Bush’s pardons

Unless the Christmas spirit inspires him to change course, George W. Bush will end his presidency having issued only about half the number of presidential pardons bestowed by Bill Clinton. Bush may, as some critics charge, be too parsimonious in exercising this prerogative of presidents (and kings). But in one respect the Clinton precedent is an atrocious one. On his way out of the White House, Bush’s predecessor cleansed the criminal records of a motley collection of friends, cronies and political supporters.

Now it’s Bush who must use his pardon power or lose it. Last week, the president issued 14 pardons to mostly obscure federal offenders and shortened the sentences of two others. Bush now has issued 171 pardons, compared with Clinton’s 396. The White House won’t identify which of the pardons, if any, were recommended by the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which has exacting requirements for clemency applications. But most of them -- including one for a Missouri farmer who unintentionally poisoned three bald eagles -- seem reasonable.

Still, Bush’s second term isn’t over, and an array of prominent -- or notorious -- offenders are hoping that the president will rise above principle and spare them prison time or wipe their criminal records clean. Some are former government officials, such as Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors, and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, whose sentence for perjury was commuted by Bush last year. Others, such as junk-bond king Michael Milken and former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, were convicted of white-collar crimes.

Then there are offenders whose cause is being championed for political or ideological reasons. Politicians in Israel perennially have sought clemency for Jonathan Jay Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst sentenced to life in prison for spying for that country. Television commentator Lou Dobbs has made household names of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, former U.S. Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a fleeing drug smuggler and trying to conceal their actions. There also is speculation that Bush might issue a blanket pardon for CIA agents who could face criminal charges for engaging in or approving the torture of suspected terrorists.

The Constitution gives the president absolute discretion in granting clemency, but misuse of the power can taint his or her legacy. Ask Clinton. The former president will never live down his indefensible, last-minute pardon of fugitive financier whose former wife contributed generously to Clinton’s presidential library.

The pardon power is designed to redress injustices the judicial system is unable to remedy or, as with Jimmy Carter’s pardon of Vietnam-era draft resisters, to restore domestic tranquillity. If Bush wants to spare himself the obloquy rightly visited on Clinton, he will say no to any pardon based on partisanship (Libby, Cunningham, ex-Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens), powerful connections (Milken, Pollard), populist propaganda (the two border guards) or celebrity (Martha Stewart, track star Marion Jones). The pardon power also shouldn’t be used to indemnify lawbreaking in the cause of the president’s policies. That rules out a group pardon for CIA interrogators, who already enjoy significant protection from prosecution under an act of Congress. :MilitaryCommissionsAct

We don’t suggest that Bush should spurn every high-profile request for clemency. As we have argued before, John Walker Lindh should be given a commutation of his 20-year sentence for aiding the Taliban, a dramatically disproportionate penalty for a young man who never took up arms against the United States and was wrongly described by his government as an Al Qaeda-trained terrorist.

There may be other cases equally deserving of Bush’s compassion, though the pardon power always will fall short of rectifying inequities in the law that must be addressed by Congress. What matters is that Bush reject the Clinton precedent and say no to claimants who seek mercy on the basis of whom they know -- or worked for.