larryyellen's Blog

Prison officials at Oxford told the media on Wednesday that former Gov. George Ryan was allowed to enter the prison camp through a rear, delivery  entrance because of concerns about security and safety. They must have thought that the two dozen reporters and cameraman who had been camped out (some of them all night) were preparing to storm the prison entrance, when Ryan arrived. Just for the record, during the two days reporters were on the scene, I don't believe any of them stepped foot on prison property, as we had been warned not to do. Photographers knew they might miss the picture of Gov. Ryan entering the front door, but --as far as I know --none of them were willing to risk getting arrested to get the picture.  But Oxford prison officials apparently felt otherwise, and decided that  allowing a convicted felon to enter through a back door was a necessity, regardless of the message it sent to the law-abiding citizens who pay their salaries.