Bush Commutes Ramos and Compean’s sentences

Monday, January 19th at 12:58PM EST

5 Comments

Fox News is reporting that President Bush has commuted the sentences of Border Patrol
Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Perhaps this is an olive branch to the conservatives he disappointed so frequently during his administration. But whatever the reason, I’m happy for Ramos and Compean and their families.

Although, a full pardon would have been preferable, the commutation can be added to the plus side of Bush’s ledger along with along the war on terror.

This appears to be the end of Bush’s leniency. From Breitbart:

With the new acts of clemency, Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons and 11 commutations.

That’s fewer than half as many as Presidents Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan issued during their two-term tenures. Bush technically has until noon on Tuesday when President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office to exercise his executive pardon authority, but presidential advisers said no more were forthcoming.

Bush’s father issued only 77 pardons during his four years as president. President Truman issued the most pardons since World War II, 2031, followed by Carter who issued 563.

On a side note, It is still hard for me to believe that President Bush didn’t give Scooter Libby a full pardon.

God help us!

-Crippy’s World

5 Comments Leave a comment

if you go to fox's web site & look under the

rgirlinadcity Monday, January 19th at 1:07PM EST (link)

“urgent queue” it gives a little more info.

“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Thanks

Crippy (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 1:17PM EST (link)

just found more at Breitbar as well.

-Crippy’s World

You can edit (add to) your own diary

E Pluribus Unum (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 3:03PM EST (link)

And since there’s quite a bit starting to come out (the Breitbart link is instructive), I think you should flesh it out. There’s alot to say.

Kill the Terrorists
Protect the Borders
Punch the Hippies h/t IMAO

OH

Crippy (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 4:45PM EST (link)

Really, I thought we couldn’t edit entries anymore. Thanks!

-Crippy’s World

From the Associated Press on the commutations...

mbecker908 (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 8:11PM EST (link)

Full story is here…

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.

Bush’s decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long argued that the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals. They also maintained that the more than 10-year prison sentences the pair was given were too harsh.

Rancor over their convictions, sentencing and firings has simmered ever since the shooting occurred in 2005. The former border guards in El Paso, Texas, are expected to be released from prison within the next two months.

~~snip~~

Ramos and Compean became a rallying point among conservatives and on talk shows where their supporters called them heroes. Nearly the entire bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas and other lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle pleaded with Bush to grant them clemency.

Bush didn’t pardon the men for their crimes, but decided instead to commute their sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations, a senior administration official said.

The action by the president, who believes the border agents received fair trials and that the verdicts were just, does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes, the official said.

Compean and Ramos, were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana. The border agents argued during their trials that they believed the smuggler was armed and that they shot him in self defense. The prosecutor in the case said there was no evidence linking the smuggler to the van of marijuana. The prosecutor also said the border agents didn’t report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.

The agents were fired after their convictions on several charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and with serious bodily injury, violation of civil rights and obstruction of justice. All their convictions, except obstruction of justice, were upheld on appeal.

Compean and Ramo were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years in prison, respectively. They each also were fined $2,000 and sentenced to three years of supervised release. Under the terms of Bush’s commutation, their prison sentences will expire on March 20, but their three-year terms of supervised release and the fines will remain intact.