If You Can’t Do The Time, Do The Crime

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

– George Orwell, Animal Farm

Today the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia rejected Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s request to delay his prison sentence until his appeals were heard. With that, Libby was set to begin serving his 30 month prison sentence. However, within hours the President of the United States commuted Libby’s sentence so that he would have to serve no jail time. George W Bush proclaimed:

WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment, 2 years’ supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $400 was imposed on June 22, 2007;

        NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, pursuant to my powers under Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, do hereby commute the prison terms imposed by the sentence upon the said Lewis Libby to expire immediately, leaving intact and in effect the two-year term of supervised release, with all its conditions, and all other components of the sentence.

        IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

In a statement released by the White House Mr. Bush said: "I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive." This coming from a man who oversaw more executions than any other governor in Texas history; this coming from a man who rejected without much thought clemency requests from death row inmates including one who was mentally retarded. Mr. Bush has an unusual understanding of the word "excessive".

Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the Libby case, released the following statement after Mr. Bush commuted Libby’s "excessive" sentence:

We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.

We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as ‘excessive.’ The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.

Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process. [Emphasis added by me.]

By acting today Mr. Bush has given further credence to the perception that he believes his administration is above the law – that his administration is accountable to none. Misdeeds and criminal activity for which regular citizens pay with jail time do not apply to those who carry water for this administration. Today, as Mr. Fitzgerald might put it, Mr. Bush threw sand into the umpire’s eyes. Today Mr. Bush made lying acceptable.

Throughout his presidency Mr. Bush has pushed the boundaries of his constitutional authority and of the law. Ironically, today, in exercising an authority explicitly given to him by the Constitution, he may have reached the low point of his presidency.