Is George Ryan the most sane politician in America?

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For those unfamiliar, he is exiting office as governor of Illinois first having freed four prisoners due for execution and then commuting all other death sentences in the state, turning them into life in prison. It's the final step in a series of them that saw Ryan elected on a pro-death penalty platform, his change of mind after reviewing the process by which the death penalty was imposed along with numerous questions about the validity of many convictions, his halting of all death sentences in the state and now this.

Arguably this was the action of a lame duck who, having lost already, didn't have to face the polls for his decision. And without knowing about Ryan's record and general worth on other subjects, I will leave that to the Chicago-and-related ILX contingent to suss out in detail.

But over the years I too have moved from a similar standpoint, from supporting the death penalty to now regarding it as abhorrent. It's what informed my thought last year that the only punishment for Bin Laden after 9/11 would, if he were captured alive, tried and convicted, be life in prison in the most constrictive solitary setup ever, forced to live his life out with no power at all and with the knowledge that he once had it in spades. And so on down the line. McVeigh should have faced the same fate in the end.

Normally I don't grandstand on the point, and being a former supporter means I know all the basic arguments on both sides. But to me -- especially given the wider international context -- this is more than a breath of fresh air. It was necessary -- and the fact that Ryan is a Republican should, I hope, help dispel some of the absolutist visions on either side of the basic Dem/GOP split about the other, even in a small way.

But your thoughts?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:41 (twenty-two years ago)

(Just occurs to me that maybe Ryan didn't run for reelection, so he might not have lost given that he was never in it -- but the basic principle still holds, and he was still a lame duck.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 January 2003 03:43 (twenty-two years ago)

If by 'sane' you mean 'so notoriously corrupt and scandal ridden he didn't bother running for re-election' then yeah

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 12 January 2003 04:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Was he ever indicted?

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 12 January 2003 04:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Heh. I figured there would be other less savoury aspects to him.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 January 2003 04:16 (twenty-two years ago)

For better or worse the death penalty debate hardly breaks down party lines. For better in that neither side has their identity tied into it (unlike abortion) and so it's alot easier to imagine a anti-death penalty supreme court justice being nominated than it is to imagine, say, the Democrats nominating a pro-lifer for president or (not quite as slim a chance) the Republicans nominating a pro-choicer for president. For worse in that the result is the Democrat's keep nominating pro-death penalty presidential nominees. For an issue that is genuinely being debated this much, it is odd and disheartening that the anti-death penalty movement is so politically incompetent and ineffective.

I might be naive but I always chalked up Ryan's stance to the efforts of that Northwestern journalism class.

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 12 January 2003 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah James, I tend to agree with you, knowing little however re: Ryan's political career otherwise; that journalist teacher and his investigations seem to have been critical. (In Maryland where I'm from the exiting gov Parris Glendening, tho he's pretty far left, didn't do more than issue a moratorium and commission a study - and whoops!, now that the released study confirms that yes, the death penalty is handed down v. disproportionately to blacks - the new Republican governor is all set to ignore it.) Am I off track here or does a lot of the lack of an organized political movement have to do w/the Dems wanting to be seen as tough on crime, as in the Horton case some years back ?

Ned, yr thoughts on what should happen to various criminals makes me think that.. it's weird how lots of people seem to veer toward looking on penalties in that way - not that the criminal should pay a debt to society, or be put away so as not to endanger society - but a more sadistic/vengeful wish to see him/her suffer. Why ? I don't deny the right of crime victims to want this, but I AM disturbed by a criminal justice system that does.

― daria g, Sunday, 12 January 2003 06:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, the system itself is of course far from perfect anyway. DB had a great quote from Emo Phillips going for a while which said it all: "Capital punishment turns the state into a murderer. But imprisonment turns the state into a gay dungeon-master."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 January 2003 06:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Ned, I think the thing with this sweeping act of his is this: he's closing up an embarrassingly corrupt and scandalous administration. He knows his boldest, most principled and most memorable move was the initial death penalty moratorium. His actions here can potentially stand as a legacy that could, eventually, outshine the train-wreck of his actual administration: if nothing else, he could be the governor who closed down the death penalty in his state. (Which I think is a great thing.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Sunday, 12 January 2003 08:24 (twenty-two years ago)

(The closing-down is great, I mean, not the death penalty itself.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Sunday, 12 January 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, it's safe to say that 90% of the favorable press Ryan got was due to his death-penalty stance so this may be a simple play for one last bit of good ink before he become's Traficant's prag. Which is in keeping with motivation of 95% of politicians (and I'm probably underestimating there)in regards to the death penalty ie. it's all about looking tough on crime regardless of any actual effectiveness (hence Clinton's flying back to Arkansas from the campaign trail in '92 just so he could ostentatiously not issue a last minute pardon to a retarded man on death row). Ever since Bernie Shaw stumped Dukakis in the '88 debates national Democrats have felt the need to prove their manhood via the electric chair.

I will be quoting the Emo Phillips quote!

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 12 January 2003 08:41 (twenty-two years ago)

hey I was impressed by his mortarioum and am floored and stunned by this. Who cares what motivated him? 167 people have been spared state execution! He's a brave man to do such a thing against popular opinion.

Keep in mind I'm a staunch anti-death penaltist in the state that execuates more prisoners than any other.. . .

― That Girl (thatgirl), Sunday, 12 January 2003 10:43 (twenty-two years ago)

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