one guard for every 17 inmates. Of the 2,285 inmates, 1,844 were white and 441 were black. In 1928, Menard owned 1,100 acres (4.5 km) of farmland outside the grounds. The farm included a dairy and a piggery that contributed to the prison diet. The root cellar

1095-404: A scale of justice. The entranceway has two stone lions. Christie Thompson and Joe Shapiro of The Marshall Project wrote that the exterior "looks more like an ornate university building than a maximum-security facility. In 1928, the prison suffered from massive overcrowding. Designed to hold 800 men, the institution had approximately 2,000. Thus, an additional five cages were built on each side of

1168-447: A scheme inside Ryan's Secretary of State's office in which unqualified truck drivers obtained licenses through bribes. In March 2003, Scott Fawell , Ryan's former chief of staff and campaign manager, was convicted on federal charges of racketeering and fraud. He was sentenced to six years and six months. Former deputy campaign manager Richard Juliano pleaded guilty to related charges and testified against Fawell at trial. Roger Stanley,

1241-459: A son" to Ryan throughout their careers. At Ryan's trial, Fawell acknowledged that the prosecution had his "head in a vise", and that he found his cooperation with the government against Ryan "the most distasteful thing I've ever done". Nonetheless, he spent several days on the witness stand testifying against Ryan and Warner. Once a tough-talking political strategist, Fawell wept on the witness stand as he acknowledged that his motivation for testifying

1314-406: A staff of 48, with eight additional contributing writers, five of whom are currently incarcerated. The Marshall Project is funded by donations and grants from foundations and individuals. Joe Pompeo wrote of The Marshall Project that it had had a great start due to a mix of good initial publicity and association with high-profile names. The Marshall Project has also been identified as part of

1387-399: A successful family-run chain (profiting from lucrative government-contract business selling prescription drugs to nursing homes) which he sold in 1990. Ryan was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. He served a 13-month tour in Korea , working in a base pharmacy. On June 10, 1956, Ryan married his high school sweetheart, Lura Lynn Lowe (July 5, 1934 – June 27, 2011), whom he had met in

1460-549: A third two-year term, as did New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya before he left office in 1986 and Ohio Governor Dick Celeste before he left office in 1990. Ryan won praise from death penalty opponents: as early as 2001, he received the Mario Cuomo Act of Courage Award from Death Penalty Focus , in 2003 the Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award from the same organization. On

1533-466: A weekly feature called "Life Inside," where people who work or live in the criminal justice system tell their stories in first-person essays. Until October 2018, Life Inside was co-published with VICE . The project officially launched in November 2014. Its first editor-in-chief was former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller . The outlet's reporting in its first five years garnered it

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1606-629: Is 34 years old. Each inmate's average annual cost totals, as of fiscal year 2018, $ 27,364. As of 2006, Menard Correctional Center has a total of 2,600 acres (11 km), 41 of which are inside the grounds. The grounds are composed of six housing units. The South Lowers Housing Unit and the South Uppers Housing Unit house inmates with moderate aggression levels and those who currently have job assignments (though they closed for repairs in October 2018). The North I Cell House contains

1679-759: Is an American former politician who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party , he previously served as secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and as lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991. He was later convicted of federal racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud stemming from his time in office. Ryan was elected governor in 1998 , narrowly defeating Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard . He received national attention for his 2000 moratorium on executions in Illinois and for commuting more than 160 death sentences to life sentences in 2003. He chose not to run for reelection in 2002 amid

1752-489: Is currently serving 30 years in prison after being arrested for drug trafficking he committed after his release from death row. Howard remains in prison for armed robbery. Ryan declared in his pardon speech that he would have freed Howard if only his attorney had filed a clemency petition; Ryan then strongly urged investigators to examine Howard's alleged robbery case, because it appeared to be as tainted as his murder conviction. These were four of ten death row inmates known as

1825-575: The 1982 election . The Thompson/Ryan ticket narrowly defeated the Democratic ticket of Adlai Stevenson III and Grace Stern . Thompson and Ryan were both reelected to their positions in 1986 . In 1990, Ryan was elected Secretary of State of Illinois . During his first term as Secretary of State, then– State Treasurer Pat Quinn was publicly critical of Ryan, specifically drawing attention to special vanity license plates that Ryan's office provided for clout-hungry motorists. This rivalry led Quinn in

