Playing politics with the Libby case

Alan Dershowitz:

The outcry against President Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's sentence is misplaced. President Bush acted hours after the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Libby bail pending appeal. That judicial decision was entirely political. The appellate judges had to see that Libby's arguments on appeal were sound and strong -- that under existing law he was entitled to bail pending appeal. (That is why I joined several other law professors in filing an amicus brief on this limited issue.) After all, if he were to be sent to jail for a year and then if his conviction were to be reversed on appeal, he could not get the year back. But if he remained out on bail and then lost the appeal, the government would get its year. In non-political cases, bail should have and probably would have been granted on issues of the kind raised by Libby.

...

This was entirely a political case from beginning to end. Libby's actions were political. The decision to appoint a special prosecutor was political. The trial judges' rulings were political. The appellate court judges' decision to deny bail was political. And the president's decision to commute the sentence was political. But only the president acted within his authority by acting politically in commuting the politically motivated sentence.
Libby has been a victim of the Democrats' drive to criminalize political differences. What is interesting about the reaction to the President's decision to commute the prison sentence is not the political reaction of the Democrats who are merely doing their partisan shtick. It is the reaction of the Libby defense team.

Instead of grousing about not getting a full pardon it appears that they are pleased that they will have the ability to clear his name through the appeal process. Nat has been little noted but by leaving them this opportunity the President has helped them more than he would have with a full pardon and it will also give Libby the chance to prove the Democrats were wrong again.

Hugh Hewitt agrees on Libby's prospects for a successful appeal.

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