Fifth Jewish person leaves hate crimes panel over NOI member

More headaches for Illinios Governor Rod Blagojevich. A fifth member of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination resigned today, in protest of the presence of Nation of Islam minister of protocol Claudette Marie Muhammad on that panel.

Spellman this afternoon became the fifth Jewish member to quit the commission.

AP reports:

Alan Spellberg, a supervisor in the Cook County State's Attorney's office, said he hand-delivered his resignation letter to the governor's office, but he would not comment further.

Spellberg's letter states that he can "no longer participate in good conscience" on the panel.

"Recent events have demonstrated to me that the commission's ability to address issues of bias and discrimination has been damaged beyond repair," Spellberg said in the letter.