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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> sissel [mailto:denmark@online.no]
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 30, 2007 12:56 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Rick Halperin <rhalperi@mail.smu.edu>; delliotDC@aol.com; Karl Keys <karl@capitaldefenseweekly.com>; Richard Dieter <rdieter@deathpenaltyinfo.org>; Rob Warden <r-warden@law.northwestern.edu><br>
<b>Cc:</b> committee@stopcapitalpunishment.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Former Illinois Governor George Ryan Nominated For The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><img width="578" height="116" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D3FFDE.C9EDE4F0" alt="Image10.jpg (19572 bytes)"><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 30, 2007.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:red"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><br>
Former Illinois Governor George Ryan Nominated For The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize <o:p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">University of Illinois College of Law Professor Francis A. Boyle has nominated former Illinois Governor George Ryan
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize because of his courageous and heroic opposition to the death penalty system in America.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Despite tremendous opposition and criticism, Ryan single-handedly started what he calls a "rational discussion" on capital punishment
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">in 2000 when he declared the Illinois death penalty moratorium.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">To this day, despite paying a heavy personal price for his courage, integrity, and principles,</span></b><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">
</span></b><b><span style="color:black">Ryan remains committed </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">to the principle of seeking justice for the poor and oppressed. Ryan now takes his message globally, recently speaking
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Switzerland, continuing to initiate dialogue against the barbaric use
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">of capital punishment around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Directly because of Ryan's imposed 2000 moratorium, a tidal wave of change has gained momentum in the United States.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Death sentences are at a 30-year low, while the number of executions has dropped to a 10-year-low. And for the first time
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">in two decades, more Americans now support life sentences over death as the proper punishment for capital crimes.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">New Jersey's governor signed into law a one-year moratorium on executions due to public demand,
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">and Florida's Governor Bush suspended all executions until methods of execution can be examined in that state.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">California now has an imposed moratorium, and Ohio's new governor has stated moral questions concerning
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">the use of capital punishment.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">The American Bar Association has also now declared that there should be a blanket moratorium on all executions
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">in the United States because of widespread problems with the quality of defense given to poor and indigent capital defendants.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">As Governor Ryan exposed to the country in 2000, the burden of capital punishment consistently falls upon the poor, the ignorant
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">and the forgotten underpriviledged members of society, and is often used as a racist institution against people of color.</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">The United States’ attitude towards capital punishment is undeniably changing, and as a direct result of Ryan’s historical acts
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">as former Governor of Illinois. Ryan exposed capital punishment to be a distorted means of justice rife with flaws and defects, and he began the dialogue that will one day abolish capital punishment in America.</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Professor Francis A. Boyle has stated that, "George Ryan is the beginning of the end of the death penalty in America,"
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">and it is for this reason that he richly deserves to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Joining him on the nomination papers were Chicago Attorneys Karen Conti, Greg Adamski and Jerome Boyle.
</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><a href="http://www.thenobelpeaceprizetoryan.com/ryan/RyanNomination2007.htm">http://www.thenobelpeaceprizetoryan.com/ryan/RyanNomination2007.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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