I was also struck by how none of the news accounts of these pardons said that these men had been exonerated. Also, the tales of their being coerced into confessions sounded so alike that the whole situation doesn't pass the smell test.

It's interesting because all 4 of these guys were supposedly tortured by the same crew of crooked cops, led by a detective named Jon Burge. This may even be true, but it doesn't prove they aren't still guilty. Gov. Ryan is using his office to make political statements. I've always thought he was guilty as you can be during the "licenses for bribes" investigation, and now I dislike him even more.

Of course, now they're .

A disgraced, probably criminal executive sweeping clean the prisons on his way out, knowing that he can do so, and knowing that he can't be held accountable -- where have I heard that before?

Hm. Thought I added a tag to that. Sorry. Link's still good.

Of course, Ryan could be making payoffs to the right gangs to make things softer for himself once he'sin the big house. Or, he's planning to flee to Cuba

Before you go taking the word of Illinois prosecutors routinely over our admittedly crooked gov's, you should do a little reading on the facts in the Jeannine Nicarico case. Scott Turow's article in last week's New Yorker will do for a start.

I watched C-Span's Washington Journal on Saturday morning and they were asking about the death penalty. All these liberal nut-jobs were calling up saying that Gov. Ryan deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for doing this. The callers failed to mention that Ryan is doing this to divert attention from his own criminal behavior.

Now it is reported that he is commuting the

rest of death row to life without parole.



Time to start a lifer watch. Anybody want to

bet they'll all die behind bars? I'm takin' bets

and givin' odds.

Jeff,



Officer Burge indeed was a sadist and a torturer. I've followed the story here in the local Chicago papers. Burge tortured numerous people over the years. There's a strong movement here in Illinois to have all the people convicted as a result of his "investigatons" pardoned or released. After reading about what this guy did, I think that's the right course of action.



We all know that people break when tortured. That's why no civil society will use evidence from torture in a criminal proceeding.



I think what Gov. Ryan did in commuting all the sentences was way wrong. But anyone -- anyone -- tortured by Officer Burge should be released from prison, if they haven' already been let go.

One could believe that Gov. Ryan, in commuting all the death penalty sentences, was doing this out of principle if he hadn't previously demonstrated that he doesn't have any.



The license-for-bribes scandal is still unfolding, and the federal DA is working his way up the food chain. Ryan will eventually be indicted. Ryan also packed a bunch of high-paying, no-work boards and jobs with his cronies in the last couple of weeks. All governors do that, sure, but Ryan was particularly egregious. Ryan also played footsie with a bunch of people who are trying to get a casino license in Rosemont (just outside of O'Hare airport); some of the people are allegedly connected to the mob. When the state gaming board refused the license, he replaced the members of the board who voted no. Fortunately time has run out, and I don't think the new governor ("Sonny Boy") will be able to twist the gaming board quite that way.



The Illinois Republican party got blown away in the last election. It has itself to blame as it tolerated George Ryan all these years. Ryan ran the party on the rocks and it will take years to repair the damage.



Be gone, George. Just go.

1) This could be an interesting case study-- follow all these inmates and see what happens to them-- how many are pardoned, how many end up having their convictions still overturned, or found not guilty, how many are released and how many commit further crimes.



2) If their sentences are being commuted because of insitutional problems with the Illinois system, what changes are being made to make sure this situation doesn't happen again. What has happened to the people responsible for this mess? Is anyone going to be held accountable? As in the case with improperly gathered evidence, I'd much rather have the people responsible for not following the rules punished, along with the perp, rather than everyone involved get a get-out-of-jail-free pass. The only time the accused should be set free is when the evidence is false, and in that case, the falsifiers/perjurors should be punished as if they committed the crime.

I can't understand why so many people are so committed to the death penalty. Life in prison is a greater punishment. According to Jeff Flock of CNN, many of those whose sentences were commuted today were against the commutations.



Some people commit crimes that are so egregious that the death penalty is surely indicated. Others are given the death penalty for other reasons. The statistics of blacks executed for crimes against whites versus black on black or white on black crimes punished by prison terms should give one pause. Almost two thirds of those whose sentences were commuted today are black (97). There are also real questions in some of these cases about the actual guilt of the prisoners. This guy Burge should surely take up residence in one of these now vacated cells for what he did, in torturing confessions out of some of these men.



A governor has limited power to redress wrongs committed in the name of the state. In Illinois, the governor has the power to commute sentences. Kudos to this governor, who had the courage to use this power. Nitpick what he did all you want, but how often have we seen any politician do anything that does not enhance his chances for re-election?

Since the Torch had a better shot at reelection than Ryan, I wouldn't be too quick with those kudos.

Those statistics about race and the death

penalty are phony, as the Supreme Court,

which usually bolos statistical questions,

unaccountably recognized.



Crime is not uniform across race, location, type,

or anything else.



For example, I consider home invasion followed

by cold-blooded murder of the householder

a particularly egregious crime. Lots of other

homicides show a certain mutuality of interest,

but this kind doesn't.



I lived in a community once that, over a period

of 10 years, had four such homicides.



Three were by blacks of white householders, one

was of a white by whites. This in a community

in which blacks made up under 10% of the

population.



Go ahead, crunch the numbers. Tell me which

combination reveals a colorblind and fair

system of justice.



Cannot do it.

Michael:



I don't understand people who oppose the death penalty but then say that life in prison is worse. Why are we cruel and inhuman, but those who wish "worse" for the prisoner are humane?

Raoul,



To answer your question, there is nothing that is being done right now in Illinois to fix the problem. The Chicago Tribune had an editorial today on what needs to be done (videotaping all police interviews, better supervision of prosecutors, etc.) but the legislature has done none of it. And don't look for it next year, because the Dems, who now control the governor, atty general and both houses, don't want to look 'soft' on crime.

Michael:



He was leaving office. How did what he did have to do with his chances for re-election? (If that's too many conjugations of the verb "to do," I'm sorry - I couldn't think of a more succinct way to put it.)



And I refuse to give kudos here if even one of those men was guilty. Ryan knew he could get away with it; he did it.



Finally, if you told me I had the choice of life in prison or lethal injection, I'd be telling you to put down the cotton swabs before the question was even finished. I'd bet most people would feel that way, too.

Michael - The reason for commitment to the death penalty is that it assures politicians will never let the murderer out of jail, as Michael Dukakis once let Willie Horton out. Secondarily it's so we don't have to pay $35k per year in confinement costs for an extra 50 years.