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."