1898-569: The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for " An Unbelievable Story of Rape " described as "a startling examination and exposé of law enforcement's enduring failures to investigate reports of rape properly and to comprehend the traumatic effects on its victims". In 2019, this piece was adapted into the Netflix series Unbelievable . Also in 2017, it was named as a collaborator (alongside ProPublica ) when This American Life won

1971-497: The United States Supreme Court declined to hear Ryan's appeal, Thompson indicated that he would ask then President George W. Bush to commute Ryan's sentence to time served. United States Senator Dick Durbin wrote a letter to Bush dated December 1, 2008, asking him to commute Ryan's sentence, citing Ryan's age and his wife's frail health, saying, "This action would not pardon him of his crimes or remove

2044-743: The electric chair was used 18 times here for those sentenced to death in the southern counties of the state. The state's other electrocutions were carried out at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill and at the Cook County Jail in Chicago . Prior to the January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Menard, Pontiac , and Tamms correctional centers. After

2117-438: The "Death Row 10," due to widely reported claims that the confessions that they had given in their respective cases had been coerced through torture. Ryan is not the first state governor to have granted blanket commutations to death row inmates during his final days in office. Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller also commuted the sentence of every death row inmate in that state as he left office after losing his 1970 bid for

2190-593: The Administration Building. A wall enclosed the 11½ acres of the prison grounds. The rear wall runs over the top of a hill that was one of the prison's rock quarries. Menard also had a quarry outside the walls. All the original buildings were constructed by prison labor. The original North and South Cell Houses each contained 400 cells on four tiers. Inmates lived two to a cell. None of these cells had plumbing. Buckets were used instead. The exterior includes columns, an awning portraying skeleton keys and

2263-736: The Alton prison was replaced by the Joliet Correctional Center and closed. Twenty years later, the Southern Illinois Penitentiary opened, taking prisoners from the southern counties of the state. It was established in 1878, overlooking the Mississippi River. It accepted 200 prisoners the next year. The original buildings were finished by 1889, consisting of the North and South Cell Houses and

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2336-889: The Protective Custody Unit. Within the grounds are also the Inmate Dining Hall, Chapel, Health Care Unit, Receiving and Classification Unit, Education Building, Maintenance and Telecommunications Departments, Menard Division of Illinois Correctional Industries, and Randolph Hall, which acts as Menard's training complex for prison employees. Inmates who are illiterate attend school. Other inmates can enroll voluntarily. Menard had courses for elementary schooling and several high school subjects. The current industries at Menard include meat processing, knitting and sewing, manufacturing of floor care and cleaning products, waste removal, and recycling operations. Menard, as of 2006, employs approximately 854 prisoners. It has

2409-588: The Ryan campaign. In addition to Lynda Fairman, who received funds beyond those her husband Michael testified he had received, the stipulations included admissions from the rest of Ryan's daughters that they did little or no work in return for the payments. In addition, Fawell testified that Ryan's mother's housekeeper was illegally paid from campaign funds, and that Ryan's adopted sister, Nancy Ferguson, received campaign funds without performing campaign work. The prosecution took nearly four months to present their case, as

2482-497: The Step-Down Unit, and General Population. The North II Cell House contains inmates in disciplinary segregation, administrative detention, and the general population. The East Cell House is heavily monitored. Inmates assigned here are classified as either Level E, High, or Moderate escape risk. The West Cell House holds inmates that are either high or moderate escape risk and are classified as High Aggressive Inmates, as well as

2555-631: The U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case; the opinion called the evidence of Ryan's guilt "overwhelming". The Supreme Court rejected an extension of his bail, and Ryan reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Oxford, Wisconsin , on November 7, 2007. He was transferred on February 29, 2008, to a medium security facility in Terre Haute, Indiana , after Oxford changed its level of medical care and stopped housing inmates over 70 years old. He

2628-492: The United States . The Marshall Project has been compared with the Innocence Project , but distinguishes itself because its focus is not merely on innocent people ensnared by the criminal justice system but also on guilty people whose rights to due process, fair trial, and proportionate punishment are violated, and is considered an advocacy group by some. In 2016, The Marshall Project and partner ProPublica won

2701-453: The bathhouse was located in the basement of one of the old buildings. It contained 76 showers. By 1931, the baths were relocated to the basement of the commissary, containing 84 concrete showers. Throughout this time, inmates were given time to bathe once a week during the winter and twice a week in the summer. In 1927, of the 484 inmates who arrived at the prison, 406 were white, and 78 were black. By 1928, there were 1974 inmates and 96 guards,

