Thompson to Obama: Send Ryan home

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

Lawyers for former Gov. George Ryan will try once more to get a presidential commutation for their client.

"We filed one with President Bush and the minute we filed it, the Blagojevich hit, so there went that," said former Gov. Jim Thompson, Ryan's main attorney. "President Obama knows Gov. Ryan."

Ryan and his wife, Lura Lynn, are in their 70s and ailing.

Commuting Ryan's six-year sentence to time served would be appropriate, he said. "There's nothing gained by requiring him to stay in prison. . . . I think a merciful president would let him come home.



Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/georgeryantrial/1580618,CST-NWS-ryan19.article

[msongs]

1. a mericful god will let him go to some kind of heaven - what more could Ryan want :- ) nt

[mopinko]

2. he better not. i want that guy to rot in hell.

i want him to die all alone in a cold stone cell. his power got him a lot on the outside. including getting a pass, legally and politically, for 6 kids who burned to death in front of their parents eyes.
sorry that he is old, and his wife is old, but look around in their, buddy- a good number of your fellow inmates have family on the outside that they would like to be taking care of, also. tough shit.

[global1]

3. He Should Have Thought About This Before He Committed The Crimes........

that's what happens in prison - you grow old. T.S. - Ryan. You do the crime - you do the time.

[pattmarty]

4. Yeah, well he also put his political life on the line when he..................

.............called a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. At the time even a Dem Governor would not had the political courage. The guy deserved the sentence he got, but he's in his 70's now, let him go.

[mopinko]

6. wrong

he was trying to save his political life with that moratorium, and since the man had the blood of 6 dead children on his hands, i give him a big fat zero for what he did. i cannot stand to see/hear someone pat him on the back for it without correcting the record.
and for the record, he was in his 70's when he was sentenced. which is to say that he got away with felonies on top of felonies and no one bothered to prosecute him until he retired. what sent him to prison was a fraction of his crimes. (he was, btw, chair of illinois for bush both times.)
he deserves to rot in prison.

[pattmarty]

7. You're entitled to your opinion. AND, I am to mine as well...............

.......I lived in the Chgo area for 54 yrs, so I know a little about Illinois & Chgo politics too. Most people that know me would not describe me as a Liberal, but more a radical for my socio/political views, so I am not speaking as a Republican or moderate. You tell me ANY Dem governor of Illinois oh say AFTER Kerner who would have done the moratorium. I don't believe ANY would have, maybe not even Kerner.

[davsand]

5. This has NOTHING to do with"mercy" or compassion, and everything to do with justice.

Justice is keeping that corrupt old SOB in a jail cell for the death of those kids. There sure as hell was no "mercy" for those kids or their parents when that truck slammed into them and started that fire, nor was there any "mercy" when Ryan profited by selling those fake truck licenses to people that couldn't pass the freaking test.

Make NO mistake, Ryan put that moratorium on the Illinois death penalty, but he did it because he thought he was trying to save his own ass. He never bothered to address that particular issue until it was convenient to do so--and he certainly never did it even when he knew that our justice system in this state is terribly flawed.

Life is a terminal condition for us all. The end of that life can be shaped by how we live and the decisions we make. Ryan made his bed.


Laura

[HubertHeaver]

8. Perhaps Big Jim could volunteer to take Ryan's place in prison.

[No Elephants]

9. Apparently, politicians don't expect to have to pay taxes or do time for crimes. Who knew?