Durbin remarks renew debate over clemency for Ryan

To the federal prison system, he's just Inmate No. 16627-424.

But to the outside world, former Gov. George Ryan still commands attention, as remarks Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin about possible clemency for the disgraced Illinois leader touched off renewed controversy over his fate.

Speaking to reporters in Springfield, Durbin was asked if he'd support clemency for Ryan and responded, "I am taking into the consideration the situation before the (former) governor and whether or not a commutation should be recommended. I am going to make that decision at a later time."

Durbin also stated it was a choice only President Bush could make and noted he had not talked with the White House on the issue.

Ryan, 74, was convicted in 2006 on racketeering, fraud, lying to investigators and tax charges. and sentenced to 78 months in federal prison, which he started serving Nov. 7, 2007. His attorneys, including former Gov. Jim Thompson appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court but were denied in May leaving presidential action as his remaining option.

Durbin did say he was moved by the situation.

"Well, look at the price he has paid. His family name has been damaged. He is at an advanced moment in his life when he has been removed from his family. He has lost the economic security, which most people count on at his age. And he is separated from his wife at a time when she is in frail health.

"The question is whether continued imprisonment is appropriate at this time."

For the team of assistant U.S. attorneys who took Ryan to trial, there is no appropriate time.

"Gov. Ryan was convicted of serious felonies after a six-month trial. The evidence revealed a pattern of corrupt conduct over a period of many years by Ryan during his tenure as secretary of state and governor," former prosecutors Patrick M. Collins, Joel R. Levin and Zachary T. Fardon said in a joint statement.

Fraudulent drivers' licenses were sold for bribes by the secretary of state's office when Ryan was its chief and the scam led to a fatal crash killing six children.

"His conduct had adverse tangible consequences to the public safety and welfare of its citizens," Collins, Levin and Fardon wrote.

But Rob Warden, executive director of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Conviction, worked with Ryan when he decided to suspend the death penalty in Illinois and believes the governor has suffered enough.

"It's tragic," he said. "In the end, there's nothing to gain by sending him to prison for the rest of his life."

Warden has corresponded with Ryan and talked with his wife and said the governor is depressed and his health is suffering.

Clemency, which involves commuting a sentence by reducing or eliminating it, still acknowledges guilt unlike a pardon. Warden said grounds for clemency in Ryan's case could be poor health, special family circumstances or the theory that he was remorseful and had been punished enough.

The former prosecutors, however, stated that Ryan demonstrated a lack of remorse, noting "at no time, before, during or after his trial, has Ryan ever accepted responsibility."

DePaul University professor Leonard Cavise, an expert in criminal law, said that "clemency is a very appropriate idea in this situation." He noted that Ryan was not convicted of a violent crime, and had already served time.

How possible Durbin overtures would be received is unknown since there's little love lost between the president and the senator, who's delivered many a blistering sound bite on Bush policy.

But Warden speculated, "I think President Bush is capable of genuine compassion in this case to let George Ryan come home and spend his remaining years with those who love him."