The award-win­ning doc­u­men­tary ​“Deadline,” which takes view­ers direct­ly into the emo­tion­al and legal storm sur­round­ing for­mer Illinois Governor George Ryan’s extra­or­di­nary deci­sion to com­mute the death sen­tences of all those on death row, will air on NBC dur­ing a spe­cial 2‑hour ​“Dateline” pro­gram at 8 p.m. on July 30th. The Big Mouth Productions doc­u­men­tary has gained wide­spread crit­i­cal acclaim and it was fea­tured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. During film­ing, the pro­gram’s pro­duc­ers had unprecent­ed access to Governor Ryan, to death row exonerees from Illinois, the spe­cial clemen­cy hear­ings held pri­or to Ryan’s deci­sion to com­mute the sen­tences, and to those death row inmates whose lives he spared. Renowned film crit­ic Roger Ebert notes, “ ​‘Deadline’ is all the more effec­tive because it is calm, fac­tu­al and unsen­sa­tion­al. There are times when we are con­fused by its chronol­o­gy and by how its sto­ry threads fit togeth­er, but it makes an irrefutable argu­ment: Our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem is so flawed, espe­cial­ly when it deals with the poor and the non­white, that we can­not be sure of the guilt of many of those we put to death. George Ryan, not run­ning for re-elec­tion, faced that truth and com­mut­ed those sen­tences, and said he could live with his deci­sion.” Read more about the doc­u­men­tary. See also, Innocence.

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