Bob Sirott`s One More Thing about the release of George Ryan - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

One more thing, about the release of former Governor George Ryan. As FOX 32 reported earlier, instead of staying at a halfway house, Ryan was allowed to go to his Kankakee home to complete his sentence.

Some say this isn't fair and that he got special treatment. That's nonsense.

The Bureau of Prisons did the right thing. Ryan will still be on strict home confinement until July. There's no requirement to spend a minimum amount of time in a halfway house. Ryan is 79, he has a place to go, and he doesn't have any drug or alcohol issues. Why should he take the place of another inmate who would benefit from being in a halfway house---someone who doesn't have the family and financial support George Ryan has?

This afternoon on the Tribune website, columnist John Kass ridiculed the decision to send Ryan home to Kankakee, saying he got to act like "a big shot on the sopranos."

Come on John, aren't you the guy who just wrote, "Ryan did his bit. Now broken, old, his wife deceased...near the end of his days. He's paid the debt....he's done. We don't have to respect, love or make excuses for him, but we have to acknowledge that much?"

That's why the decision was correct, and why we just need to leave him alone.