Free Republic

To pardon Scooter Libby would not be consistent with the imperative that the mechanisms of law be able to demand, and receive, the truth. But to leave the sentence undisturbed would be an injustice to a person who, though guilty in this instance, is not what most people would, or should, think of as a criminal. Commutation offers a middle ground. Unlike a pardon, commuting the prison sentence would not erase the conviction. It would leave Libby with the disabilities of a convicted felon -- no small matter for a lawyer and public figure. But commutation would alleviate the harshest,...

The Plame Scandal: The topic of amnesty has been very much front-and-center in public debate. Well, let us go on the record: We support amnesty 100%. For ex-White House aide Scooter Libby, that is. Scooter Libby will face justice of sorts today, as a judge prepares to sentence him for the trumped-up crimes on which he was convicted three months ago. We hope Judge Reggie B. Walton will remain oblivious to the howls for blood from the left-wing media and Democrat politicians and do what's right: Let Libby go, no prison time. Further, we call on President Bush to pardon...

If one analyzes the facts behind the case of I. Lewis Libby, the need to pardon Scooter Libby increasingly becomes as clear as day. To begin with, members of the jury have spoken about how the entire jury were eager to see Karl Rove testify. They also felt that Libby was sacrificed to protect Rove. None of this would be relevant except it shows something about the jury which the President, who has full pardon power, has the duty to rectify. Karl Rove's involvement, if any, was not a factor in the prosecution. In other words it wasn't a factor...

In a perfect world -- or even a decent world -- Scooter Libby would never have been accused and entrapped to lie. Or if he had, a judge would have dismissed the proceedings and sent Patrick Fitzgerald, the rogue prosecutor, back to his traps in Chicago. But we live in Washington, where destroying lives, as the late Vince Foster famously said, is sometimes a partisan sport. A bold president could turn the malicious prosecution of Mr. Libby into a Democratic debacle, appealing successfully to the American spirit of fair play. Even the jurors say they had to put clothespins on...

If some people imagined a verdict in the criminal trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. would calm the political passions surrounding his fate, they may have forgotten two words with a combustible history: presidential pardon. The 11 jurors had barely pronounced Mr. Libby guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury on Tuesday when a new donnybrook broke out. “Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct,” declared Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority Leader, a stance echoed by other Congressional Democrats, editorial writers and bloggers on the left. On the right, The Wall Street Journal...

A White House official said last night that there was a "strong expectation" that President George W Bush would pardon Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the disgraced aide. The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice on Tuesday in a case linked to the unmasking of a covert CIA operative. If the conviction is upheld, he is expected to be jailed for two years. But an administration official said that it was highly unlikely that Libby would go to prison. "There's a lot of anger about the way Libby has been...

Breaking on MSNBC

Enforcing America's borders is an inherently dangerous responsibility that is critical to the security of our country and the safety of our communities. Despite the fact that many illegal immigrants come here with no criminal intent, others who cross our borders are dangerous criminals smuggling humans, drugs and other illegal contraband. Facing them, the men and women of our nation's Border Patrol risk their lives daily. In return for accepting this responsibility and performing their duties as law enforcement officials, Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos are now serving 11 and 12 years in federal prison. This is...

A grass-roots organization and a media consulting firm launched a campaign Monday seeking a presidential pardon for two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican national during a 2005 incident. The 30- to 60- second television spots, produced by Demos Chrissos, owner of Rapid Response Media, will first air on Washington, D.C., cable channels this week, Chrissos said. Radio commercials targeting congressional representatives in their own districts will begin airing by the end of the week, he said. The "man on the street" TV spots were posted Monday on grassfire.org, a conservative Web site that has collected more...

(CBS) HOLLYWOOD Two people were arrested during a clash at a march in Hollywood held in support of two U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting an alleged drug smuggler near the Mexican border in Texas. Police separated about 200 demonstrators and counter-protesters, including members of the Minuteman Project, according to Los Angeles police Officer James Jensen. He did not know which side of the protest the arrested people came from.

