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George Ryan said he would empty Illinois' death row by issuing a blanket commutation to all 156 inmates, and he sent overnight letters to victims' families warning them of the move, according to reports published Saturday. Each criminal released by this 'governor' should be tracked by police for the rest of their lives. If ANY ONE of them commits a crime, the 'governor' should be put to death. At least that way, any potential lawsuits against the state of Illinois stand a better chance of being averted. As far the commutation of the death sentences goes, I have to admit that's pretty surprising. For Ryan to do this is tantamount to admitting he has absolutely no faith left in the Illinois law enforcement or judicial system. And considering that he's a Republican, that's saying a lot. A category 5 hurricane could not do more damage to a state than George has done to Illinois. Legalizing drugs would reduce crime and would allow every part of law enforcement to spend more time prosecuting real crimes. Only after the load on law enforcement is reduced we would be able to afford disregarding confessions and going away with plea bargains. Otherwise we will got what we have, which is not that bad comparing to the rest of the world, but could be improved meanwhile. With your assessment that Ryan has no faith in the Illinois judicial system, you make your comments absolutely ludicrous. While this may very well be what Ryan hopes to foist upon the people of Illinois, honey, we Illinoians know better. Ryan is one inch away from being indicted for all kinds illegal activities. If he can make the case that jurisprudence in Illinois is a sham, then he can better lobby for his own freedom. Please, a rattlesnake is a rattlesnake is a rattlesnake. Reading the list of crimes, it seems highly unlikely the police/courts convicted these men solely on their confession. If this confession had been beaten out of them, there would have been zealous anti-death penalty lawyers and orgns. After all three of them happened in the 90's and the other in the 80's. Sure, I believe the police capable of brutality, but a coverup in so many cases seems highly unlikely. Coercion of confessions, and police brutality will become the plea du jour for hundreds/thousands of criminals, in and out of death row. This is last ditch effort for a love fest, or his final flip-off to the people of Illinois whom he detests. Oh, and by the way, his former top aide, Scott Fawell went on trial this week as a result of the above-mentioned issues. Two schools of thought are that Fawell will fall on his sword to protect the old man, because if he doesn't, Chicago mob will shut him up, or Fawell will give the old man up because he's got young children, nothing to lose, etc. Ping 83 11 posted on 01/11/2003 12:07:53 PM PST by 84 Barnacle 85 Post Reply | 86 Private Reply | 87 To 6 | 88 View Replies To: Barnacle Thanks, Barnacle. Regardless of what one's position is on the death penalty, what essentially has happened here in Illinois now undermines all trials by jury. I'm no great legal mind, by one can figure that out by common sense. The worst part of it is, jurisprudence in Illinois has been called into question by a guy who hasn't got a bone of conscience in his body. If he felt that strongly about the death penalty, he should've done this act on his first day of office, not his last. The fact that he did it on his last shows that he was hiding egregiously liberal sentiments for years yet was too frightened of the outcry to carry them out. Ryan's actions are no different that those of a dictator who executes his political enemies moments before fleeing the country (Hitler executed many, including the Christian Dietrich Bonhoeffer); Irish freepers should petition that he change his name to something French (Petain sounds about right; First gambit is that this will divert attention from his record of corruption. And second, if that doesn't work, he's hoping it may endear hom to the prison inmate population among whom he may soon be living. Ever since he was implicated in a scandal and forced to bow out of the 2002 campaign, Ryan has been trying to create a "legacy" for himself. Police, prosecutors, and victims' families pleaded with him not to pardon these bloodthirsty killers, but Ryan was deaf to their distress. If there were any justice in this world, Ryan would be hanged as high as Haman for pardoning these pyschopaths. He has sent a message to every criminal in Illinois that crime pays because police, prosecutors, and victims's families have no clout with the governor. Obviously one of the world's top legal strategists, if that's the case. Considering that he started this process about 3 years ago, your explanation doesn't make that much sense. That said, I do think there is an ulterior motive for these decision, I'm just not sure what it is yet. This is last ditch effort for a love fest, or his final flip-off Come to think of it, final flip-off works pretty well for me. Ryan compared the US to third world nations because we haven't followed the enlightened path of socialistic european nations in ending the use of the death penalty. Ryan even quoted Desmond Tutu as saying that the death penalty is revenge, not justice. Others, who are in a better position to know, have also asserted that Ryan's actions are nothing more than a cynical attempt to cast about for favor or sow seeds of distrust in a justice system that will be judging him. The fraud and corruption in his administration will likely lead to several charges against him as he leaves office. He's also left Illinois' finances in a state of disarray, and has done nothing "Republican" during his term. They are evidence, to be considered with all other evidence in a case. Before a defendant's confession is made known to a jury, it probably withstood a pre-trial motion to suppress, at which time the defense attorney presented all the terrible things the cops may have done to his client to get him to confess falsely. Ryan is being disingenuous to use so-called false confessions as the basis for this ridiculous action. These men got on death row after a jury found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But, you deserve the credit for expressing them so eloquently. It seems that many of us have independently arrived at similar conclusions. Stale evidence, brief and casual readings of the transcripts, and the word of doomed men trump the decade-plus of work by over 100 other professionals, citizens, and legal minds? If they truly did not commit the murders, then I'm happy, but the odds that Gov. Ryan magically divined the truth, and that 100+ others were wrong/corrupt/duped/racist/evil is unrealistic. He's citing Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu, Ghandi, now he's talking about Rosa Parks! He MUST think he's going to be spending the next 10-to-20 with the bruthas and this is his way of kissing up to them. Did he really refer to one victim as a "survivor of murder"? Did he really think it was unfair that more folks on Death Row come from rural counties so therefore we need to scrap the whole system rather than get more death sentences in Chicago, which is as corrupt as a third-world hellhole? George, that's like reducing justice to the lowest common denominator. That would be like giving every criminal a pass just because some get a pass. I suppose he figures it's a better legacy than what he left as Secretary of State. Did he do anything else of consequence the last four years other than stay in office and help elect Gov. He just made 156 "protectors" for when he ends up in prison. Don't know it that's their name, they're journalism students, and have been responsible for freeing a number of innocents from death row here. Ryan and Daley are the problems regardless of Ryan's distortions (if you're listening too, honest, Texan, Ryan ain't no Lincoln, and I DIDN'T know Lincoln, who would have kicked Ryan's thieving *ss into a postmaster slot downstate or something, never a Gov), not the kids at NU. The law in Illinois, as passed by the legislature - the representatives of the people - is that death is the appropriate penalty in a certain limited num...
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