Begging Bush's pardon

AS SPECULATION grows about whether President Bush will pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, or at least commute his prison sentence, it's important to remember the hundreds of ordinary people who have been patiently standing in line, some for many years, waiting for presidential forgiveness. In a sense, it is these largely anonymous applicants for executive clemency (of which pardon and commutation are subsets) who hold the key to the president's ability to help the well-connected Mr. Libby.

This is not so much a matter of fairness as it is of political common sense.

Many of those with pending applications for clemency were convicted long ago of garden-variety crimes and have fully served their time; many others are still serving lengthy mandatory prison terms from which there is no hope of parole (parole having been eliminated from federal sentencing).

One such applicant is my client, Willie Mays Aikens, whose addiction to crack cocaine ruined a brilliant major league baseball career and who is now in the 13th year of a 20-year prison term for selling drugs to an undercover policewoman -- an extraordinarily harsh sentence for a relatively minor, nonviolent drug offense.

There are countless others in similar positions. If the president is unwilling to look favorably on deserving applicants for clemency like Aikens, how can he justify helping Libby?

From this country's earliest days, the president's pardon power has played a practical role. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton remarked that "the criminal code of every country partakes so much of necessary severity that without an easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel."

Until about 20 years ago, presidents considered it their obligation to make such exceptions on a regular basis. Fred Fielding, Bush's White House counsel, once described pardoning as part of the "housekeeping business" of the presidency.

Pardons have a symbolic function as well. By making executive grace available to people who have made mistakes, the president can set an example for us all. In government as in personal relationships, the willingness to forgive is a sign of courage and character and makes for a stronger community.