[This is an email sent to Gov. Ryan of Illinois]

Dear George Ryan,

Thank you for your courageous act of pardoning 4 men and commuting the death penalty sentences of 167 other people on death row in Illinois.

You need to realize how far the influence of this action will go toward bringing justice to our criminal justice system.

Your voice is like that of John the Baptist, crying in the Wilderness.

I have a tape of the speech you gave to the New York Bar Association in December of 2000, and it has helped lots of people come to a new understanding about the death penalty injustices.

Again--Thank you.

Marilyn Wienk (electronic mail, January 16, 2003)