Posted on 01/19/2009 9:58:40 AM PST by E.G.C.
Edited on 01/19/2009 10:46:59 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON – In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.
Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long argued that the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals. They also maintained that the more than 10-year prison sentences the pair was given were too harsh.
Rancor over their convictions, sentencing and firings has simmered ever since the shooting occurred in 2005.
Ramos and Compean became a rallying point among conservatives and on talk shows where their supporters called them heroes. Nearly the entire bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas and other lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle pleaded with Bush to grant them clemency.
Bush didn't pardon the men for their crimes, but decided instead to commute their prison sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations, a senior administration official said.
The action by the president, who believes the border agents received fair trials and that the verdicts were just, does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes, the official said...................."
Their prison sentences will now expire on March 20 of this year.
Still two months away from freedom.
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YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t believe it! I didn’t think he’d do it.
This is the ONLY thing that really kept me from thinking he was the best.
Thank God. And thank you President Bush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all who called and wrote and worked in many ways to gain freedom for Ramos and Compean. A personal thanks to calcowgirl.
And thanks to all who risk their lives so that we may be safe.
Bush is a disgrace.
I agree. He really lost it in the last few years...
And commuting instead of pardoning shows his self defeating stubborn streak. The border agents are heroes.
Thank you for all the work you’ve done.
God bless.
PTL and pass the ammunition!
Right, a pardon is what Clinton and Obama's pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, gave to members of the communist-revolutionary terrorist groups FALN and Weather Underground when Bubba left office.
Eric Holder, Clinton, Wright's BL('Black Liberation') "church" and the pardons of the PR Marxist terror group FALN: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165024/posts (Eric) Holder's role in the pardons of BLA(Black Liberation Army) comrades/Weather Underground members, (Susan)Rosenberg and (Linda)Evans: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165052/posts
People behind the scenes like YOU deserve all our gratitude.
Thank goodness....
It’s late...and it should have been a pardon IMHO...but it is good he did this on his last day. Thank God those men can now go home to their families. We needed this message sent to the illegals, the drug lords, the dems and other open border people, the Mexican government, and the likes of Sutton long ago...but it is better late than never.
Thanks for the ping.
See my post 71.
...pardon is what Clinton and Obama’s pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, gave to members of the communist-revolutionary terrorist groups ...
Disgusting isn’t it...The political pimps and their media whores continue to betray this nation.
NOW I CAN CHANGE MY TAG LINE PING!!!!!
Bush should have have stood by these 2 good men in the first place. They were just doing their job.
He never should have let Scooter Libby go to jail either.
I will give him credit for keeping us safe from terrorism though.
Late, but awesome he did this...
I AM SO HAPPY, I AM IN TEARS
ping
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