Profiles in Courage
Just happened to catch some of Illinois Governor George Ryan's speech in which he lambasted the death penalty and issued a blanket commutation of over 160 capital sentences. I could not believe I was watching an American politician make this speech. Unfortunately, he found his courage on the last day of his term of office, and the tough work of real reform will be left to his successor. Nevertheless, it was exhilerating to watch someone do a merry jig on the real third rail of American politics and even suggest that there might be something wrong with a system apparently designed to deal out revenge and comfort to the victims' families, rather than justice to society at large. More to say on this subject later...
1:32:45 PM 
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