Bush issues 29 pardons but Libby not among them

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush granted pardons to 29 people on Tuesday but Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was not among them.

There has been speculation that before he leaves office in January 2009 Bush may pardon Libby, who was convicted in March of perjury and obstructing an investigation into who revealed the identity of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame, whose husband had criticized the Iraq war.

Bush commuted Libby's 2-1/2-year prison sentence in July, but Cheney's former chief of staff still had to pay a $250,000 fine. Libby's attorney said on Monday his client had dropped his appeal of his conviction.

The Justice Department's list of pardons, issued in the tradition of granting clemency during the holiday season, covered a variety of crimes including cocaine distribution, marijuana manufacturing, mail fraud and bank embezzlement.



Read more: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-12-11T214437Z_01_N11225868_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-CRIME-LIBBY.xml

[MissB]

1. I do bet he'll wait until the last minute to do it.

[napi21]

2. My guess is it won't be done this year, but next year, just as he leaves office.

Then he won't have to listen to a lot of sh*t about it. That's been my thought all along. I do think he got the promise before he dropped the appeal!

[LiberalFighter]

10. After the 2008 election you mean.

So the voters don't take out their anger on Republicans.

[napi21]

21. Yep! That's right. The voters have a LOT of things to take out on the

Pubs already! I'm POSITIVE the power boys have already spoken to Shrub and explained the fact of life.

[LiberalFighter]

29. While he was playing with his stuffed toy Curious George?

[saigon68]

33. Ah yes the Chimpanzee and his toys

[acmavm]

4. Oh yeah.

[Cha]

3. Why should he pardon libby now

and bring more attention to that scumtraitor that they dumped on?

[robinlynne]

5. yep, the public would react. too late once he's leaving office.

[harmonicon]

6. "the public would react" - ha! that's funny

[robinlynne]

18. point taken.... n/t

[Acadia Blue]

30. Yea, lol like anyone has really reacted so far.

[superconnected]

7. A crook pardoning crooks.

[Thothmes]

28. Normally the law abiding do not need pardons.

[rockybelt]

8. He will probably

use a private signing statement to pardon lil' Scooter.
Who were the 29?

[Robbien]

9. The people Bush actually pardoned are:

James Albert Bodendieck, Sr., New Athens, Illinois

Offense: Interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, 1959

Jeffrey James Bruce, Chandler, Oklahoma

Offense: Possession of stolen mail, 1994

Charles Wayne Bryant, Sautee, Georgia

Offense: Theft of United States mail matter by employee, 1962

Carleton Gregory Carpenter, Wayland, Massachusetts

Offense: Making a false representation with respect to information
required to be kept in the records of a person holding a federal firearms
license, 1981

John Edward Casto, Ripley, West Virginia

Offense: Distribution of cocaine, 1990

Jackie Ray Clayborn, Deer, Arkansas

Offense: Manufacturing marijuana, 1993

Debbie Sue Conklin, formerly known as Debbie Sue McAlevy, Douglas,
Wyoming

Offense: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 1990

Charles Richard Fennell, Valencia, California

Offense: False statement to a federally-insured financial institution, 1995

John Fornaby, Boynton Beach, Florida

Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, 1991

Daniel Ray Freeman, Douglas, Georgia

Offense: Violation of Internal Revenue liquor laws, 1963

Thomas Dee Gandy, Wichita, Kansas

Offense: Mail fraud affecting a financial institution, 1996

Melton Harrell, Cairo, Georgia

Offense: Theft of government property and receiving stolen government
property, 1976

Paul Dwight Hawkins, Lafayette, Louisiana

Offense: Conspiracy to import marijuana, 1990

Roger Paul Ingram, Round Rock, Texas

Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute an analogue of a Schedule I controlled substance, 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 1987

William Lucius Jones, Jr., Birmingham, Alabama

Offense: Illegal possession of an unregistered firearm, 1972

William Charles Jordan, Jr., Dover, Pennsylvania

Offense: Managing and conducting an illegal gambling business, 2000

Saul Kaplan, Scranton, Pennsylvania

Offense: Violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, 1992

Billy Joe LaForce, San Antonio, Texas

Offense: Conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, 1990

Rudolph J. Macejak, Morton Grove, Illinois

Offense: Possession of an unregistered firearm, 1986

John F. McDermott, Moretown, Vermont

Offense: Receiving kickbacks in defense procurement contracts, 1995

William James Norman, Tallahassee, Florida

Offense: Possession of an unregistered distillery, 1970

Glanus Terrell Osborne, Dallas, Georgia

Offense: Possession of a stolen motor vehicle, 1990

John Gordon Smith, Littleton, Colorado

Offense: False statement to a federal agency, 1988

Walter J. Sweeney, III, Cincinnati, Ohio

Offense: Attempting to evade income taxes, 1993

Nancy Lynn Thompson, Bainbridge, Georgia

Offense: Embezzlement by a bank employee, 1997

Daryl Toney, Montgomery, Alabama

Offense: Misdemeanor theft within the special maritime and territorial
jurisdiction of the United States, 1993

