Durbin may ask Bush to commute Ryan sentence [View All]

[City Lights]

Durbin may ask Bush to commute Ryan sentence
Bush could be asked to free ex-governor from federal prison

By Ray Long and Rick Pearson | Tribune reporters
November 26, 2008

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday he is considering asking President George W. Bush to commute the prison sentence of George Ryan, contending the former Republican governor convicted on federal corruption charges "has paid a price for his wrongdoing."

Presidents traditionally grant pardons and commutations among their last acts in office, and Bush recently awarded 14 pardons and shortened the terms of two others in federal prison. Ryan, who was governor from 1999 to 2003, has served little more than a year of his 6½-year sentence after a jury convicted him on fraud, racketeering and other corruption charges in 2006.

Officials for the Department of Justice, which reviews pardon and clemency requests and makes recommendations to the president through the attorney general, said no commutation request has been filed on behalf of Ryan. Former Gov. James R. Thompson, Ryan's attorney, had vowed to make a request for executive clemency in May, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ryan's appeal.

Responding to questions at a Springfield news conference, Durbin said he was "evaluating" whether he would support such a clemency request for Ryan and would make a decision at a later date. But Durbin questioned whether further incarceration was necessary.

More...