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Nov 25, 2008 10:30 pm US/Central
Will George Ryan Get A Bush Pardon?
Sen. Durbin Considers Making Request To President
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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George Ryan seen leaving the Original Pancake House in the Gold Coast with his wife Lura Lynn, on their way to the federal prison camp in Oxford, Wis.
CBS
A year into his prison term for corruption there's word George Ryan could soon be a free man. Leading the charge is Senator Dick Durbin. He says the former governor has paid a huge price. Sen. Durbin may ask President Bush to commute Ryan's sentence. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports Durbin said he is considering it.
Do you think Sen. Durbin should ask President Bush to commute George Ryan's sentence? Why or why not?Read Other Viewer Comments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3The 74-year-old Ryan is currently at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Those who support Ryan say serving his full sentence would be nothing short of a death sentence and hope the senator factors that into his decision.
"And I've said from the beginning of this 10 year ordeal that I'm innocent," George Ryan said.
That was the message former governor George Ryan delivered from his doorstep the night before he went to prison. After a six-month trial, Ryan was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to six and a half years behind bars.
Thirteen months into his sentence, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is now thinking about asking President Bush to commute it - something Ryan's longtime friend and lawyer Jim Thompson has pushed for since the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal last spring.
"In my opinion, the next appropriate step is to ask the president of the United States for executive clemency," Thompson said.
George Ryan was indicted in 2003 - almost a year after leaving office. Two of the last things Ryan did as governor was issue a moratorium on Illinois' death penalty and release dozens of prisoners from Death Row. Durbin didn't say if that will factor into his eventual decision.
But the executive director of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions Rob Warden believes the elderly Ryan has done his time.
"His money is gone, his family life has been destroyed, he's been in prison," Warden said. "He's in pretty bad conditions right now, he is suffering incredibly."
But those who prosecuted Ryan don't see it that way. In a joint statement, they say a commutation would send the wrong message to Illinois taxpayers, adding, "When systemic, long-standing abuse of the public trust is coupled with a lack of remorse, it simply does not warrant the extraordinary act of a presidential pardon or commutation."
Sen. Durbin gave no indication Tuesday of when he would make up his mind about asking the president to commute Ryan's sentence. Any such action is usually one of the last things a president would do before leaving office.
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