2774-439: The benefits provided for under the system shall be paid to Ryan". Ryan was paid $ 635,000 in pension benefits during the three years between his retirement and his political corruption conviction, plus a refund of the $ 235,500 in personal contributions he made during his 30 years in public office. In 2010, Ryan requested early release, partly because his wife had terminal cancer and was given only six months to live, and partly on

2847-416: The case went to trial. Fawell, under pressure from prosecutors, became a key witness against Ryan and Warner. He agreed to a plea deal that cut the prison time for himself and his fiancée, Andrea Coutretsis. Fawell was a controversial witness, not hiding his disdain for prosecutors from the witness stand. According to CBS Chicago political editor Mike Flannery, insiders claimed that Fawell had been "much like

2920-435: The cell house corridors. These cages, which housed two men each, had a center wall of steel with the top and sides consisting of iron bars. Old buildings within the prison yard were also being used as dormitories, housing prisoners until around 1930 when a new cell house was built to combat the excessive inmate population. The new cell house contained 500 cells, each housing two inmates. All of these cells had plumbing. In 1928,

2993-432: The commissary and held a guard hostage for sixteen hours. In May 1974, sixty inmates held four guards hostage, this time demanding congregation rights in the prison yard and several changes in administrative procedures. In March 1994, Menard was in the news when 24-year-old Michael Blucker took the state to court after contracting HIV while in the prison. Blucker stated that prison staff helped gang members rape him. Although

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3066-605: The commutations, only Pontiac continued to hold death row prisoners. The first Illinois penitentiary was founded in Alton, the Alton Military Prison , in 1833. Reformer Dorothea Dix visited the site and was sharply critical of the filthy conditions there in an 1847 address to the Illinois General Assembly. She noted, among many other things, that Alton was the only prison in the U.S. where inmates were made to stand while eating meals. In 1858,

3139-436: The country and bringing up Illinois's technology ranking in a national magazine from 48th out of the 50 states when he took office to 1st just two years later. Ryan committed record funding to education, including 51% of all new state revenues during his time in office, in addition to the billions spent through Illinois FIRST that built and improved schools and education infrastructure. In 1999, Ryan sparked controversy by becoming

3212-610: The farm grew to 1,500 acres (6.1 km) and brick manufacturing and the machine shop were added to the prison's major industries. In 1897, Illinois adopted indeterminate sentencing. By 1931, eighty percent of the inmates were serving indeterminate sentences. In 1903, a "grade system" was adopted for inmates. This lasted until 1920, when the "progressive Merit System" was adopted. Using this system, "good time" could be awarded to or taken from inmates based on their behavior. In addition, inmates were divided into grades, A, B, C, D, and E, based on behavior. The disciplinary staff, consisting of

3285-574: The first African-American justice of that Court. The Marshall Project began as an idea of Neil Barsky, a former hedge-fund manager, in November 2013. When writing an op-ed in The New York Times , Barsky thought it might be a good opportunity to plug the idea, so he included a brief description of the project and the website URL in his byline. In February 2014, The New York Times reported that Bill Keller, who had been executive editor at The New York Times from July 2003 to September 2011,

3358-528: The first sitting U.S. Governor to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro . Ryan's visit led to a $ 1 million donation of humanitarian aid, but drew criticism from anti-Castro groups. In 2000, Ryan served as a chair of the Midwestern Governors Association . Ryan helped to renew the national debate on capital punishment when, as governor, he declared a moratorium on his state's death penalty on January 31, 2000. This decision

3431-602: The governor was attempting to save his public image in hopes of avoiding prison himself. Buchanan noted "Ryan announced his decision to a wildly cheering crowd at the Northwestern University Law School. Families of the victims of the soon-to-be-reprieved killers were not invited." Ryan's political career was marred by a scandal called "Operation Safe Road", which involved the illegal sale of government licenses, contracts and leases by state employees during his prior service as Secretary of State. In

3504-427: The grounds that he may have been mentally disabled. He was ultimately exonerated with the help of a group of student journalists at Northwestern University who had uncovered evidence that was used to prove his innocence. In 1999, Porter was released, charges were subsequently dropped, and another person, Alstory Simon, confessed and pleaded guilty to the crime of which Porter had been erroneously convicted. Simon himself

3577-518: The grounds that some of his convictions should be vacated in light of a Supreme Court ruling that was alleged to have affected their legitimacy. On December 21, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer denied Ryan's request. On January 5, 2011, Ryan was taken from his prison cell in Terre Haute, Indiana , to a hospital in Kankakee to visit his dying wife. He was present when she died on June 27, five months after that visit. Ryan entered