Charles Eddie Trobaugh, Whitleyville, Tennessee

Offense: Liquor law violations, 1965

Samuel Lewis Whisel, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania

Offense: Aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of stolen
goods, 1989

Steven Wayne Whitlock, Sarasota, Florida

Offense: Conspiracy to import marijuana, 1990

Surprising how many people in prison since the sixties for violation of liquor laws. One in jail for thirty seven years for running a still. Heh.

[JohnLocke]

11. They were probably not still in jail.

http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/petitions.htm

[Robbien]

14. But if they served their time and were out now, what good is a pardon?

:shrug:

[pipoman]

17. A pardon clears their record,

they no longer have to disclose their conviction for most jobs etc.

[allisonthegreat]

32. Good and valid point! n/t

[NewCon]

34. Actually, it doesn't.

Per the pardon attorney, a pardon is a "sign of forgiveness", not vindication, and a conviction still must be disclosed whenever asked. The pardon provides relief from various civil restrictions that are imposed on felons (firearms ownership, certain government jobs, etc) but other than that, it doesn't do much.

The pardon process is horribly outdated and absolute ripe for abuse.
It needs to be done away with.

It was originally conceived in a time when "federal authority" extended basically to the gravest offenses against national interests- piracy, high treason, etc.
We presently live in an age where the government federally prosecutes everything from dogfighting to illicit possession of botanical products (that Washington himself once grew on his own plantation).

While state criminals- often times with much more profound offenses- can obtain eventual relief via expungement after time, an offender who is prosecuted in Federal court has only the 1000-1 shot of getting a pardon from a sitting president in order to move on with their lives.

This means that a 19 year old kid who sends a joint to his girlfriend at college via the US mail and is sentenced to probation in Federal court cannot ever obtain relief from his conviction- no matter how much he is rehabilitated or no matter how much time passes- short of a presidential pardon, while someone who sells a kilo of coccaine and is sentenced to 5 years in state court can eventually get his offense expunged after a period of time.

The issue of offender reentry is a huge one in our country- a country that incarcerates more people per-capita than any other nation on earth... The odium placed on offenders by the Federal system is particularly bad, even though it really shouldn't be.

Sorry for such a long winded first post, but obviously, I feel very strongly about this issue.

[951-Riverside]

35. Welcome to DU. that was a superb post n/t

[NewCon]

36. Thanks.

I typed it kinda fast and left a few things not quite as clear as I would've liked them...

Please, folks, don't make fun of the people on that list. We don't know their stories.
Some of them very well may be deserving of a pardon. I hope to be on a list like that myself, one day.

There is plenty of make fun of with Bush and his misapplication of the clemency process.

What's offensive about the most recent Bush pardons is that so many of them scream "token". A moonshiner here, a "conspiracy case" there, a gun technicality here... His only commutation was of a crack offender- mere days after the Sentencing Commission already stated that crack sentences should be revisited and he would have likely been released early anyway.

Bush has already shown a willingness to abuse the process via the Libby commutation.

There are tens of thousands of good, totally honest, completely rehabilitated people who served their time and have applied for presidential pardons but were denied because they either weren't politically connected enough, or they weren't "wealthy" enough to be considered a 'good pardon risk', even though they may have moved well beyond their past and been productive citizens for a long, long time. There are also political considerations to the process as well- considerations that apply equally to both parties.

"I believe in forgiveness" Bush is presently on pace to have the lowest number of pardons by any president in the modern era. He is a liar.

The only hope people have to get around the horribly outdated and ripe-for-abuse process is to support Congressmen Rangels "Second Chance" act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chance_Act

[pipoman]

37. I am not a lawyer

but it was my understanding that a pardon was the only relief for federal convictions and is the same as expungement at the state level. I was also under the impression that expungement at the state level will allow for non-disclosure for most private sector jobs which does not require state licensure, in addition to restoration of voting, firearms, etc. rights. (BTW good luck with the purchase of firearms through NICS with an expungement, but that is another story).

Edit...oh yea, and welcome to DU!

[NewCon]

40. Sadly, it doesn't.

A Presidential Pardon does not grant or infer expungement (or sealing) of any kind., per US v. Noonan (3rd Circut, 1990).

[olddad56]

12. Offense: False statement to a federally-insured financial institution, 1995

Wow, how many millions could go to jail for that one these days?

