Yes, it’s Christmas season and Sen. Dick Durbin wants Pres. Bush to give a big gift to ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan. What better way to say “I love you”.
By Rick Pearson
Tribune reporter
CHICAGO — Despite an acknowledged firestorm of criticism, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said Monday that he was asking President George W. Bush to commute the federal corruption sentence of former Republican Gov. George Ryan to time served as an act of compassion and mercy.
“For those who would argue that a commutation makes light of his crimes, it is clear that he has already paid a significant price and will continue to do so as long as he lives,” Durbin wrote of Ryan in a letter to Bush. “Justice is a sword that should be tempered with compassion. Further imprisonment will not, in my opinion, serve the ends of justice.”
The request by Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in Senate leadership, met with support from Ryan’s attorney, former Gov. Jim Thompson, but was assailed by the head of Ryan’s prosecution team and some of the jurors who convicted him.
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