3650-401: The juries found the staff not to be liable, the case uncovered problems of sexual assault and gang activities within the prison. There were two deaths of prisoners who were housed in solitary confinement with other prisoners inside their cells. Around 2004, 28-year-old Corey Fox, who was serving a life sentence for murder, killed 22-year-old Joshua Daczewitz, a person from a Chicago suburb who

3723-427: The law created a $ 6.3 billion package for use in school and transportation projects. With various matching funds programs, Illinois FIRST provided $ 2.2 billion for schools, $ 4.1 billion for public transportation, another $ 4.1 billion for roads, and $ 1.6 billion for other projects. He also improved Illinois's technology infrastructure, creating one of the first cabinet-level Offices of Technology in

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3796-562: The other side of the Atlantic, Robert Badinter , who had successfully introduced the bill abolishing the death penalty in France in 1981 praised Ryan's decision. Many conservatives, though, were opposed to the commutations, some questioning his motives, which came as a federal corruption investigation closed in on the governor and his closest political allies (see below). Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan called Ryan "pathetic", and suggested

3869-468: The prisoners an ultimatum. There had been a previous uprising on September 22. A month later, prisoners took a prison lieutenant and six guards as hostages when a more serious riot broke out. Stevenson, backed up by between 100 and 200 state troopers , stood inside the prison yard and delivered the ultimatum over the prison public address system. He said, "We are going into the cells with state police armed with guns and with whatever force necessary." while

3942-487: The record of his conviction, but it would allow him to return to his wife and family for their remaining years." Bush did not commute Ryan's sentence. After his conviction Ryan's annual $ 197,037 state pension was suspended under state law. Ryan's attorneys litigated the pension matter all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled on February 19, 2010, that state law "plainly mandates that none of

4015-500: The reinstatement of the death penalty in 1977, with one execution, that of Ripper Crew member Andrew Kokoraleis, occurring early during Ryan's term. Ryan refused to meet with religious leaders and others regarding "a stay of execution" in light of the impending 'moratorium' and other facts relative to the 'flawed' capital punishment system in Illinois; in fact, under Ryan's governorship, 13 people were released from jail after appealing their convictions based on new evidence. Ryan called for

4088-401: The state troopers fired shots into the cell blocks held by the prisoners before entering the parts of the prison under the control of the rioters. All seven guards were recovered unharmed. In the 1970s, a significant increase in inmate population, not only at Menard but also around the country, may have been the cause of two incidents during that time. In May 1973, thirty-eight inmates took over

4161-605: The system through journalism. It was founded by former hedge fund manager and prison abolitionist Neil Barsky with former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller as its first editor-in-chief. It has won the Pulitzer Prize twice. The organization's name honors Thurgood Marshall , the NAACP 's civil rights activist and attorney whose arguments won the landmark U.S. Supreme Court school desegregation case, Brown vs. Board of Education , who later became

4234-653: The wake of numerous convictions of his former aides, he chose not to run for reelection in 2002. Seventy-nine former state officials, lobbyists, and others were charged in the investigation, and at least 75 were convicted. The corruption scandal leading to Ryan's downfall began more than a decade earlier during a federal investigation into a deadly crash in Wisconsin . Six children from the Willis family of Chicago, Illinois , were killed; their parents, Rev. Duane and Janet Willis, were severely burned. The investigation revealed

4307-499: The warden and his deputies, decided on promotions and demotions in grade levels. For example, men in grades A and B were allowed to write two letters a week. Those in C could only write once a week. D and E inmates could only write with special permission. Silence was mandatory in the mess hall and in marching lines. Smoking was permitted in the cells and dormitories. The prison commissary, around 1930, allowed inmates to buy tobacco, candy, toilet articles, canned goods, and fruit. No limit

4380-514: Was campaigning for president as the Democratic Party nominee. Prison guards were taken hostages during the riot, which began on October 27. One of the demands of the 399 prisoners engaged in the riot was to speak to the governor, and Stevenson left the campaign trail to negotiate with the prisoners. He was given credit for ending the riot when he appeared at the prison on October 31, backed up by an overwhelming show of force, and delivered

4453-656: Was a prominent political figure in Kankakee County . In addition, Ryan's sister Kathleen Dean's former son-in-law, Bruce Clark, is the Kankakee County, Illinois Clerk. Ryan began his political career by serving on the Kankakee County Board from 1968 to 1973 (his brother Tom J. Ryan was Mayor of Kankakee for 20 years from 1965 to 1985). He was then elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1972, where he served five terms. In 1976, he

