Former Illinois governor nominated for peace prize

AP via Dallasnews.com ^ | 02/01/2003

[GeneD]

OSLO, Norway – Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who emptied the state's death row because he found the imposition of capital punishment unfair, is among those nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.

The nominating deadline – entries had to be postmarked Friday – brought a flood of last-minute names to the committee charged with selecting the winner of the prestigious award. It is presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Swedish creator Alfred Nobel's death in 1896. The winner, announced in mid-October, takes home approximately $1 million.

"There is a lot of mail and many new proposals, but beyond that we have nothing to say," Geir Lundestad, secretary of the secretive five-member awards committee, said Friday.

The prizes in physiology or medicine, literature, physics, chemistry and economics are awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, while the peace prize is awarded in Oslo.

The peace prize committee keeps the list of candidates secret for 50 years, releasing only the number of nominations it receives. Last year, when former President Jimmy Carter won the prize, 156 nominations were submitted.

Even the preliminary number released Feb. 17 is likely to change because the committee can add its own nominations when it meets on Feb. 25.

The names of some nominees, such as Mr. Ryan, are already known because the people who nominated them aren't required to remain silent. Nominations can be made by former laureates, committee members, members of national governments and legislatures, some university professors and selected organizations.

Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá Sardinas was nominated by Czech politicians for his peaceful struggle to bring democracy to Cuba. Jailed Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu was nominated by a group of Norwegian university professors.

The American Friends Service Committee [The Quakers], which shared the 1947 peace prize, announced the nomination of Women in Black, a worldwide peace network.

Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada were nominated by three U.S. lawmakers for their efforts to stop diamond trading in war zones in Africa, according to the groups' Internet home pages.

Other nominations mentioned but not confirmed include: the Tiananmen Mothers; Irish Catholic priest the Rev. Shay Cullen for his work in the Philippines; American Kathy Kelly for co-founding the Voices in the Wilderness Group; and members of the faculty at the University of Kabul in Afghanistan.

Those likely to be nominated again could include the Salvation Army, the U.S. Peace Corps, Chinese-American dissident Harry Wu and Chinese Falun Gong movement founder Li Hongzhi.

[MadIvan]

If what I hear about Ryan is true, he may have to accept that prize from behind bars.

Regards, Ivan

[Pushi]

What's the skinny on Ryan? I have missed it somehow.

[Bogey78O]

Ryan has done ZILCH to spread the cause of peace.

This awards been worth didly shi* since they gave it to the killer Arafat.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Should he win, he'll be in good company, with Carter and Arafat.

[SJackson]

Illinois ping list. If you'd like to be added or removed, please FRMail me.

===============================================

I'm trying to separate the Illinois from 2nd amendment. If you'd like only one or the other, or on/off alltogether, FRmail me.

[MadIvan]

Well what I heard suggested Ryan was going to be brought up on corruption charges. The whole death penalty thing may have been a diversion from that.

Regards, Ivan

[ConservativeNewsNetwork]

The Nobel Peace Prize is a meaningless trinket.

George Ryan? Oh, yeah, because he fought long and hard for his beliefs against tough opposition, and didn't take the coward's way out and make it an 11th hour action. Yeah, he deserves it. Bleh. I could respect him if he fought for the inmates, but he took the abject coward's route.

What do his cowardly acts have to do with peace?

One of the men he commuted murdered an elderly deputy from the country I live on. He was convicted and sentenced to meet the reaper based on Ryan's own guidelines, and this clown still let him off. If anyone is deserving of the company of great "men" such as Jimmy "I Hate America, now give me a prize!" Carter or Nelson Mandela, it is George Ryan.

[July 4th]

That will likely be the case. I can't remember all of the details exactly, but he was complicit in a scheme that rewarded commercial driver's licenses for bribes. One of the people who got a fraudulent license ended up killing a whole family in a gruesome freeway crash.

Ryan is a criminal, and may very well be on trial or in prison if he gets a Nobel prize. He may have called himself a Republican, but he was a sleaze.

[mystery-ak]

Ryan can accept his Nobel from Marion(federal prison in So. Il)....I can hope!

[LiteKeeper]

He also emptied Death Row against the advice of all of his lawyers.

[CFC__VRWC]

Well what I heard suggested Ryan was going to be brought up on corruption charges. The whole death penalty thing may have been a diversion from that.

You just nailed it, my friend. However, it's not going to make a bit of difference, as Ryan is a Republican (or at least a RINO). He should have consulted Bob Packwood first, and asked him about how much it helped to kowtow to liberals when his usefullness was outlived.

[MadIvan]

The politics of Illinois are known to be corrupt even abroad. I had a great uncle from Norway who lived in Chicago for 10 years. He died a few years back at the age of 99. It gives the family great comfort to know that however he is still alive enough to be voting in Chicago; though admittedly he was a registered Republican.

Regards, Ivan

[goldstategop]

I guess he was living in anticipation of being given a spot next to Goobers.

[CFC__VRWC]

I really should add, in the interest of complete disclosure, that I will lose no sleep whatsoever if Ryan is found guilty and gets the long prison sentence he will so richly deserve.

[MadIvan]

I watched the whole "ring kissing" ceremony at Northwestern University where Ryan made the announcement. It was like the Academy Awards for Left Wing Lawyers - talking about groups and individuals that got brutal killers off death row. OK, there are cases in which innocent men do get sent to death row; if Ryan had stopped at merely re-examining the cases, then I would have no problem with it. No, what he did was guarantee the lives of some very brutal killers, the majority of which are absolutely guilty.

I am sure that some of the left wing lawyers will help Ryan in his corruption trial. I felt nauseated when they were going on about how he showed "true leadership" but I suspect that they were somewhat sincere.

Regards, Ivan

[July 4th]

You had best check on his voter registration - I'm sure someone's changed it for him!

I found this article which gives some good background on the scandal. It's a little old, but the gist of it is there. The indictments are now well over 40 people instead of the 29 people mentioned.

[Bogey78O]

Ivan, how does it feel to be the smartest man in England?

[saluki_in_ohio]

I don't think Ryan didn't do anything to warrant federal attention.

There is a nice little super-max prison in Southern Illinois near Tamms, IL (between Carbondale and Cairo) with a cell just for him!

[MadIvan]

Ivan, how does it feel to be the smartest man in England?

I'm not, but thanks for the compliment. ;)

Regards, Ivan