From the Daily Herald: 
 
Key task begins in Ryan trial 
 
By Dave Orrick 
Daily Herald Staff Writer 
Posted Monday, September 19, 2005 
 
True or false: We’ll have to resort to a bunch of nincompoops, shut-ins or ignoramuses for jurors in ex-Gov. George Ryan’s corruption trial because anyone who ever picked up a newspaper, watched the news, or even looked at a driver’s license over the past seven years will have heard something about the charges against him. 
 
False. 
 
In fact, because no one would have much confidence in a jury of the least-engaged members of society, lawyers are likely to be wary of any potential panelists who claim to know nothing, experts say. The process of seating a jury gets under way today in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. 
 
“We don’t expect jurors to be living in caves,” says Nancy Marder, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and author of the book, “The Jury Process.” “Knowing nothing about who the governor is, that would actually be a bad thing.” 
 
Nor is it necessary to try Ryan, a Republican, by people who have never voted in a party primary, she says. 
 

George Ryan 
“People take the responsibility (of jury duty) seriously,” she says. “People really do try to follow the judge’s instructions.” 
 
In principle, what the judge and lawyers on each side will seek during jury selection will be people who haven’t made up their minds, but haven’t stuck their heads in the sand, either, Marder says. In reality, the lawyers will be studying the possible panelists for traits that could hurt their side. 
 
Defense attorneys will try to avoid people who are cynical of public officials and possibly anyone who seems skeptical of wrongful convictions or mercy on the condemned. In addition to saying he’s been wrongly accused in this case, Ryan became an international hero for the wrongly accused — and an object of scorn to many death penalty advocates — when he cleared Illinois’ death row two years ago. 
 
What prosecutors will try to avoid at all costs is a juror who’s part of the end-capital-punishment movement, says former Chicago U.S. Attorney Jim Burns. 
 
“In those circles, George is a hero,” he says. 
 
For many of those who supported Ryan’s ultimate grant of blanket clemency, the decision itself elevated Ryan, not just as an ally but as a politician of conscience — also a sentiment prosecutors will want to avoid. 
 
Burns also says prosecutors will try to eliminate anyone who‘s had a run-in with police or people who’ve done business with government, because some of Ryan’s defense might be that he did nothing that isn’t done every day in state governments around the country. 
 
The final group impaneled will consist of 18 men and women from northern Illinois. That includes 12 jurors and six alternates. 
 
The process began Aug. 5, when 1,000 summons were sent out, asking potential jurors if they were able to attend a four-month trial that would probably run four days a week. The letter implied the jury would be allowed to go home, as opposed to being held, sequestered and kept from the rest of the world. 
 
The time commitment itself likely weeded out single parents, small-business owners and people who may have urgent commitments, such as physicians, experts say. 
 
Remaining people were vetted a second time last week via a written questionnaire. Finally, Pallmeyer, prosecutors and defense attorneys will question potential jurors in the courtroom beginning today. 
 
Prosecutors will be able to exclude 10 people; defense attorneys for Ryan and co-defendant, former adviser Lawrence Warner, can exclude 18.