Legal Commentary

Bush Commutes Border Agents' Sentences

By Jeralyn

As his last act of compassion, President Bush commuted the prison sentences of Border Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean who shot an unarmed drug smuggler and then tried to cover it up. They got ten years and the right wing rallied around them. After all, it was only a drug dealer. And everybody lies. As to the latter, it's true enough in the Bush Administration.

The Court of Appeals had upheld their convictions for assault, discharge of a weapon in the commission of a crime of violence (the assault) and deprivation of civil rights.

If the border agents' 10 year sentences were too long because of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, so are everyone elses'. That's change Obama needs to bring to Congress.

As to pardon totals:

Clinton issued a total of 457 in eight years in office. Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, issued 77 in four years. Reagan issued 406 in eight years, and President Carter issued 563 in four years. Since World War II, the largest number of pardons and commutations - 2,031 - came from President Truman, who served 82 days short of eight years.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 19, 2009 (boomark / email).