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4526-487: Was a sitting governor, he lied to the FBI about this conduct and then he went out and did it again." He charged that one of the most egregious aspects of the corruption was Ryan's action after learning that bribes were being paid for licenses. Instead of ending the practice he tried to end the investigation that had uncovered it, Fitzgerald said, calling the moment "a low-water mark for public service". On September 6, 2006, Ryan

4599-423: Was convicted of arson and robbery. On November 29, 2014, David Sesson killed Bernard Simmons; the two were also placed in a solitary confinement cell together. In the 1993 movie The Fugitive , Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Harrison Ford ) is sent to the prison at Menard to await execution, but escapes following a bus-train collision en route. George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934)

4672-459: Was elected House Minority Leader. As Minority Leader, Ryan led Republicans to win a 91-86 majority in the House in 1980; he was subsequently elected Speaker in January 1981. In July 1981, Dave O'Neal , the lieutenant governor under Republican Governor James R. Thompson , resigned unexpectedly. To fill in the vacancy left by O'Neal's resignation, Thompson selected Ryan to be his running mate in

4745-609: Was first-term state representative Corinne Wood . Ryan outspent Poshard by a 4-to-1 margin. Poshard, a firm believer in campaign finance reform, placed limits on individual donations and refused to accept donations from corporate or special interests. One of Ryan's pet projects as governor was an extensive repair of the Illinois Highway System called "Illinois FIRST". FIRST was an acronym for "Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools, and Transit". Signed into law in May 1999,

4818-814: Was going to work for the Marshall Project. Barsky continued to work for The Marshall Project for seven years, and announced in October of 2021 that he would step down as chairman of the organization. The Marshall Project publishes journalistic and opinion pieces on its own website, and also collaborates with news organizations and magazines to publish investigations. Its first two investigations were published in August 2014 (on its own website and in The Washington Post together) and in October 2014 (on its own website and in Slate ). It also publishes

4891-403: Was heavily influenced by lawsuits filed by exonerated prisoners who made false confessions as a result of police torture under the direction of a police commander named Jon Burge . "We have now freed more people than we have put to death under our system," he said. "There is a flaw in the system, without question, and it needs to be studied." At the time, Illinois had executed 12 people since

4964-569: Was later released after serving fifteen years for the crime, after it was proven that he, too, was wrongfully accused. On January 11, 2003, just two days before leaving office, Ryan commuted (to "life" terms ) the sentences of everyone on or waiting to be sent to Illinois' death row — a total of 167 convicts — due to his belief that the death penalty could not be administered fairly. He also pardoned four inmates, Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley and Leroy Orange (all of whom were interrogated by Burge and released), and Stanley Howard. However, Patterson

5037-437: Was listed as Federal Inmate Number 16627-424 and was released on July 3, 2013. Ryan's defense was provided pro bono by Winston & Strawn , a law firm managed by former governor Jim Thompson . The defense cost the firm $ 10 million through mid-November 2005. Estimates of the cost to the firm as of September 2006 ranged as high as $ 20 million. Ryan served as Thompson's lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991. After

5110-400: Was one of the largest and most intricately designed of any institution at the time. All industries within the prison were housed in the old buildings that, by 1928, had been renovated to provide better working conditions. The major industries included clothing manufacturing, a quarry, and farming. The products were sold on the open market; however, no compensation was awarded to inmates. By 1931,

5183-574: Was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. He was ordered to go to prison on January 4, 2007, but the appellate court granted an appeal bond, allowing him to remain free pending the outcome of the appeal. His conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit on August 21, 2007, and review by the entire Seventh Circuit was denied on October 25, 2007. The Seventh Circuit then rejected Ryan's bid to remain free while he asked

5256-429: Was set on the purchases. Around 1930, punishment involved a loss of privileges. For more serious offenses, the men are put in punishment cells, large cells located in a building to the rear of the deputies' offices. For some offenses, men were cuffed to the bars during working hours. By 1931, this practice was discontinued. In late October 1952, Menard experienced a prison riot , while Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson

5329-460: Was to spare Coutretsis a long prison sentence for her role in the conspiracy. The jury was twice sent out of the courtroom so that he could wipe tears from his eyes and regain his composure. Ryan's daughters and a son-in-law, Michael Fairman, were implicated by testimony during the trial. Stipulations agreed upon by the defense and prosecution and submitted to the court included admissions that all five of Ryan's daughters received illegal payments from

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