Bush eyes pardon for Border Patrolmen (Duncan Hunter Alert)

AP ^ | 1/18/2007

[Ladycalif]

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., introduced a bill Thursday calling for a congressional pardon of the agents. Congress has never issued pardons to anyone convicted of a crime, said Joe Kasper, Hunter's spokesman. But Kasper said Hunter believes there's enough ambiguity in the law on pardons to give it a try.

[Ladycalif]

ping

[xcamel]

Full pardon and the record should be expunged, along with a prosecution and disbarment of the federal DA that wasted the taxpayers money on an extremely expensive discovery and trial, knowingly stacking the deck against the agents, knowing granting immunity to a foreign drug dealers.

[Ladycalif]

or Immediate Release

January 18, 2007 CONTACT: Joe Kasper (202) 225-5672

Hunter Introduces Legislation to Pardon Convicted Border Patrol Agents

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced the Congressional Pardon for Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean Act. The legislation pardons convicted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who reported to prison yesterday to begin serving 11 and 12 year sentences respectively. The conviction derived from an incident involving their efforts to apprehend a drug smuggler on the international border with Mexico.

"The Border Patrol is America’s first line of defense against the constant and unrelenting efforts of drug and human smugglers to illegally enter the United States," said Congressman Hunter. "Agents Compean and Ramos fulfilled their responsibilities as Border Patrol agents and rightfully pursued a suspected and fleeing drug smuggler. It is irresponsible to punish them with jail time.

"The security situation on our Southern land border requires a strong law enforcement presence. This conviction demoralizes our nation’s Border Patrol and sends a clear message that we are not serious about protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws.

"We cannot turn our back on Agents Compean and Ramos or the rest of the men and women proudly serving in the U.S. Border Patrol. These two agents deserve our full support and the Congressional pardon provided by this legislation."

In addition to introducing the Congressional Pardon for Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean Act, Congressman Hunter contacted the Federal Bureau of Prisons and personally requested that Agents Compean and Ramos be segregated from the general prison population in order to ensure their safety.

[gridlock]

A pardon is warranted in this case.

[xcamel]

I listened to his interview on Savage.

[azhenfud]

..and the immunity given the undocumented pharmaceuticals distributor needs rescinding.

[MovementConservative]

Congressman Hunter contacted the Federal Bureau of Prisons and personally requested that Agents Compean and Ramos be segregated from the general prison population in order to ensure their safety.

Do they even want to be segregated? These are border patrol agents, not cops. It's unlikely they would be treated like rapists or child molesters in the general population. Being cut off from human interaction by segregating them sounds like punishment.

[SoCalPol]

Most don't understand the Border Patrol is in the same situation as our Military in war. They have to fight the enemy in a PC way which means it is difficult for us to win thanks to the liberals and news media

[Obie Wan]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder if the "compassionate conservative" will actually pardon these men? P.S., don't just pardon them George, give em both back their jobs and give em raises for doing something a lot of government employee's never do, THEIR JOBS !!!

[Jorge]

Do they even want to be segregated? These are border patrol agents, not cops. It's unlikely they would be treated like rapists or child molesters in the general population.

Do you know how much of the prison population consists of illegal immigrants?

[Ladycalif]

If it were a war zone, we could shoot back!

It is a surrender zone!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Cheap grandstanding from Hunter. Bush already said he's going to look at the facts and then make a decision.

[libbylu]

May be, but I am glad Duncan did it all the same.

[SoCalPol]

Hunter has been speaking about this for days and longer.
Not a new subject for Hunter

[Congressman Billybob]

Actually, a very important but very obscure case stands for the proposition that Congress has no power to offer a pardon of anyone for anything. That case was Caton v. Commonwealth.

A Virginia resident, convicted of trading with the enemy (the British, in the Revolution). He sought a pardon. Since the Governor would not cooperate, he sought action from the legislature. One house went along, the other did not. The matter went to court.

The judge who wrote the opinion declaring that a legislature cannot grant a pardon, was George Wythe. And who was Wythe? None other than the first Professor of Law in the US. At William & Mary, he taught Jefferson, Madison, Mason, Henry, and others of the pantheon of Founders.

No, Congress cannot pardon anyone.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Nancy's Culture of Corruption, Part II"

[K-oneTexas]

Sure is for the Border Patrol agents who were doing their job. If they violated internal policy it is not a 12 year jail time offense. 