[Robbien]

15. Or how about that: Receiving kickbacks in defense procurement contracts, 1995

Not enough jails to hold them all today.

[ret5hd]

13. Are they necessarily still "in jail"?

[kryckis]

16. I don't think so?

I was under the impression that most people have been out of jail for a significant period time before they are pardoned.

[Frisbee]

19. Must be...

"John Fornaby, Boynton Beach, Florida

Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, 1991"

I wonder if this is Shrubs old supplier?

[pipoman]

20. I was wondering that on a few of them too

:hippie: :smoke: :beer: :rofl:

[napi21]

22. That's quite an interesting list. I wonder how they're chosen?

FUVE from Georgia? Onder if that has anything to do with his buddy Saxby Chambliss?

[NewCon]

42. It's a completely discretionary process, which is why...

... it's so ripe for abuse and miscarriage of justice, either by inappropriate application or omission of otherwise deserving people.

There is no "standard" for Presidential pardons other than a few laid out by the pardon attorney (time elapsed since completion of sentence, etc) but even then, those are advisory and can be circumvented at will if the sitting president so desires.

[MetaTrope]

43. Saul Kaplan... Violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, 1992

Would it surprise anyone to know that he's a big contributor to the Rhode Island Republican State Central Committee?

[NewCon]

44. That's how it goes...

... while John Smith of Anytown USA who got arrested for selling drugs in the early 1980's, did 6 months in the can, got out, got married, got his degree, had kids and has been living a totally clean life since the Regan Administration has a 1-1000 shot at a Presidential Pardon since he isn't a "contributor".

The Presidential Pardon system is just such an epic failure and so, so grossly corrupt.

[daleo]

23. Lots of time left

Scooter will get his reward.

[defendandprotect]

24. President George W. Bush granted pardons to 29 people on Tuesday

Source: Reuters

Bush issues 29 pardons but Libby not among them Tue Dec 11, 4:44 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush granted pardons to 29 people on Tuesday but Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was not among them.

There has been speculation that before he leaves office in January 2009 Bush may pardon Libby, who was convicted in March of perjury and obstructing an investigation into who revealed the identity of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame, whose husband had criticized the Iraq war.

Bush commuted Libby's 2-1/2-year prison sentence in July, but Cheney's former chief of staff still had to pay a $250,000 fine. Libby's attorney said on Monday his client had dropped his appeal of his conviction.

The Justice Department's list of pardons, issued in the tradition of granting clemency during the holiday season, covered a variety of crimes including cocaine distribution, marijuana manufacturing, mail fraud and bank embezzlement.

Bush has not ruled out a full pardon for Libby, whose case put the inner workings of the White House under a microscope and ignited a debate about whether the Bush administration misled the nation when making the case for war in Iraq.

High-powered allies like Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson raised millions of dollars to cover Libby's legal bills.

Plame, a CIA analyst, said her unmasking destroyed her career and was done to retaliate against her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case for war.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, editing by David Alexander)



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071211/us_nm/usa_crime_libby_dc

[orleans]

25. as an aside -- & i know people are probably sick of me talking about

jonathan turley on randi's show the other day--but randi asked him if bush could pardon himself for various things and turley said yes, a president can pardon himself over everything except impeachment!
can you imagine?

[Acadia Blue]

31. Anything he can do, he will. Hill was dumb to vote for Iran being

labled a terrorist state. Do they not consider what Bush has done in the past? History? She is supposed to be smart.

[truthisfreedom]

26. "cocaine distribution, marijuana manufacturing, mail fraud and bank embezzlement."

So pretty much everything the bush family is good at.

[douglas9]

27. The List

http://www.startribune.com/politics/12374886.html

[gulliver]

38. The better to keep Libby quiet for one more year. n/t

[Franc_Lee]

39. Why should Libby be among the list when Bush has a year to do whatever he wants, right now isn't the

time!

[NewCon]

41. Yep

Near certainty that if he is going to Pardon Libby, it will be in the outgoing salvo of pardons that always occur with the end of every Presidency...

[Uncle Joe]

45. The way I understand it, if Bush pardoned Libby, Scooter couldn't

invoke the fifth amendment against self-incrimination, there by making it easier for Libby to turn on Rove,Cheney and possibly Bush. I believe that's why Bush has only commuted Libby's sentence to date.

[NewCon]

46. I don't think so.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that the Fifth Amendment is predicated on the potential "consequences" of self-incrimination, but rather, it protects from being compelled to engage in the act of self-incrimination- in and of itself- independent of whatever consequences may arise or whatever consequences one may have already endured.

I don't see how he would lose his Fifth Amendment rights and be compelled to incriminate himself just because he was pardoned on a couple obstruction and lying charges, but maybe some legal scholars can shed some light on this.