The Border Patrol Commutations

As a former federal law enforcement officer having written before on the case of Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, I am gratified and relieved that President Bush has granted commutations to the ex-Border Patrol agents involved in the shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, a drug smuggler who was fleeing back to Mexico when wounded.

It is true that there were troubling aspects to the agents' actions. Federal agents are not supposed to shoot at fleeing felons unless there is a danger to the agent(s) or bystanders posed by the felon. The agents maintained that they had seen what they thought was a weapon in Davila's hand. Normally, that explanation should be given credence in the minds of the jurors as opposed to the words of the drug smuggler. Yet, they apparently chose to believe the words and testimony of Davila (who was given immunity by the government to testify). It is likely that the actions of the agents in cleaning up the scene of spent cartridges and their post-incident reports damaged their own credibility. I don't know.

I do think, however, that the 11-12 year sentences handed down were excessive. They also sent a message to the Border Patrol that they had less than 100% support for their mission from a Bush Administration that showed little interest in thwarting illegal immigration.

It appears that Bush pardons will be few. That is the way it should be. In general, I am an opponent of pardons unless they are based on a belief by the President that a miscarriage of justice was done or the sentences were excessive. What has soured me on the pardon process is the corruption of said process by Bill Clinton and the former Governor of Tennessee, Ray Blanton, who went to prison for selling pardons. It has also been reported that no pardon has been granted to former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The charges leveled are much too serious, and, without pre-judging his case, there is no indication at this point that a miscarriage of justice is in progress.

I will be happy if no further pardons or commutations are handed out by President Bush in the next 24 hours. I do believe, however, that these commutations were the right thing to do.