 

Just look at the President Bush's history on pardons, 2001 - 2006, already granted and the offenses:

List of people pardoned by George W. Bush

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a partial list of people pardoned by George W. Bush. As of December 21, 2006, President George W. Bush had issued 113 presidential pardon to people who have served their entire sentence, and has commuted in addition the sentences of three people. [1]

This list is a subset of . list of people pardoned by a United States president. The order is alphabetical, the year is the date of conviction.

• Alan Dale Austin (1987 misapplication of mortgage funds)
• Bruce Louis Bartos (1987 transportation of a machine gun in foreign commerce)
• David Thomas Billmyer (1978 military conviction for making a false claim)
• Carl E. Cantrell (1967 moonshining)
• Charles Winston Carter (1964 conspiracy to steal government property)
• Meredith Elizabeth Casares (1989 embezzlement of US Postal Service funds)
• Randall Leece Deal Clayton (1960 and 1964 liquor laws)
• Charles Russell Cooper (1959 bootlegging)
• William Charles Davis (1983 income tax evasion)
• William Henry Eagle (1972 moonshining)
• Robert Carter Eversole (1984 theft)
• Gerald Douglas Ficke (1992 money laundering)
• Harper James Finucan (1980 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)
• Anthony Americo Franchi (1983 tax evasion)
• Kenneth Clifford Foner (1991 bank fraud)
• Victoria Diane Frost (1994 conspiracy to possess and
• William Grover Frye (1968 AWOL and 1973 sale of stolen car)
• Joseph Daniel Gavin (1979 military insubordination, drunkenness, threats, and other offenses)
• George Glenn (1956 accepting $50 bribe while in military)
• Samuel Wattie Guerry (1984 food stamp fraud)
• Charles E. Hamilton (1989 mail fraud)
• Stanley Bernard Hamilton 1990 (money order fraud)
• Brianna Lea Haney (1991 failure to report monetary instruments)
• David Custer Heaston (1988 false statement)
• Melodie Jean Hebert (1984 defrauding U.S. with false claims)
• Bobby Frank Kay Sr. (1959 moonshining)
• James Ernest Kinard, Jr. (1984 fraudulent firearms dealer records)
• Richard Ardell Krueger (1979 mail fraud and 1980 and false statement on a loan application)
• Devin Timothy Kruse (1979 AWOL from Coast Guard)
• Margaret Ann Leggett (1981 false claims)
• Raul Marin (1982 failure to appear in court)
• Melvin L. McKee (1982 conspiracy to make false statements on a loan application)
• Charles McKinley, (1950 moonshining)
• Michael Mark McLaughlin (1983 mail fraud and conspiracy)
• Michael Robert Moelter (1988 illegal gambling business)
• Billie Curtis Moore (1977 income tax evasion)
• Richard Arthur Morse (1963 transportation of a stolen vehicle)
• Kenneth Lynn Norris (1993 unlawful disposal of hazardous waste)
• Joseph Mathew Novak (1994 possession and transfer of an illegal weapon)
• Donald Lee Pendergrass (1964 armed bank robbery)
• Fred Dale Pitzer (1976 transportation of falsely made securities)
• Charles Blurford Power (1948 transportation of a stolen vehicle)
• Gerard Murphy Rayne (1972 car theft)
• James Edward Reed (1975 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)
• Cecil John Rhodes (1981 false statement on a loan application)
• John Louis Ribando (1976 and 1978 marijuana dealing)
• Ernest Rudnet (1992 conspiracy to file false tax returns)
• Gary L. Saltzburg (1995 theft of government property)
• John Gregory Schillace (1988 conspiracy to possess cocaine for distribution)
• Russell Don Sell (1995 aiding and abetting a false statement on a loan application)
• James Leon Adams Simpsonville (1965 selling firearms to out of state residents and falsifying firearms records)
• Scott LaVerne Sparks (1989 theft of government property)
• Wendy St. Charles (1984 conspiracy to trade narcotics and cocaine distribution)
• David Lloyd St. Croix (1989 disposal of stolen explosives)
• Johnson Heyward Tisdale (1994 food stamp fraud)
• Edward Rodriguez Trevino, Jr. (1997 theft, convicted in military court)
• Jerry Dean Walker (1989 cocaine distribution)
• Joseph William Warner (1995 arson on an Indian reservation)
• Jimmy Lee Williams (1995 false statements on a loan application)
• Tony Dale Ashworth Winnsboro (1989 unlawful transfer of a firearm)

Two commutations of sentence were granted on May 20, 2004. They were granted to:

• Geraldine Gordon (1989 distribution of phencyclidine) (sentenced to 20 years plus 10 years supervised release; sentence commuted after 15 years, term of supervised release left intact)
• Bobby Mac Berry (1997 conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, money laundering) (sentenced to 9 years imprisonment plus 5 years supervised release; sentence reduced to 6 and a half years, terms of supervised release left intact)

A commutation of sentence was granted on December 21, 2006 to an Iowa man convicted of a drug crime.

