Ryan To Remain Free

Convicted ex-governor George Ryan is being allowed to remain free on bond during his appeal.

Although I would like to see Ryan serve time for his offenses I don't have any real problem with this ruling. If the appleate court sees a potential problem in the trial and the chance of the conviction being overturned is real then a nonviolent man of Ryan's advanced age should not be locked up in my opinion. Especially since the appeal process is likely to take a significant portion of the total sentence time.

The other debate of late is should Ryan, in reality his wife, get a portion of his pension. The argument is that he wasn't corrupt for his entire public career so he should receive the pension from that portion of his life. I say, BULLSHIT! Ryan's ability to foist the corruption on Illinois stems in part from his long career in government. He knew the loopholes and how to exploit them. He deserves none of it. Look at it from this standpoint. If you or I had spent 40 years working for a company that pays a pension but in the last 8 years defrauded that corporation, would we get a pension for the first 32 years of service? The answer is clearly no.

So, Ryan should stay free pending his appeal but he should not get a single penny of pension from the citizens of Illinois.