List of people pardoned by George W. Bush The following is a partial list of people pardoned by George W. Bush. As of December 21, 2006, President George W. Bush had issued 113 presidential pardons to people who have served their entire sentence, and has commuted in addition the sentences of three people. [1] This list is a subset of the list of people pardoned by a United States president. The order is alphabetical, the year is the date of conviction. Charles James Allen (1979 conspiracy to defraud the United States. A former federal employee, Allen was convicted for approving...

State Republican Parties Join Calls To Free Border Agents By Fred Lucas CNSNews.com Staff Writer February 01, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - A growing number of Republicans are calling on President Bush to pardon two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and wounded a Mexican man suspected of smuggling drugs into this country. Republican parties in two states have now weighed in on the matter. The case sparked public outrage and prompted three congressional proposals to free agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who this month began serving prison sentences of 11 and 12 years, respectively. At an Arizona Republican Party Convention...

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher makes the Dixie Chicks sound like bosom buddies of President George W. Bush. Politics being politics, it's easy to dismiss the antipathy liberals have for Mr. Bush. But Bush has lost the support -- and even the respect -- of Mr. Rohrabacher. The California Republican is serving his ninth term and has a lifetime score of 95 from the American Conservative Union. He also has had it with a commander in chief who prefers surrender to being the defender of America's defenseless border with Mexico. Rohrabacher said the minute two unjustly convicted men who had been Border...

President Bush on Thursday left open the possibility of a pardon for two Border Patrol agents serving federal prison sentences for shooting a Mexican drug dealer as he fled and covering up the crime. Bush said "there's a process for pardons" and the case has to work its way through the system. In an interview with KFOX-TV in El Paso, Bush said the White House will review the case, and he urged people to "take a sober look at the case." "People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at, as well as...

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush left open the possibility of a pardon for two U.S. Border Patrol agents serving federal prison sentences for shooting a Mexican drug dealer as he fled and covering up the crime. Bush said "there's a process for pardons" and the case has to work its way through the system. In an interview with KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas, Bush said the White House will review the case, and he urged people to "take a sober look at the case." "People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at,...

Months before Richard Nixon set Michigan congressman Gerald Ford on the path to the White House, Nixon turned to Ford, who called himself the embattled president's "only real friend," to get him out of trouble. During one of the darkest days of the Watergate scandal, Nixon secretly confided in Ford, at the time the House minority leader. He begged for help. He complained about fair-weather friends and swore at perceived rivals in his own party. "Tell the guys, goddamn it, to get off their ass and start fighting back," Nixon pleaded with Ford in one call recorded by the president's...

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: Pardon the two border patrol agents By Stone Martindale Dec 28, 2006, 23:53 GMT Just wrapping a live segment of the popular CNN's Lou Dobbs show, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, is pleading with Americans to contact the White House and their local representatives to get angry and voice their support with the issue of pardoning the two incarcerated Border Patrol agents who shot a Mexican drug dealer on the U.S.-Mexico border. Rohrabacher is leading a group of 48 other Congressional representatives asking President Bush to pardon the two agents. He is calling on every American to call...

Ladies and gentlemen: I have come to a decision which I felt I should tell you and all of my fellow American citizens, as soon as I was certain in my own mind and in my own conscience that it is the right thing to do. I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions always come to this desk. I must admit that many of them do not look at all the same as the hypothetical questions that I have answered freely and perhaps too fast on previous occasions. My customary policy is to try and get...

Former Border Patrol Agent Jose Alonso Compean attends a press conference and rally on Thursday, December 21, 2006 in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse where supporters, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher requested the President pardon both Compean and fellow agent Ignacio Ramos' conviction for the non fatal shooting of a Mexican citizen smuggling drugs into the United States. Compean and Ramos are both facing more than 10 years in prison. In the first official response of any kind to several congressional letters sent on behalf of two former Border Patrol agents, the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday...

William Borders was a prominent Washington, D.C. lawyer when, in 1981, he was charged with conspiring with his good friend, federal judge Alcee Hastings, to solicit bribes from defendants seeking lenient treatment in Hastings’s courtroom. Hastings was charged, too, though the men were tried separately. When it was all over, Borders was convicted, disbarred, and sentenced to five years in jail. Hastings was acquitted, but later impeached and removed from office. In addition to his sentence, Borders went to jail two other times as a result of the Hastings matter, both times when he refused to testify against his friend....