New Pardons

If you wanted presidential pardons to go unnoticed, when would you issue them? 

On the same day as the DeLay indictment, President Bush issued 14 pardons.  Oddly enough, these pardons are not the usual ones we have been seeing from the white house (see here). This time you'll find a pardon in a case involving a "conspiracy to distribute cocaine," the "unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm," and "selling quaalude tablets."

Of the 14 cases, only four appear to be white collar type cases.  These include a case of  "conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud," "making materially false statements to a federally-insured institution," "making counterfeit Federal Reserve notes," and "embezzlement by a bank employee."  Perhaps the most fascinating part is that many of these cases had sentences issued prior to the enactment of federal sentencing guidelines, and prior to the increased sentences we have been seeing lately. Could one conclude that pardons are going to individuals who need them the least?

(esp) (W/ thanks to Peter Goldberger for alerting us to the issuing of these pardons)