They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes. Well pardon me for saying it, but Governor Ryan is only seeing half the picture. On his final day in office, the beleaguered Governor granted blanket clemency to 167 death row inmates, including four pardons, citing his mistrust in the Illinois justice system.
The debate over capital punishment seems to have gone on forever, and probably will continue to do just that. Some say it’s a worthy punishment, others find it inhumane and fear the execution of the wrongly accused. There’s nothing wrong with having these debates. However, we must respect due process when it comes to changing our established laws. Go ahead and fight for the abolishment of the death penalty, but use the proper channels to do so.
Opponents of capital punishment make some good arguments, but to be fair we need to point out where they are guilty of spin. They often point to evidence of legal technicalities that have been found in some executions. But such legal ambiguities not withstanding, it is actually extremely difficult to find evidence of innocent people having been executed in our modern history. Some people besmirch the United States as being uncivilized in continuing to administer capital punishment. But in a world where the practices of clitorectomy, forced abortion, and legalized child porn still exist, I’m not too concerned about some people’s opinion that we might be too harsh in our punishment of mass-murders and child rapists.
Some champions of justice are notably selective with their good will. Italy lit up the Colosseum to celebrate saving the lives of the death row inmates. For this act of pseudo-compassion, I give Italy the boot. This commemoration comes off rather disingenuous if we ask what display of compassion and remorse was ever done to sympathize with the victims of the wicked crimes that were committed. Instead, we celebrate people like Leonard Johnson, who never claimed his innocence of raping two girls, 11 and 13, and murdering an 11 year old boy with a knife. Or people like Fedell Caffey, who shot pregnant woman, stabbed her 10-year-old daughter, then cut the full term baby from her womb. Interesting what passes for morality in some circles.
Our justice system is not perfect, but should we then cut off our nose despite our face? It’s wrong to condemn an innocent person to any kind of sentence, but do we therefore open all our prison doors? Show me a perfect system of justice, and I’ll gladly advocate it. The reality is that for the sake of society, we have to reach compromise on an acceptable margin of error in our judicial system. We must work hard to keep that margin of error as miniscule as possible, but at the same time, its inherent existence must not stop us from administering punishment where it is needed. Imperfections and legal loopholes don’t make the guilty innocent. In other words, there exists the possibility that O.J. was guilty and there are some racist cops in Los Angeles.
Those championing the blanket clemency accuse police and prosecutors of misconduct, including beating confessions out of suspects. Obviously, such behavior is intolerable if true. But also remember, a confession is a legal document in which the accused provides details of the crime that could only be known by the actual culprit. A legal confession is not procured by beating someone until he screams the magic words.
Maybe there is some shadow of doubt over some of the former death row inmates. But a moratorium on executions was already in effect. So, why not give individual consideration to each case? If the system is broke, let’s fix it, and review the death row convicts case by case. Given Ryan’s passion in this matter, where was the effort to reform the system much earlier in his term? Ryan’s stated fear of executing an innocent person contradicts the fact that in addition to the death row commutations, he also granted clemency to 150 non-capital cases.
Perhaps the most salient aspect of the blanket clemency debate is Ryan’s rather ignominious tenure in office, which exhibited some of the worst corruption ever seen. It’s interesting to see his view on our judicial system considering he might be facing that very system himself in the not-too-distant future. Federal prosecutors have already indicted and convicted 40 corrupt politicians in the Secretary of State scandal, and they are working their way up the food chain. Ryan is well documented for his involvement in taking bribes for driver's licenses and granting valuable truck licenses, including one which ending up killing a whole family. Close associates of Governor Ryan are now known to have been involved in bribes, paybacks for leases to government agencies, and laundering of campaign money. When Ryan took office, there was $1.1 billion of excess State receipts beyond the budget needs. Today the State is at least $500 million in deficit. Expectations are that there is too much evidence for Ryan to escape trial.
So, Ryan’s intentions here are highly questionable, given his character. Thus, it’s reasonable to suspect ulterior motives. Ryan’s name has already been mentioned in Nobel Peace Prize discussions, and he has set himself up rather well for procuring some highly-paid speaking engagements with affluent humanitarian groups.
Granting blanket clemency is clearly an abuse of power, because it circumvents the judicial system entirely. We have due process in this country, and for very good reasons. Due process is not to be tossed aside whenever inspiration strikes to go on a moral crusade. Such action may provide a feel-good moment, but it also might have long-term, unintended consequences. Let’s have respect for the process of law.
These pardons and commutations are reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s last-minute pardons of Marc Rich and other unsavory characters. Clinton’s pardons were clearly a case of quid pro quo, and Ryan’s act of clemency is cast in a questionable light as well. Personally, I call for the revocation of this sweeping power once an elected official has been voted out of office. With these last-minute abuses of power, Clinton and Ryan are completely unanswerable to their electorate. They now only have to answer to select groups of their choosing.
In my opinion, these last-minute edicts are acts of sheer cowardice. In Ryan’s case, it is a transparent attempt to annul his legacy of corruption by portraying himself as a humanitarian. He goes from villain to hero overnight by appeasing the politically correct crowd. This behavior is morally repugnant, regardless of our feelings about the death penalty. We follow a very dangerous path when we applaud haphazard misapplications of justice just because they happen to fit our ideology. Lauding Ryan for his irrational act is akin to a pro-life advocate cheering the bombing of an abortion clinic.
We must not be fooled by spurious claims of morality. Not every issue is black and white, but I for one am sick of the "big gray area" substitute for drawing logical conclusions. I put the capital punishment debate aside, and will continue to look for those with character and principles to provide my moral compass, and to demand respect for due process by our elected officials.
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