The March 15 INC. Column took an unfair shot in its portrayal of Jeremy Margolis (“Ryan adviser not friend of court in death penalty case”). The column speculated that Margolis’ “away from the cameras” role as an adviser to Gov. George Ryan in the announcement of a commission to study the Illinois death penalty was due to his own conduct in crossing the bounds of fair play when he prosecuted Hector Reuben Sanchez in 1984, one of the men whose execution is put on hold by the moratorium. Sanchez is not among the men who have been wrongfully convicted, which is what prompted Gov. Ryan to issue the moratorium and is why the commission has been formed to study the mistakes of capital punishment.
In fairness to Margolis, he played an instrumental role between 1986 and 1991 as director of the Illinois State Police in seeking justice in the case of Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, two of the 13 men who were wrongfully condemned to die in Illinois. It was his agency, the Illinois State Police, that investigated and revealed Brian Dugan as the real killer of Jeanine Nicarico.
Margolis stood firm in his resolve to see Cruz and Hernandez freed.
