The backstory of an exceptional commutation

P.S. Ruckman continues to do a lot of very interesting work on pardon politics and practicalities at his pardons blog.  Today Ruckman here highlights a strong article by Richard Schmitt in the Los Angeles Times about the (ultimately successful) efforts to obtain a federal commutation for a defendant sentenced to 27-years (in 1992) for dealing methamphetamine.  The personal story cannot be readily summarized, but here are some of the broader points from this article:

Cases such as those of [Scooter] Libby and Marc Rich, the fugitive financier pardoned by President Clinton in 2001, have raised questions about the fairness of presidential clemency because they involved the affluent and politically connected.  More routinely, hundreds of the unconnected apply for clemency every year with little or no guidance or hope.

Their petitions are filed with the 12-person Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department, whose deliberations and recommendations are never made public.  Applicants often wait years for a response. Yet they frequently have compelling stories of rehabilitation and steep punishment.  Even some prominent conservative jurists have come to believe that clemency is a tool of the justice system that is not used enough….

In Libby’s case, Bush declared the 30-month sentence “excessive,” even though it was at the low end of the range of federal guidelines. He also said Libby was a first-time offender and that his family had suffered from his conviction. Some inmate advocates hope the president now will take another look at the sentences given lesser-known defendants. Margaret Colgate Love, a lawyer who once headed the pardon office, said: “There are scores, perhaps hundreds, of people doing hard time in federal prison who are also worthy of the president’s mercy.”