 

And here is an over view from The Jurist 'Presidential Pardons'.

Presidential Clemency Actions, 1789-2001

"Clemency actions" include pardons, conditional pardons, commutations of sentence, remissions, etc. For details of particular pardons, see Notable Pardons; for more information on pardons law and process, see JURIST's Presidential Pardons home page.

BY DATE
George Washington	16
John Adams	21
Thomas Jefferson	119
James Madison	196
James Monroe	419
John Quincy Adams	183
Andrew Jackson	386
Martin Van Buren	168
William H. Harrison	0
John Tyler	209
James K. Polk	268
Zachary Taylor	38
Millard Fillmore	170
Franklin Pierce	142
James Buchanan	150
Abraham Lincoln	343
Andrew Johnson	654
Ulysses S. Grant	1332
Rutherford B. Hayes	893
James Garfield	0
Chester Arthur	337
Grover Cleveland *	1107
Benjamin Harrison	613
William McKinley *	918
Theodore Roosevelt *	981
William H. Taft	758
Woodrow Wilson	2480
Warren G. Harding	800
Calvin Coolidge	1545
Herbert Hoover	1385
Franklin D. Roosevelt	3687
Harry S. Truman	2044
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1157
John F. Kennedy	575
Lyndon B. Johnson	1187
Richard Nixon	926
Gerald Ford	409
Jimmy Carter	566
Ronald Reagan	406
George Bush	77
Bill Clinton	456

BY NUMBER
Franklin D. Roosevelt	3687
Woodrow Wilson	2480
Harry S. Truman	2044
Calvin Coolidge	1545
Herbert Hoover	1385
Ulysses S. Grant	1332
Lyndon B. Johnson	1187
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1157
Grover Cleveland *	1107
Theodore Roosevelt *	981
Richard Nixon	926
William McKinley *	918
Rutherford B. Hayes	893
Warren G. Harding	800
William H. Taft	758
Andrew Johnson	654
Benjamin Harrison	613
John F. Kennedy	575
Jimmy Carter	566
Bill Clinton	456
James Monroe	419
Gerald Ford	409
Ronald Reagan	406
Andrew Jackson	386
Abraham Lincoln	343
Chester Arthur	337
James K. Polk	268
John Tyler	209
James Madison	196
John Quincy Adams	183
Millard Fillmore	170
Martin Van Buren	168
James Buchanan	150
Franklin Pierce	142
Thomas Jefferson	119
George Bush	77
Zachary Taylor	38
John Adams	21
George Washington	16
James Garfield	0
William H Harrison	0

^* estimates

---

SOURCES: P.S. Ruckman Jr., Federal Executive Clemency in the United States, 1995; Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2001

[albie]

"Do they even want to be segregated? These are border patrol agents, not cops. It's unlikely they would be treated like rapists or child molesters in the general population. Being cut off from human interaction by segregating them sounds like punishment"

...a lot of the criminals behind bars are Mexican and would want nothing more than a chance to stick a shiv in either of them! As it is they're not law-abiding citizens, I doubt they view their own trying to get into the US as illegal. The Border Agents are El Policia. Not good.

[MovementConservative]

I don't know. I am no expert on prison population behavior, having never been a resident of any such place. I do know lot of the people in prison are in for drug offenses and murder. Most are just doing time and not really interested in bringing more trouble to themselves. I think the public has this image of prison as a place where anarchy is the rule and only the physically strong survive. I'm not sure I believe that to be the case.

In the case of the Mexican inmates, my guess is most of them would just see the border agents as doing their jobs. Now if the agents came in and had an attitude, then they may find trouble.

[Hildy]

I don't know...I saw the prosecutor on O'Reilly tonight and he was pretty convincing as to the guilt of these officers. They shot the unarmed guy in the back and then covered up the evidence. Tell me I'm wrong and why.