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Jan. 4, 2009

COMMENTARY: President Bush: Pardon Compean and Ramos Before You Head Back to Texas

By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor

It's "Pardon Me" time in Washington, DC, but two men who really deserve pardons are still waiting on President George W. Bush.

I'm talking about Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, two former U.S. Border Patrol Agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler who was trying to escape. Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was shot in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned van loaded with 750 pounds of marijuana. Compean and Ramos believed Davila was armed -- a likely supposition given the all-out drug war being fought in much of Mexico and spilling over into the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Google "Compean and Ramos" and you'll find thousands of pleas to pardon the two agents, who are serving more than 10 years each after being convicted two years ago in federal court in Texas of assault, civil rights violations and other charges. Davila later pleaded guilty to smuggling after another incident and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Prominent among those who early on took up the case of Compean and Ramos is conservative talk show host Lou Dobbs, a man I admire for many of his stands on illegal immigration and globalization. I take a lot of flak from my liberal friends about my admiration of many of Dobbs' positions, but as a libertarian who also admires former GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX, frankly I don't give a damn! I voted for Ron Paul when he ran as a Libertarian Party presidential candidate in 1988 and hoped he would head the GOP ticket in 2008.

Adding his voice to the plea to pardon Compean and Ramos is Rep. Charlie Dent, R-PA. On Dec. 29, 2008, Dent asked Bush, who has pardoned real criminals (see link to partial list below), to review their cases and ''seriously consider'' a pardon.

''These agents were acting in fulfillment of their duty and responsibility to protect our borders and enforce the law and they have been unjustly punished for their actions.''This case has not only undermined the trust and confidence of our Border Patrol, but it has also raised questions about the discretion and decisions of federal prosecutors.''

I found out about the Dent plea from a blogspot devoted to the two Mexican-American former border agents:
http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com.
The accompanying photograph -- shot near Independence Hall in Philadelphia -- was on the blogspot.

Edward I. Nelson showed how the move to pardon Compean and Ramos has garnered bipartisan support with this posting on the site:

"As they leave office, it's a long-standing tradition for presidents to offer clemency. Lawmakers from both parties have formally pressed President Bush to commute the sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, serving 11 and 12 year sentences for shooting a drug smuggler in the backside as he fled the scene.

"'It's frustrating. Scooter Libby was pardoned before he even goes to jail,' said Rep. Ted Poe, R-TX, a former judge. 'These two guys are political prisoners.'"

"Rep. William Delahunt, a Massachusetts liberal, is leading the bipartisan push for clemency with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California conservative.

"If Bush fails to act ... advocates may have an ace in the hole. President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., co-sponsored a resolution calling for clemency for the two former agents [in December 2007]."

"Rep. John Culberson, R-TX, 'I can't think of a better way for Bush to restore political capital, with one stroke.'"

"T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council – the agents union – called it past time for the president to redress the 'terrible injustice.' 'The effect on morale has already been devastating. You have agents out there wondering what the rules of the game are,' he said."

I couldn't agree more!

For a list of people pardoned by George W. Bush, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pe ... ge_W._Bush.

As of December 29, 2008, Bush has issued 190 presidential pardons to people who have served their entire sentence, and has commuted the sentences of nine people. If he doesn't want to pardon Compean and Ramos, at least Bush should commute the sentences of his fellow Texans.

The blogspot cited about suggests the following: "You can help build pressure for pardoning the two by sending an email alert demanding a pardon. Visit www.usbc.org and go to the Legislation Action Center or send an email directly to the President at president@whitehouse.gov."

The clock is ticking; it's time for President Bush to do the right thing and pardon or commute the sentences of Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos.

Editor's Note: Here's an enumeration of Presidential pardons from LBJ to George W. Bush.

Lyndon B. Johnson: 960 pardons, 226 commutations in 62 months
Richard Nixon: 863 pardons, 60 commutations in 67 months
Gerald Ford: 382 pardons, 22 commutations in 29 months
Jimmy Carter: 534 pardons, 29 commutations in 48 months
Ronald Reagan: 393 pardons, 13 commutations in 96 months
George H.W. Bush: 74 pardons, 3 commutations in 48 months
Bill Clinton: 396 pardons, 61 commutations in 96 months
George W. Bush: 190 pardons, nine commutations in 95 months (as of Dec. 29)

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney