Christmas Comes Early for George Ryan

By Kevin Robinson in News on Nov 30, 2006 3:30PM

In an unusual move yesterday, a federal judge allowed convicted former Governor George Ryan to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction on charges of corruption while in office. He has already been stripped of his pension.

While we here at Chicagoist happily applaud the efforts of anyone fighting corruption in our political system, we think that really there are no winners in this case. A family lost six children, a trucker lost his (however unearned) livelihood, and a former Governor lost his legacy. Sure, you might say, he would have gotten a cushy room at Club Fed in a low-security white-collar prison, and with lenient Federal rules about how much time you actually serve, he’ll be out in no time. But Chicagoist’s father always taught us to take the long view, to try and see things from other people’s side. And staring down the barrel of a 6½-year sentence when you are a 72-year-old man can’t be easy. Knowing that you will spend your retirement being told what to do, when to do it, how and where you can and will do what you have been told, and knowing that there are clear consequences for not doing that, is a daunting thought. And imagining having to do it in a room not much larger than our bathroom doesn’t make the thought any nicer.

We hope that out of all of this comes a ray of hope; Chicagoist can’t help but feel that maybe there is a larger lesson of forgiveness to be learned out of this tragedy. While we understand that justice should be blind, and that putting an end, once and for all, to the shenanigans that go on in elective office in this state is something that has to happen, the thought of the old man who had the guts to empty death row dying in prison just makes our day a little greyer.