these being freed from death row. 35 One notable state where DNA exonerations played an important role in the death penalty debate is Illinois. George Ryan served as governor of Illinois between 1999 and 2003, and upon entering the Office Ryan described himself as a “firm believer” in the death penalty. 36 However, before leaving office he commuted the sentences of all 187 people on Illinois’ death row. 37 McKay notes DNA exonerations played a major role in Ryan’s decision to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, 38 with Ryan himself accepting that innocent people may have been executed given the rate of exonerations brought about by new technology. 39 Support for the death penalty is therefore highly conditional and can lose support from its strongest supporters when presented with the overwhelming evidence of wrongful convictions. Following on from this, another major issue raised in the modern abolition debate is that of botched executions. Up to 2014 around 3 percent of American executions were 35 Ben Plven, ‘ DNA Exoneration: Redeeming the Wrongfully Convicted ’, Aljazeera America , 27 May 2014 <http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/ajam-presents- thesystem/articles/2014/5/8/dna-exoneration- wrongfullyconvicted.html> [accessed 24 April 2016]. 36 George Ryan, ‘“ I Must Act ”’, in Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? - the Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case , by Hugo Adam Bedau and Paul G Cassell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 218. 37 Stephen B. Bright, ‘ Why the United States Will Join the World in Abandoning Capital Punishment’ , in Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? - the Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case , by Hugo Adam Bedau and Paul G Cassell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 154. 38 David McKay, ‘ Capital Punishment the Politics of Retribution’ , p. 148. 39 George Ryan, ‘“ I Must Act ”’, p. 230.
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