Birkett pens letter to Bush on Ryan

DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett has penned a letter to President George Bush asking him to leave former Gov. George Ryan in prison. You can read the letter below.
Meanwhile, we found some more interesting nuggets from the archives.
Turns out, Gov. Rod Blagojevich had a nose for corruption back when he was in Congress.
The Chicago Democrat sat on a House committee looking into President Bill Clinton’s last-minute pardons, including the controversial pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich.
Rich’s wife gave more than $1 million to the Democratic Party and nearly $500,000 to Clinton’s presidential library.
Blagojevich said at the time he thought the pardon was shady. He apparently could see a conflict of interest at that time when it came to massive donations and the distribution of government largesse.
"I think the pardon would not have happened if not for the campaign contributions," Blagojevich was quoted as saying then.
Blagojevich also made clear then that he thought Rich’s pardon was an abuse of presidential power. He called it “indefensible and reprehensible.”
Blagojevich, who is now under federal investigation himself in his second term as governor, is in favor of a commutation of former Gov. George Ryan’s 6 ½-year prison sentence.
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The following is a letter State's Attorney Birkett sent to President George W. Bush. The letter is the result of discussions earlier this week between State's Attorney Birkett and members of the Illinois State's Attorney's Association (ISAA). Birkett serves as President of the ISAA.

December 4, 2008

Dear President Bush:

As President of the Illinois State's Attorney's Association and on behalf of the one hundred and two State's Attorneys in Illinois, I am writing to voice our strong opposition to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin's request that you commute the prison sentence of former Illinois Governor George Ryan. While we respect Senator Durbin and praise his past efforts on behalf of our nation's prosecutors, we believe he is misguided and wrong to support a commutation of George Ryan's sentence.

Nearly one year ago, George Ryan began serving a six and one half year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections after being found guilty of eighteen counts of public corruption dating back to 1994.

Recently, Senator Durbin urged you to commute Ryan's sentence, of which approximately only one sixth has been served. Senator Durbin cited Ryan's family and their need to have the former Governor at home as the reason for his request.

While we empathize with Ryan's family and their plight, I do not believe the hardships they face in his absence are reason enough to free inmate George Ryan. All inmates have families, not just those who led privileged lives prior to their incarceration. The suffering faced by former Governor Ryan's family is no greater than that experienced by the families of thousands of other inmates across Illinois. That Senator Durbin would ask for special treatment for a man who for decades enjoyed special treatment at the expense of taxpayers is a slap in the face of justice.

The citizens of Illinois are compassionate, hard-working, honest people who have unfortunately had to cope with a high level of public corruption as part of our state heritage. Freeing a man who cheated the citizens of a state he was elected to lead will only perpetuate this legacy and would be inconsistent with the ends of justice.

Please help Illinois restore its once proud image of open, honest government by denying Senator Durbin's request for leniency for a pubic official who has disgraced himself and the great state of Illinois.

Sincerely,

Joseph E. Birkett

President

Illinois State's Attorney's Association