Lewis "Scooter" Libby spared jail by President Bush.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby spared jail by President Bush.

news.sky.com

US President George Bush has spared a former White House aide convicted of lying to authorities from prison.

Mr Bush commuted the two-and-a-half year sentence handed down to Lewis "Scooter" Libby, saying it was excessive.

The announcement came shortly after a federal appeals panel said Libby could not delay the start of his prison term, meaning he would have to begin his term soon.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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[edit on 3-7-2007 by UM_Gazz]

I can't wait for the fallout from this one.

If theres anyone out there who has'nt been convinced of Bush's abuse of power up till now, then read this and weep.

How can Bush realisticaly retain any respect when he does favours for Whitehouse aides like this?

I would be very interested to hear about any future interventions he will be making for the average joe on the street who gets a sentence they or Bush feels is unfair?

I'm sure Bush will be looking out for the average american too!

CX

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

PS: Edited to make the post clearer.

[edit on 3/7/07 by CX]

Originally posted by CX
I would be very interested to hear about any future interventions he will be making for the average joe on the street who gets an unfair sentence?

How was the sentence unfair? He broke the law! People in governmental positions SHOULD be held to a higher standard and have higher sentences imposed on them if they are found to have broken the law or abused their position. Otherwise you may as well let any old crook and his buddies run the country. Oh, i forget, you already do because you will allow this to happen

Ah sorry, i think i worded that slightly wrong.

I meant to say that i hope that the next time an average american gets a sentence that they "feel" is unfair, or that Bush "feels" is unfair, the prsident will jump in as readily and let them off.

I don't think the sentence was unfair, only that Bush is able to meddle with the justice system.

CX.

I found a similar article in the Yahoo News.
Sad to say, I think Bush should be standing up to multiple charges of Breech of Constitutional Oath with connected charges of Treason...But there he is, showing the whole Nation that he wants criminals to go (nearly) scot-free (just like all of those Illegal Aliens do because he refuses to "faithfully execute the laws").

Originally posted by CX
I don't think the sentence was unfair, only that Bush is able to meddle with the justice system.

Bush has no authority to alter any Judicial sentences...At least, with anything less than a full Pardon (which is what he did not do). The Judge should have (& still can) stand his ground & make the original sentence stick.

I accidentally repeated this thread, so I'll add my comments on this one to knock mine down.

Personally, this is disgusting. I don't care if you're republican or democrat, you do not continuously override the decisions of your country because its not in your party's favor.

He was charged with the crime, he does the time. The fact that he's friends with bush should increase the amount of time he has to serve strictly because he is in a position to be a role model, and in turn, an example.

Originally posted by MidnightDStroyer
I found a similar article in the Yahoo News.
Sad to say, I think Bush should be standing up to multiple charges of Breech of Constitutional Oath with connected charges of Treason...But there he is, showing the whole Nation that he wants criminals to go (nearly) scot-free (just like all of those Illegal Aliens do because he refuses to "faithfully execute the laws").

Unfortunately, using the power to pardon is by its definition not unconstitutional. He could theoretically pardon every federal criminal tomorrow and not end up in any trouble.

This is not to justify what he did, no no no. What he did was totally inappropriate in this case and Libby should have served his sentence. The pardon power is the only check that the government has on the judiciary, and he should use it only as such. On the other hand, there is little recourse against him if he doesn't, other than voting him out.

This in theory could be am impeachable offense if you could prove something fishy was going on. As little as I like the Bush administration, I think that there is nothing worse going on in there than in any other administration in history: toeing of the line and playing politics. Now there is just rank incompetence and wanton nepotism to boot.

Originally posted by CX
I don't think the sentence was unfair, only that Bush is able to meddle with the justice system.

Bush has no authority to alter any Judicial sentences...At least, with anything less than a full Pardon (which is what he did not do). The Judge should have (& still can) stand his ground & make the original sentence stick.

This is untrue. The old common law pardon power, from which the executive pardon powers of the governors and president derive, allows for many flavors of pardons. According to Black's Law Dictionary, you can have an "absolute pardon," which is what you are thinking of, down to a "partial pardon," "A pardon that exonerates the offender from some but not all of the punishment or legal consequences of a crime."

[edit on 7/3/2007 by Togetic]

Did you all suddenly forget all the criminal pardons Clinton made during his term? Perhaps this list will keep you a fresh reminder: www.usdoj.gov...

Existing discussion here:

www.abovepolitics.com...

Please contribute to the existing discussion.

Thread closed.