Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Debra J. Saunders
Cited: Amy Ralston http://www.candoclemency.com
Cited: Families Against Mandatory Minimums http://www.famm.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

LIBBY'S INDEPENDENCE DAY

OK. I'M GLAD President Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence of 
Scooter Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Like Bush, I buy the jury's verdict that Libby committed perjury and 
obstructed justice in a Department of Justice probe to discover who 
leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. Perjury is 
no small crime and Libby could have spared himself a long legal 
ordeal, if only he had not lied to investigators. Libby made his own bed.

That said, Libby's prosecution has seemed overwrought and overly 
political from the beginning. Note that Special Prosecutor Patrick 
Fitzgerald never prosecuted Richard Armitage, who originally leaked 
the operative's identity.

Bush split the judge's sentence down the middle. He did not pardon 
Libby, but instead upheld the $250,000 fine and two years of 
probation. Bush reasoned that the fine, probation and prison time, 
however, were "excessive."

As Bush noted in a written statement, in making the sentencing 
decision, the judge "rejected the advice of the probation office, 
which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors 
that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation."

My complaint is that Bush did not commute other sentences for 
individuals serving "excessive" time under the federal 
mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.

About an hour after the news, Amy Ralston called me. Ralston had been 
sentenced to 24 years for her role in her former husband's reputed 
Ecstasy ring, until President Clinton commuted her sentence in July 2000.

"I only look at it one way," Ralston said. "I want to know if he 
granted additional pardons for other people who are serving 20 to 
life for minor drug crimes. I know so many who have had their 
petitions denied by the Bush administration, who are deserving."

Ralston was crying as she discussed friends left behind in prison, 
serving sentences far longer than their crimes warranted. (Her Web 
site is http://www.candoclemency.com/)

As long as Bush is looking at "excessive" sentences that cry out for 
a presidential fix, he should consider the sad case of Clarence 
Aaron. Aaron was 22 years old when he made the huge mistake of 
hooking up two drug dealers for two cocaine deals. He was paid $1,500 
- -- but because he did not testify against the big fish in the deal 
and he pleaded not guilty, he was sentenced to life without parole -- 
that's right, life without parole -- for a first-time nonviolent drug offense.

Aaron's sentence is so "excessive" that he will die behind bars 
unless an American president shows him mercy. If Libby's sentence is 
"excessive," Aaron's is obscene.

U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are serving 
"excessive" prison sentences right now. The agents were convicted for 
shooting at a fleeing suspect who was smuggling 743 pounds of 
marijuana over the border in 2005, as well as for covering up the 
shooting and denying the smuggler of his rights. Today, the smuggler 
is suing the federal government for $5 million, while Ramos and 
Compean are serving 11-year and 12-year prison sentences, respectively.

These men dedicated their adult lives to public service. They deserve 
a commutation, so that they can return to their wives and the 
children who need them.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of worthy clemency petitions 
awaiting the president's decision -- these prisoners don't have the 
same White House connections as Scooter Libby, but they deserve the 
same serious consideration he received," wrote Families Against 
Mandatory Minimums President Julie Stewart.

"The president needs to grant these applicants to prove that clemency 
is available not just to the well-connected but to every deserving prisoner."

"Independence Day is coming," Ralston noted, "And I think that would 
be the perfect time for President Bush to grant some more clemencies. 
I'll be watching the fireworks this Fourth and hope some of the women 
I left behind will have that same privilege."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake