I'm probably in the minority but I think Dick Durbin is right to ask George Bush to commute George Ryan's prison sentence. I've never been able to take any pleasure out of seeing a non-violent offender in his 70's locked away in prison. Ryan was held accountable by having his pension taken away and being lead away in hand cuffs for at least some time in prison. That destroyed the reputation and financial benefits he spent his entire career building up.
I'm also ambivalent because I've never been convinced that Ryan's crimes were all that unique. Some of the witnesses in the Ryan trial testified that they were continuing practices similar to what happened under previous Secretaries of State including Jim Edgar, and people in Springfield talk about Edgar like he's some kind of saint. Singling out one bad apple doesn't change the system if you don't hold anyone else accountable.
Passing much stronger anti-patronage laws that separate state employment from politics, similar to what the federal government does, would make me happier than seeing one corrupt politician in jail whose main crime was pushing the line just a little bit farther than everyone else.