Feinstein to Bush: Free Ramos, Compean

This falls into the category of a “man bites dog” type of story. When Californias Lib Donk Senator Feinstein held hearings and decides that the prosecution and penalties of two border agents imprisoned for the shooting (wounding) of a drug smuggler who was attempting escape was excessive…there HAS to be merit to their case!

This is better than most of the REPUBLICANS are willing to do for crying out loud, to say nothing of Bush’s resolute ignoring of the case, at least thus far.

After presiding over a Senate hearing today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has decided to ask President Bush to commute the sentences of former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, an aide for the California Democrat told WND.

Feinstein will have a letter delivered to the White House tomorrow, said spokesman Scott Gerber. Following the Senate judiciary committee’s examination of the controversial prosecution, according to Gerber, the senator said “it became very clear the sentences did not match the crime.”

Ramos and Compean are serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences, respectively, after a jury convicted them of violating federal gun laws and covering up the shooting of a drug smuggler as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with 742 pounds of marijuana. U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton’s office gave the smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, immunity to serve as the government’s star witness and testify against the border agents.

It’s high time that these dedicated former agents were sprung from the joint. It would be best if the Prez would grant a full pardon, but hey, after 18 months even a commutation would be an improvement for them.