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Are the Border Agents the only federal offenders for whom President Bush feels compassion?

By Douglas A. Berman

I have soooo many reactions to the commutation of the extreme mandatory sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean (basics here).  As regular readers know, I am generally opposed to long mandatory prison terms imposed pursuant to 924(c), and the long mandatory terms for Ramos and Compean were especially troublesome given that, had they been willing to forego their rights to claim innocence at trial, they would not have likely gotten more than months in prison as part of a plea deal.  Thus, on the merits (and for reasons detailed more fully in lots of prior posts), I am pleased by the news that the Border Agents will be getting out of federal prison soon. But I am very displeased by the reports coming from the White House that this latest commutation grant by President Bush is to be the final act of clemency during his administration...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 19, 2009 (boomark / email).