PEOPLE

Edited by Rodd Whelpley

SHIFTS AT THE TOP Robert C. Winchester of Rosiclare was appointed deputy chief of staff by Gov. George Ryan to oversee issues pertaining to southern Illinois. Ryan announced creation of the office for southern Illinois in his first State of the State speech. Winchester, who has held a number of positions within state government, represented the state's southernmost district in the Illinois House from 1975 to 1985. Ronald J. Gidwitz of Chicago will be the new chair of the State Board of Education, pending Senate approval. He is a partner in GCG Partners, a private investment firm. Gidwitz replaces Louis Mervis, who is retiring after 15 years of service. Janet Steiner of Carlinville and David Gomez of Burr Ridge were named by Ryan to the Board of Higher Education. Steiner is a professor at Blackburn College. Gomez is president and CEO of David Gomez & Associates. The appointments require Senate confirmation. Robert F. Casey, a former state legislator and Kane County state's attorney, was named administrator of the Illinois Gaming Board. He will help analyze legislation for the five-member board and oversee compliance with current gaming laws. Casey replaces Michael Belletire, who announced in February he was leaving to work in the private sector. Jack Kubik, a former state representative from LaGrange Park, has been named executive director of the Illinois Racing Board. The seven-term legislator retired from the House in 1998. The board has nine members appointed by the governor to six-year terms. They must be confirmed by the Senate. Rhoda A. Pierce of Highland Park has been chosen executive director of the Illinois Arts Council. Pierce, who has been with the council for 13 years, has served as deputy director since 1991 and has been acting executive director on several occasions.

Attorney General Ryan reorganizes his office Attorney General Jim Ryan recently completed a reorganization of his office's key management staff with the addition of former Gov. Jim Edgar staffers Blair Tinkle and Karen Loeb. New in key positions are: • Chief of staff. Richard Stock of Clarendon Hills used to share second-in-command duties as deputy attorney general with Stephen Culliton, who left the office last July to become a judge in DuPage County. • Chic/deputy attorney general. Carole Doris of Downers Grove has been promoted from her position as chief of Ryan's department of public advocacy. • Deputy chief of staff for policy and legislative affairs. Blair Tinkle of Chicago formerly served as legal counsel to Edgar. • Deputy chief of staff for administration. Ed Ludwig of Bartlett has been supervising these functions as chief of administration since Ryan took office in 1995. • Deputy attorney genera! for civil litigation. Roger Flahaven of Chicago is a 20-year employee of the attorney general's office; he previously served as chief of government representation. • Deputy attorney general/or criminal justice. Robert Spence of Batavia was promoted from his old post as chief of public safety. • Solicitor general. Joel Bertocchi of Chicago was previously an assistant U. S. attorney. • Deputy attorney general for Springfield and regional coordination. Mardyth Pollard of Springfield was previously Ryan's head of policy and public affairs. • Chief of program development and strategic communications bureau. Karen Loeb of Springfield will head Ryan's newly created program. She was previously a key program development staffer with Edgar. Death penalty gels more scrutiny The state Supreme Court created a 17-member judicial committee and charged the panel with reviewing the way capital cases are handled in Illinois and other states. The move means all three branches of state government are taking a look at the death penalty process. Republican state Attorney General Jim Ryan launched his own review, as have the Democratic leaders in both legislative chambers. Consensus across partisan and jurisdictional lines on the need even to study an issue is unusual. But 11 men have been released from Death Row in the past decade — three of those in the past four months — either because charges were dropped, they won acquittals upon retrial or new evidence was discovered. That's almost as many as have been executed under the state's 1977 death penalty law. In March, the state carried out its 12th execution under that law. Thomas Fitzgerald, presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, will head the high court's panel. He and 16 other criminal trial judges from throughout the state will study the trial and sentencing processes in capital cases. They could recommend ways to ensure competency of legal counsel or creation of a training program for judges who preside over capital cases. In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice Charles Freeman wrote that "even the best system can be improved upon." Noting the other inquiries into the death penalty process. Freeman added: "Our action ensures that this court has a committee in place which can assimilate the ideas generated in these other forums, particularly those ideas which may fall within the purview of this court's rule-making authority." Meanwhile, Justice James Heiple issued a dissent to the order, arguing the purpose of the committee "is to show that the Supreme Court is doing something regarding media-induced concerns about the death penalty." The court set no deadline for recommendations, but asked the committee to conduct its study in a timely fashion.

36 / May 1999 Illinois Issues