Good move, if unexpected

The New York Times has an article by Eric Lichtblau about one of the last acts of the outgoing President:

President Bush commuted the sentences of two former Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler, but was preparing to leave office without granting clemency to any better-known figures or government officials who could face liability over administration policies.
The former agents, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, will be freed from federal prison in less than two months as a result of the commutation, cutting short prison terms that were due to run at least eight more years. The two men, both of El Paso, were convicted on assault charges for shooting an unarmed, fleeing drug smuggler in the buttocks in 2005 and then trying to cover up the episode.
The case energized debate on border policies, and appeals for leniency for the two men had become a cause célèbre among some politicians, law enforcement officials, and anti-immigration advocates. The decision to commute their sentences appeared to represent a relatively safe, yet high-impact action for Mr. Bush, who has been especially sparing in his use of his constitutional pardon power. The decision came as something of a surprise, not only to the agents’ supporters, who had believed their chances for clemency were fading, but also for lawyers in other criminal cases who had been lobbying hard at the White House and the Justice Department on behalf of dozens of people seeking clemency.
A senior White House official said that the commutations would be Mr. Bush’s last acts of clemency before he leaves office. There had been speculation that Mr. Bush might act in a number of high-profile cases, including those of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and the financier Michael Milken, both of whom were convicted on felony charges.
Mr. Bush was also said to have been considering pre-emptive action that could have shielded Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general, and other government officials or intelligence officers who could face legal liability over their roles in interrogations, surveillance, or other Bush administration policies. Hundreds of other defendants convicted of garden-variety crimes have petitioned for leniency, seeking to shorten prison sentences their advocates see as excessive. But in the end, Mr. Bush used his clemency power to aid only Mr. Ramos and Mr. Compean. He leaves office having granted 200 pardons and commutations, the fewest of any two-term president in modern times.
“I was shocked when I heard this was the only one,” said Margaret Colgate Love, a former Justice Department pardon lawyer who represents about twenty imprisoned clients who were seeking clemency. “There are a lot of disappointed lawyers in this town today.” In the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mr. Bush issued 33 clemency orders, an unusually fast clip for him. But he withdrew one pardon, in December, for Isaac Toussie, a Brooklyn developer, after it was disclosed that Mr. Toussie was at the center of a Long Island real estate fraud case and that his family had given substantial donations to Republicans. “The whole Toussie thing may very well have shot down any thoughts that Bush had of granting many routine pardons,” said P. Ruckman Jr., a political scientist who has studied presidential pardons.
In the case of the Border Patrol agents, Mr. Bush granted clemency without a formal recommendation from the Justice Department, which had not yet completed its review. It was the latest in a string of clemency decisions in which the White House did not rely on the formal process at the Justice Department for weighing the merits of clemency petitions.
Mr. Bush, who rarely speaks out on pardon issues, had voiced personal interest in the case two years ago, telling a television station in Texas that he planned to review all the facts to see if a pardon was warranted. “I just want people to take a sober look at the case,” Mr. Bush said at the time. He noted that the case had generated “a lot of emotions” and added that “Border Patrol and law enforcement have no stronger supporter than me.”
Mr. Bush made no comment Monday as the Justice Department announced the commutations. A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the president “thinks they were fairly tried and received a just verdict” but that the punishment was “excessive, especially given the harsh conditions in which they have to serve their sentences”. Both men had been held in solitary confinement for their own protection since they were imprisoned about two and a half years ago.
Mr. Ramos, 39, received an 11-year sentence, while Mr. Compean, 32, got 12 years. The sentences were driven by a mandatory ten-year prison sentence for the use of a firearm in the assault, a condition that irked supporters who said the men were required to carry a gun in their border duties. Federal prosecutors in Texas mounted a vigorous and unusual defense of the convictions, saying that they could not “look the other way” after the agents shot an unarmed man and then lied to their supervisors about it. But the agents’ defenders criticized the prosecution as overzealous, rallying support around the country and in Washington. Many supporters of clemency were anti-immigration advocates who had lined up against Mr. Bush over his failed proposal for a temporary guest worker program.
“This is great news,” Representative Brian Bilbray, a California Republican who met with Mr. Bush several months ago to lobby for clemency. Mr. Bilbray said he had become so concerned that Mr. Bush would not grant the petition that he was working on a plan to take the petition to President-elect Barack Obama. “This never should have been the criminal case that it was,” he said. “This thing was blown out of proportion because, frankly, I think these men were crucified on the altar of people who were anti-Border Patrol” and advocates of immigration reform.
For supporters of the two men, the president’s decision was blunted by the fact that they were not given a full pardon, which would have cleared their records and restored some legal rights. “This is something that we’d been hoping for and praying for a long time,” said T. J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents about 15,000 agents. “But it’s kind of a bittersweet victory, and we’re wondering what took so long. The sad thing is he waited until the last minute.”

Rico says, last minute or no, it looks like justice, for once, was served...