Beautiful. Thank you, Mr. President.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush, in one of his last official acts in office, commuted the prison sentences of two U.S. Border Patrol agents who were imprisoned for shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler in the buttocks in a case that drew widespread attention.
The agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, were each sentenced to more than ten years. It was a bad prosecution, badly-handled and neither man should have spent as much time in jail as they hae already (about two years each).
This is not a full pardon, which would have erased the conviction from their records entirely, but a commutation, which ends their prison sentence and releases them to return to their families. Both will carry the stigma of a conviction, which will prevent them from ever becoming police officers again (Detroit and Washington, DC aside). Their lives will not be easy, but at least they get to go home to their wives and children. The President did the right thing today and I’m thankful.
Tags: Crime and Punishment, Immigration, Law Enforcement, President George Bush
