Making the punishment fit the crime
President George W. Bush’s decision to commute the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol agents, convicted in the shooting of a suspected Mexican drug smuggler in 2005, seems a just use of presidential pardoning power. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted on a number of charges related to the shooting of the suspect who was trying to escape from Texas across the Rio Grande. Trial testimony showed Ramos and Compean tried to cover up the shooting and tampered with evidence. They have served about two years in prison. They became poster material in the national immigration debate. Conservative talk show hosts denounced as unduly harsh the sentences the agents received for conduct while attempting to protect the country’s southern border. Bush administration officials believed the convictions just, which is why the president commuted the sentences instead of issuing outright pardons. Certainly, Ramos and Compean made mistakes and deserved to be punished. President Bush’s action properly limits their punishment without signaling that the agents’ misdeeds are in any way condoned.
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