(emphasis added)
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby’s request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.
I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby’s appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.
Isn’t he still pursuing his appeal of the actual conviction? Is this a flip-flop?
What’s the over-under for a Presidential pardon at the end of the term?
You’re missing the hundreds of thousands of other “excessive sentence(s)” that may have been handed down over Bush’s tenure that didn’t envoke his empathy or power of commutation. Don’t feel bad, though; apparently he missed them all as well.
Without commenting on the appropriateness (or lack thereof) of the President’s actions, yes. You appear to be missing something. By the time Libby’s appeal would be heard and ruled on he would have served most of the sentence. So, in essence, his appeals have been “exhausted” to the extent they will mean anything other than expunging his conviction.
Let’s call it a flip… It’s not quite all the way to the “flop.”
Gotcha, thanks. So, will the appeals process drag out until, say, late 2008?
It’s the DC Circuit, right? I’m not sure what the track is for its calendar. Wouldn’t surprised me if the hearing wasn’t until late 2008.