FREE THE BORDER PATROL TWO

WHEN President Bush commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby -- the
former top aide to Veep Dick Cheney convicted for perjury and
obstructing justice in a federal probe on the leak of the identity of
a CIA operative -- he explained that he respected "the jury's
verdict, but I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr.
Libby is excessive." Bush commuted Libby's 30-month prison sentence,
but allowed a $250,000 fine and two years of probation to stand. By
that standard, Bush also should commute the sentences of former
Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

Last year, the agents were sentenced to 11 years and 12 years
respectively for shooting at and wounding a fleeing suspect who was
smuggling 743 pounds of marijuana over the border in 2005, covering
up the shooting and denying the smuggler of his rights. Tuesday, the
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a fact-finding hearing on their
case. On Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. John
Cornyn, R-Texas, sent a letter to Bush that said the agents'
sentences were "excessive and they deserve the immediate exercise of
your executive clemency powers."

Bush should heed their advice and commute these sentences.

Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, are not criminals. I've read the trial
transcript. At worst, it shows two agents who made a bad split-second
decision -- then wrongly covered it up because they realized they
were wrong to fire their guns at the fleeing Osvaldo Aldrete Davila,
hitting him in the buttocks.

At best it shows, as the defense credibly argued, that the two agents
thought Aldrete -- who is now suing the federal government for $5
million -- was armed. They also thought the smuggler (who walked away
after the shooting and fled the scene in a car that picked him up)
was uninjured. So they decided not to report the shooting.

Feinstein wondered why authorities did not punish the agents
administratively -- maybe fire them -- and why prosecutors failed to
force Aldrete to name more drug-ring associates. She also asked why
the transactional immunity offered to Aldrete did not require him to
waive his civil lawsuit.

The agents' case has been made stronger by the fact that Aldrete was
implicated in a second marijuana (753 pounds this time) smuggling
while he had documents -- thanks to his immunity deal -- that allowed
him to cross the border freely. Feinstein said she had a hard time
understanding why someone known to have trafficked "in large amounts
of narcotics" was "free to come and go from the United States." U.S.
Attorney Johnny Sutton testified that the document deal was "very regrettable."

The episode certainly undermines Aldrete's credibility.

Another issue: The feds' decision to charge the agents for committing
a crime with a firearm -- a 924(c) violation -- meant a 10-year
mandatory minimum sentence on that one charge alone. Hence the very
harsh sentences for men who served their country in the military and
at the border.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a former U.S. attorney, observed that the
federal firearms law "is designed to deal with criminals who carry
firearms in the commission of felonies and crimes of violence."
Whereas, "these officers came to work with no criminal intent, no
mind set to commit any crime."

Asked Wednesday whether Bush will grant clemency, White House
spokesman Tony Snow explained that the Libby commutation is special
because there are disputes in legal circles about Libby's sentence.
Well, there are disputes as to whether the federal firearms charge
should have been used against law enforcement officers who are
required to carry guns to do their jobs and did not premeditate
shooting a fleeing drug smuggler.

Snow also noted that the Libby pardon let stand the "significant
punishment" of probation and a six-figure fine.

Try this for "significant punishment:" Ramos and Compean have spent
six months in prison -- that's no picnic in that they are serving
time among the very types of criminals they once helped put away. In
February, Latino gang members attacked Ramos in Yazoo City Federal
Correctional Complex in Mississippi. Since then, officials have had
to put both men -- Compean is in a different prison -- in solitary
confinement for their protection.

If Ramos and Compean were crooked agents, they would deserve hard
time. But at worst, they fired their guns in the heat of pursuit,
when they should not have.

If Bush wants to show Americans that he stands for true justice --
and not justice for his inner circle only -- he should set Ramos and
Compean free.