MY PLEA TO GOVERNOR QUINN: PARDON THOSE CONVICTED BY "OPERATION GREYLORD" JUDGES

Dear Governor Quinn:

I am requesting you pardon and expunge the records of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who were convicted and sentenced by "Operation Greylord" judges. Several Greylord Judges (Courtesty of FBI)The FBI was successful at rooting out the evils of 17 Cook County judges; however, those who were the victims of the judges' convictions and sentencings were completely ignored.

Operation Greylord is the name of an FBI investigation in the 80's that spanned over the course of 3 1/2 years. As you know, Operation Greylord is still recognized to this day as one of the FBI's most successful undercover investigations. The first listening device ever placed in a judge's chambers occurred in the undercover phase, when the narcotics court chambers of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Olson were bugged. Over 100 people were indicted. The last conviction was that of Judge Thomas Maloney, who was convicted of fixing three murder cases. Maloney was released from federal prison in 2008. A total of 92 people were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, ten deputy sheriffs, eight policemen, eight court officials, and a member of the Illinois Legislature. (See Wikipedia for further information.)

As a result of the corruption within Cook County, many people were wrongly convicted and sentenced to crimes they did not commit or they were not given a fair trial because of their attorney and/or judge's involvement in their case.

Judge Ciavarella Your pardoning and expunging the records of these individuals would follow suit of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On October 29, 2009, the Court ruled that almost all juvenile cases heard by Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella from Jan. 1, 2003 to May 31, 2008 must be thrown out. Judge Ciavearella has been indicted for "taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from owners of private detention centers in exchange for placing juvenile defendants at their facilities, often for minor crimes." Article here.

Over 6500 juveniles will have their records expunged. Many states automatically expunge a juvenile's criminal record; however, Pennsylvania does not. (Here, in Illinois, juvenile records are also not automatically expunged; instead, a petition must be filed and the judge must enter an order to expunge the juvenile record.)

Greylord judges were not juvenile judges but the issue is still the same: like Judge Ciavearella, Greylord judges did not act impartially but instead had a vested interest in cases by getting paid by defense attorneys in exchange for favorable sentence.

For example, one man pleaded guilty to a crime he did not commit because his attorney (whom he met when the attorney approached him in the hallway the first day of court) told him that if he signed over his bond money, the attorney would "make the case go away." Little did the man know that he was pleading guilty to felony probation and would be a convicted felon for the rest of his life.

Each person's story is different, of course, but in the fairness of justice, I believe it is only appropriate to remove the crimes of those convicted by the 17 Greylord judges. Too many lives have been permanently ruined by corrupt judges. The incarceration of the Greylord judges is only one piece of righting their wrongs. The victims in these cases should also be rehabilitated by an pardon and or expungement of any case heard before the Greylord judges.

Governor Quinn, thousands of Illinois residents were affected by the Greylord corruption. The FBI did an incredible job at rooting out the evils within the justice system but rehabilitating the victims somehow was dismissed.

I know you are incredibly busy dealing with other serious matters; however, the power to pardon is an enumerated power given soley to you, our Governor.  Political backlash often follows after a pardon is granted but, in this case, your actions are would be clearly reasonable and justified. I look forward to hearing your response to my request.

Sincerely,

Tamara N. Holder - Attorney for and on behalf of Greylord victims

www.xpunged.com

Comments

[Tamara Holder]

Thank you to Professor P.S. Ruckman for posting my letter on his GREAT blog www.pardonpower.com
http://pardonpower.com/2009/11/illinois-pardon-victims-of-corrupt.html