WASHINGTON — Years ago, when he was a local trial judge, Reggie B. Walton developed a reputation for his sentencing of ordinary street thugs.
"If you got convicted, he was going to smack you," said Randall Eliason, a former prosecutor who recalled that Walton would often sentence defendants more harshly than other judges would.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday June 08, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
Libby trial: An article Thursday in Section A about U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton's sentencing of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby said Martha Stewart, who was convicted of lying to securities regulators, eventually dropped her appeal and reported to prison. While in prison, she continued to pursue her appeal, which she eventually lost.
On Tuesday, Walton extended a measure of his justice to a more prominent defendant: former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Rejecting pleas for leniency from scores of prominent public officials, Walton sentenced Libby to 2 1/2 years. On top of the stiff sentence, the judge indicated that he was inclined to order Libby to begin serving the sentence immediately, even before his lawyers have appealed his case. The outcome stunned supporters of the amiable, career public servant and stirred talk of a presidential pardon.
That Walton would put the Bush administration in an uncomfortable position of having to consider a politically charged pardon for Libby is highly ironic: The 58-year-old jurist was one of the first appointments that Bush made to the federal bench in October 2001, a prime example of a new law-and-order mentality that the administration wanted to infuse in the courts.
"Bush wanted people to know that 'I appoint tough guys to the bench,' " said Roscoe Howard, the U.S. attorney in Washington during Bush's first term. "They appointed him just for what he did to Scooter; they were just not expecting it to happen to Scooter."
By all accounts, Walton is a tough guy. A judge for more than 25 years, he did two separate stints on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, appointed by both Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He served as an associate director of the White House drug control office and as chairman of a national commission to curb prison rape.
The Washington Post reported an incident two years ago in which Walton, driving his family in downtown Washington to the airport for a vacation, noticed a cabdriver being attacked. The 5-foot-9 judge, who played football at West Virginia State University, stopped his vehicle, wrestled the attacker to the ground and held him in check until police arrived.
"He started toward me," Walton told the Washington Post. "I had to take him down."
Despite Walton's history as a "long ball hitter" when it comes to sending criminals to jail, lawyers and legal experts said the punishment he imposed on Libby was within his discretion under the law.
