Thread: Senate hearing on Ramos/Compean announced

I EMAILED FEINSTEIN ABOUT RAMOS AND CAMPEON LAST MONTH.

SHE REPLIED THAT I WOULD HAVE TO GO TO HER WEB SITE AND SEND COMMENTS FROM THERE.....JUST SO YOU KNOW.

AT THE SENATE WEB SITE...CLICK ON FEINSTEIN AND GO FROM THERE. I WASTED SEVERAL EMAILS BEFORE SHE REPLIED WITH THIS INFO ABOUT COMMENTS.

AND CERTAINLY I WILL BE SENDING HER MANY NOW THAT THERE IS A HEARING SCHEDULED. THAT IS GOOD NEWS.

BUT YOU ARE RIGHT THAT IT IS WORRISOME THAT FEINSTEIN WILL PRESIDE. BUT HEY....AT LEAST THERE IS A HEARING.

the Judiciary Committee consists of these people



Patrick J. Leahy CHAIRMAN, D-VERMONT
Edward M. Kennedy D-MASSACHUSETTS
Arlen Specter RANKING MEMBER, R-PENNSYLVANIA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. D-DELAWARE
Orrin G. Hatch R-UTAH
Herb Kohl D-WISCONSIN
Charles E. Grassley R-IOWA
Dianne Feinstein D-CALIFORNIA
Jon Kyl R-ARIZONA
Russell D. Feingold D-WISCONSIN
Jeff Sessions R-ALABAMA
Charles E. Schumer D-NEW YORK
Lindsey Graham R-SOUTH CAROLINA
Richard J. Durbin D-ILLINOIS
John Cornyn R-TEXAS
Benjamin L. Cardin D-MARYLAND
Sam Brownback R-KANSAS
Sheldon Whitehouse D-RHODE ISLAND
Tom Coburn R-OKLAHOMA

I count only 4 whose opinions in this matter I would trust and respect:

Sesions
Grassley
Coburn
Cornyn

There's a lot more (15) who I don't trust in this and most other matters.

Well, since the Dems control the Senate, they control the Senate Committees

Steve,

This was the exact second thought that popped into my head as I read the press release. With regards to any statement Fienstien makes, I am well versed in the fair tale with the little wooden boy.

There will be a segment on Lou Dobbs Tonight on Wednesday, July 11:

The Senate Judiciary committee has finally scheduled a hearing
for next week to examine the case of imprisoned border patrol
agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. We'll be joined by one
of the congressmen leading the fight to free the men, Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher.

Moving this to the news section.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 7:33 p.m. EDT
Senate to Probe Border Agents Case


The Senate will hold a hearing next week investigating the controversial case of two U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to more than a decade each in prison for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security will hold a hearing next Tuesday looking into the circumstances surrounding the prosecution and sentencing of former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

"The purpose of the hearing is to examine the facts of the Ramos and Compean cases: the appropriateness of the charges brought against them and the very heavy sentences they received," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the subcommittee.

The witness list is expected to include U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who prosecuted the two former agents, the defense attorneys and T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council - the border agents union - according to T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the border agents union.

"This will clearly raise awareness inside the Beltway," Bonner told Cybercast News Service. "There is a lot of concern in communities across the country I hope this will prod Congress to probe deeper as to why these two agents were prosecuted. The ramifications go far beyond these two Border Patrol agents.

"The entire law enforcement community sees the facts of this case and believes 'I would have done the same thing.' This could give other agents cause to hesitate when defending themselves," he added.

"These men were given sentences that some individuals who are convicted of murder wouldn't receive," Feinstein said in her letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) last February while asking for a hearing.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, the episode began in early 2005, when Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila drove across the Mexican border into Fabens, Texas, in a van later found to be carrying 743 pounds of marijuana.

Ramos and Compean shot at him a total of 15 times. Aldrete-Davila was hit just once, in the buttocks, before escaping on foot back into Mexico.

Federal prosecutors sought Aldrete-Davila out not to charge him for smuggling, but to offer him an immunity deal to return to the United States as the star witness in the case against the two border agents.

The case sparked a national outrage, with Republicans demanding President Bush pardon the two agents.

Sutton has argued that Aldrete-Davila was unarmed and that the two agents did not know he was a drug smuggler at the time they shot him. He said the case was a matter of upholding the rule of law.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007 ... 3447.shtml

Border agents' penalties probed


July 12, 2007


By Jerry Seper - A Senate committee will hold a long-promised hearing Tuesday into the prosecution of two U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to lengthy prison terms for shooting a suspected drug smuggler in the buttocks as he fled back into Mexico.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who raised questions about the prosecutions in February, will preside over the Judiciary Committee hearing. She is chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security.

"Border Patrol agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders," she said in letters to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "I believe that aggressive prosecution of Border Patrol agents has a chilling effect on their ability to carry out their duties and on the morale of all agents.

"I am extremely concerned about how this case continues to unfold," she said.

Ignacio Ramos, 37, and Jose Alonso Compean, 28, were sentenced in October to 11- and 12-year prison terms, respectively, for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, as he fled into Mexico after abandoning 743 pounds of marijuana near Fabens, Texas.

Mr. Aldrete-Davila was located in Mexico by Homeland Security officials and returned to the United States under a grant of immunity to testify against the agents. The agents said they fired at the man after he pointed what they thought was a gun at them.

Mrs. Feinstein has called the sentences "extreme," noting the "criminal background of Mr. Aldrete-Davila ... and given the fact Mr. Aldrete-Davila had physically resisted at least one attempt by agents Ramos and Compean to bring him into custody."

She said neither of the agents had prior convictions or other aggravating circumstances to warrant particularly harsh treatment under the law.

"Yet, these men were given sentences that some individuals who are convicted of murder wouldn"t receive," she said.

Although a witness list for the hearing has not been finalized, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted the agents, and T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents the agency's 11,000 non-supervisory agents, said they have been invited and would attend.

"I'm happy to cooperate with Congress in any way that I can," Mr. Sutton said. "All we can do is put the facts out and hope that reasonable people will hear them."

Mrs. Feinstein, as she did in her letters, is expected to ask why the agents faced charges calling for mandatory 10-year sentences; why prosecutors originally indicted them on three criminal charges but expanded the indictment on three occasions, adding new charges each time; and who in Washington approved each set of charges filed.

She also wants to know whether anyone in Washington reviewed or approved the immunity deal for Mr. Aldrete-Davila.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and a Judiciary Committee member, said this week that he thinks the Justice Department "believes all the facts have not come out on this prosecution and would welcome the opportunity to explain its decisions."

In January, Mr. Cornyn called for an investigation into the granting of immunity to a "drug dealer in exchange for his testimony against the agents." He repeated that request in a letter this week to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, who turned over the hearing gavel to Mrs. Feinstein.

"I recognize the strong public interest in a case where the American public sees two Border Patrol agents serving long prison sentences while an admitted drug dealer remains free," Mr. Cornyn said.

The sentences also have been criticized by House members, 100 of whom co-sponsor a bill by Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, calling for a congressional pardon. Republican Reps. Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Ted Poe of Texas, Dana Rohrabacher of California, Tom Tancredo of Colorado, and Joe Wilson of South Carolina have asked President Bush to pardon the agents.

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 20066/1002

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... =0&thold=0

Sutton has argued that Aldrete-Davila was unarmed and that the two agents did not know he was a drug smuggler at the time they shot him. He said the case was a matter of upholding the rule of law.

Why the hell don't they practice what they preach? They can start by upholding the RULE OF LAW by enforcing the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RULE OF LAW!!!!!