One of the surprising things to come out of those George Ryan deposition tapes that were recently released has been the former governor's confusion over what qualified as a general pardon and an innocence pardon. Ryan's confusion over the two could wind up costing taxpayers in lawsuit rewards or settlements. more ›

Tapes of a deposition given by former Governor George Ryan have been released, giving the public a glimpse into how Ryan has handled life in prison and how he came to make some of the pardons he did while in office. more ›

Gov. Quinn celebrated Good Friday by issuing 147 pardons and allowing two people who had already been pardoned to seek expungement. None of the pardon recipients were in prison and most of the original sentences were probation. But the governor also denied 258 request for a pardon. more ›

Gov. Quinn finally dug into a long list of pardon requests that date as far back as 2003, just after Governor Blagojevich took office. There are nearly 2,500 requests awaiting decision, and Quinn began by granting pardons to 11 of 31 requests dated January 2003. Said Quinn, "My administration is fully committed to erasing this shameful logjam of cases in a methodical manner and with all deliberate speed." According to the Tribune, the pardons were issued to Victor Cervantes, Dion Taylor, Jocelyn Stafford, Dann Bailey, Ronald Brown, Michael Cramer, Jeffrey Gordy, Valerie Hampton, Alan Huff, Charles Roach and Una Moore. [Tribune] more ›

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin sent a letter to President Bush today asking for Bush to commute former governor George Ryan's sentence. Ryan was convicted in 2006 of fraud, racketeering, and other corruption charges. So far, he has served a little over a year of a 6 and-a-half year sentence. Durbin has expressed concern for the health of the former governor and his wife. While prosecutors have come out against any pardon or commutation, Ryan has allegedly expressed remorse over his actions. In the letter to Bush, Durbin says:

George Ryan is 74 years old. He has lost his state pension benefits and a commutation will not restore them. He would emerge from prison facing economic uncertainty at an advanced stage of his life. more ›