The White House has issued a statement that President George W. Bush is commuting the sentences of the border guards, Ramos and Compean, who were found guilty of guarding the border. Read about it below.

Border Guards

Border Guards - Ramos and Compean

Finally, some form of justice for the border guards, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who have been in prison since January 2007 for guarding the border between the United States and Mexico. The White House has issued a statement explaining why President Bush has issued a commutation rather than a pardon.

Bush didn’t pardon the men for their crimes, but decided instead to commute their prison sentences because he believed they were excessive and that they had already suffered the loss of their jobs, freedom and reputations, a senior administration official said.

The action by the president, who believes the border agents received fair trials and that the verdicts were just, does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes, the official said.

So Bush chose not to over ride the verdicts of the jury that convicted the men, but to reduce their sentences to time served and a couple of months. They are to be released on March 20th, 2009. I don’t know why they won’t be released until then.

I DO hate to second guess juries, but it really appears to be a gross miscarriage of justice. Men who should be hailed as heroes are instead serving time for injuring a drug dealer who has illegally crossed the border numerous times, committed numerous crimes in both the United States and Mexico and fled from the agents when he was caught smuggling a van load of pot into the States.

Compean and Ramos, who have served about two years of their sentences, are expected to be released from prison within the next two months.

They were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande, away from an abandoned van load of marijuana. The border agents argued during their trials that they believed the smuggler was armed and that they shot him in self defense. The prosecutor in the case said there was no evidence linking the smuggler to the van of marijuana. The prosecutor also said the border agents didn’t report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.

The agents were fired after their convictions on several charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and with serious bodily injury, violation of civil rights and obstruction of justice. All their convictions, except obstruction of justice, were upheld on appeal.

With the new acts of clemency, Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons and 11 commutations.

I suppose this is progress … not perfection … but progress.