THE FINAL BUSH PARDONS

On his way out of office, President Bush used his power of the pardon
to commute the sentences of former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio
Ramos and Jose Compean, who had been sentenced to 11 years and 12
years respectively for shooting and wounding a fleeing drug smuggler
in 2005 and then covering up the incident. It was the right move.

Ramos and Compean supporters no doubt would have preferred it if Bush
had pardoned the agents - which would have cleared their criminal
records. In that Bush had stood by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's
prosecution of the agents, as well as the jury verdicts, this is the
best outcome that was to be had.

When Bush commuted the 30-month sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby,
the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, he did not fully
pardon Libby. He let a $250,000 fine and two years of probation
stand, although he did override the prison sentence, because it was
"excessive."

No better word could describe the Ramos and Compean sentences.

Ramos and Compean say they thought Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was armed
as he evaded arrest, but because he got away, there is no way to know
if he was carrying a gun or just a shiny object. Sutton argued, and a
jury concurred, that the agents realized they were shooting at an
unarmed man. If Sutton is correct, their crime largely occurred in
the heat of the chase - and never warranted sentences exceeding the
usual plea bargain punishments awarded to crooked Border Patrol agents.

The reason for the long sentences - dumb laws. The federal mandatory
minimum system, enacted by Congress in 1986, tacks 10 years onto a
federal crime committed with a firearm. As Sen. Jeff Sessions,
R-Ala., noted last year, the federal firearms sentence enhancement
was "designed to deal with criminals who carry firearms in the
commission of felonies and crimes of violence," but was applied to
law-enforcement officers who "came to work with no criminal intent,
no mind set to commit any crime."

Such is the problem with federal mandatory minium sentences - they
don't recognize common sense.

As of this writing, Bush confounded critics who had predicted that
the White House would hand out commutations to CIA interrogators,
former Bushies, the rich and famous and corrupt politicians who got
caught. Politico.com listed 10 "pardons to watch for" - including
Ramos and Compean, as well as a full pardon for Libby, former
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a former aide, and junk bond
king turned ex-con Michael Milken. It turns out, Bush freed the
agents, but did not issue a blanket amnesty for cronies, rich crooks
and crooked pols.

The downside: Bush was stingy with the gift of mercy. He withheld
from the worthy and unworthy alike. He issued a mere 189 pardons and
11 commutations. He failed the families of unknown convicts who, like
Ramos and Compean, were sentenced to draconian prison time, thanks to
federal mandatory minimum sentences.

Last month, I have just learned, Bush denied the commutation
application of Clarence Aaron, who was sentenced in 1993 to life
without parole for a first-time nonviolent drug offense. Reread that
- - life without parole for a first-time nonviolent offense.

Maybe Bush believed that he would look too soft on crime if he
commuted Aaron's sentence - if Bush were aware of the politically
unconnected Aaron at all.

But there is nothing tough about a system that rewards career
offenders who know how to game the system, while it puts small fish
like Aaron away for decades to life. The status quo is neither tough
nor smart - it's mean and stupid. And expensive.

If Bush had commuted Aaron's sentence, he could have shown his
critics that he sought justice in unseen corners. He could have lived
up to Alexander Hamilton's defense of the presidential pardon - "One
man appears to be a more eligible dispenser of the mercy of the
government than a body of men." Bush was that dispenser for Ramos and
Compean, but not Aaron.