Free Republic

Illinois Governor George Ryan, his term in office drawing to a close, has commuted the death sentence for all 156 inmates awaiting execution on the state's death row. In doing so, he has apparently chosen to follow the Jimmy Carter model, which is to say he hopes to find in retirement the respectability and adulation denied him while in office. Perhaps Matt Laurer will one day refer to him as "Illinois's greatest former governor." The cynic may argue that Ryan, under criminal investigation for corruption in both his campaign and administration, may have been moved to act as he did...

In commuting the death sentences of all of his state's 167 death-row inmates Saturday, Illinois Gov. George Ryan committed an extraordinary and monumental injustice, betraying most of the principles he claimed to be vindicating.

Governor Ryan’s Ego Injection By Joseph J. Sabia In the last three days, Illinois Governor George Ryan (R) has granted pardons to four convicted murderers and commuted the death sentences of 156 others. Liberals are in seventh heaven over the governor’s recent decision, using the phrase “raw courage” to describe Governor Ryan’s action approximately seven billion times. The truth, however, is that the governor is neither courageous nor bold. Rather, he behaved like a tyrant drunk with power. His action will result in more innocent victims of heinous crimes in the state of Illinois. Governor Ryan’s decision to commute over...

CHICAGO (AP) - With Gov. George Ryan down to his last few days in office, the question is whether history will remember him for his stand against capital punishment or for a corruption scandal that shattered his party and his career. Ryan, 68, has tried to build his legacy around his crusade to reform Illinois' death penalty. In 2000 he took the unprecedented step of suspending all executions. And before he leaves office on Jan. 13, he will decide whether to commute the sentences of any - or all - of the 160 inmates on death row. At the same...

September 27, 2002 2:55 p.m. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens sailed into Chicago early in the week to preside over the distribution of awards given in his name. Mr. Stevens is a hero in the anti-capital-punishment crusade because it was he who wrote the decision banning the execution of the mentally retarded, thus relieving some 20 states that had not yet banned it the tedium of passing their own laws on the subject. Justice Stevens is a nibbler on the subject of capital-punishment reform, and in his speech he applauded the work of Gov. George Ryan. Gov. Ryan, hereafter...

The scandal that cut short Gov. George Ryan's political career looms heavily over a wide-open race to succeed him, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows. The survey shows Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Jim Ryan locked in a neck-and-neck battle, with more than 9 in 10 voters saying the issue of government corruption will be an important factor to weigh in deciding between the two in the Nov. 5 general election. The poll results also indicated some confusion among voters between Jim Ryan and George Ryan, who share the same surname but are not related. In a close race, that means...