Well, it's no longer hypothetical: Bush's commuta...

Well, it’s no longer hypothetical: Bush’s commutation of Libby is being used by a public defender to support his petition requesting that the Supreme Court reconsider their Booker and Rita decisions, two cases dealing with federal sentencing guidelines – the latter of which is eerily similar to Libby’s, although Rita is actually serving his term. I expect that this request will be denied, without explanation.

Submitted by crazymonk on Mon, 07/16/2007 - 5:00am.

Comments (3)

As well it should be denied. Even if we assume, incorrectly, that Bush's comments on his personal opinion about the sentencing guidelines are genuine and applicable beyond just the Scooter Libby case, his beliefs bear no weight at all on how the Supreme Court should view sentences that have already been handed down.

Bush could make changes in other ways, most easily through the justice department, but his comments to the media about sentencing guidelines should (and will) be ignored.

Ingen Angiven | Mon, 07/16/2007 - 8:04pm

Maybe, but it's not based on only comments to the media:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Libby#Presidential_commutation_of_pri...

crazymonk | Mon, 07/16/2007 - 9:06pm

One of the attorneys in my office made an oral Libby motion at a sentencing hearing last Monday. Unfortunately, we got the one judge in America who was not aware of the Libby commutation (Supposedly, he was in Kurdistan the week of the commutation and did not have access to American news. Riiight.), and his response was essentially "well, the President can do whatever he wants."

Anyway, I think one can view these developments as a form of civil disobedience by folks in federal criminal defense. Certainly, I don't think Bush's statements have any legal import, but his words do provide defenders a unique tool for protesting the ridiculous Sentencing Guidelines.

Alina | Wed, 07/18/2007 - 11:04am