All but a handful of the 159 inmates on death row will testify before the Prison Review Board in the next two weeks to seek mercy from a governor who has made fixing the justice system the flagship of his tenure in office.

In an unprecedented move, 142 inmates petitioned the review board to hear their case for clemency, hoping Gov. George Ryan will commute their death row sentences before leaving office in January. The reviews began on Tuesday and will span through Oct. 28.

The confidential recommendations of the board are expected to be on the governor’s desk the first week of November, according to Sergio Molina, spokesman for the review board, at which point the governor reviews the cases and has the power to reject or grant clemency.

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“It’s up to him,” said Ray Serati, spokesman for the governor. “He has to look at the recommendations sent to him. He decides from there. He still has the last say.”

The sudden flow of petitions from prisoners requesting to testify before the board piggyback Ryan’s commitment to review all cases before his term expires in January.

Ryan earlier said he would consider ordering a blanket commutation of all prisoners on death row, sparking controversy in both parties and accusations that Ryan is using his powers to strong-arm justice system reforms. The governor put a moratorium on the death penalty shortly after entering office and called for a commission to study the justice system on the heels of knowledge that the state had wrongly convicted and then freed 13 death row inmates since it was reinstated in 1977.

Ryan’s panel suggested 85 recommendations to eliminated errors in the system, stopping just short of recommending the death penalty be abolished all together.

Some accused Ryan of doing just that with the threat of issuing a blanket commutation despite what the Prison Review Board recommends.

Although normal procedure for clemency requires a prisoner to petition the review board to hear their case, Ryan also has the power to grant commutation for those who do not make that request. Molina said the cases of the 16 death row inmates that did not petition to go before the board will still be sent to the governor’s desk without recommendations, along with all the other cases.

Both candidates for governor Jim Ryan and Rod Blaogojevich have said they disagree with the possibility of Ryan simply sliding all death row sentences to life in prison. They have both said the only fair thing to do is review the cases individually.

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“In some cases the evidence of actual gilt are there and in some cases the evidence is overwhelming,” Jim Ryan said after touring the SIUC Physical Plant Tuesday. “I think we can obviously take a look at each case and see if it meets the standards that are required.

The Prison Review Board is a panel consisting of 14 appointed members that serve six-year terms with staggering expiration dates. All were appointed by the governor or his predecessor, Jim Edgar, with the exception of the chairwoman Anne Taylor, who joined the board in 1983. All make salaries of at least $70,000 a year.

There are no restrictions on how the panel, evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, forms its recommendations, and all the members have a background in law ranging from former law enforcement officers, prison officials and ex-state lawmakers.

William Schroeder, an SIUC law professor and former defense lawyer, said the panel consisted of “fair-minded people,” and he is frustrated by the fact that the governor may disregard their recommendations and issue a blanket commutation. He said Ryan should push legislation to abolish the death penalty if that is his plan, but should not use his clemency power to override the state constitution.

“For one man to say that all of these jurors and judges were wrong in following the law of the state as passed by the legislature is a terrible abuse of power,” he said.

Schroeder has been in front of the review board in the past, serving as a friend and providing legal advice for someone that had been sentenced for vote fraud. Pardon was granted in this case and Schroeder said they understand people “deserve a break,” and the board provides ample amount of time for convicted criminals to make their case.

There was a ripple of dissatisfaction with the 15 minutes the review board previously said they would allow for testimony at the death penalty executive clemency hearings, but review board office personal said that time was extended to nearly an hour per case, and some of the cases Tuesday actually went overtime.

“If the board feels they need more time they will extend the hearing,” said Nikki, office administrator for the review board.

The first day of hearings were marked by victim’s tears and pain and agony of revisiting some of the most heinous crimes in Illinois history. Illinois Prisoner Review Board member Victor Brooks began the hearings with an apology to the victim’s families, according to the Associated Press.

Hearings for the controversial Rolando Cruz case, sentenced for murdering a 10-year-old girl and the center of ridiculing from attorney general candidate Lisa Madigan to her opponent Joe Birkett who served a small role in his prosecution, will be heard on Nov. 15. Unlike the other cases requesting a lighter sentence, Cruz is petitioning for a pardon based on innocence.

Reporter Molly Parker can be reached at [email protected]