The amendment to the 2008 spending bill for the departments of Commerce and Justice (H.R. 3093), would suspend funding needed to "enforce" the 11 and 12 year prison sentences assessed to agents Ramos and Compean. Without this specific funding, the Bureau of Prisons would be unable to keep the them in jail. Ramos and Compean have been in prison since January, awaiting action on their appeals.
Should the bill as amended also be passed by the Senate and signed by President Bush, Ramos and Compean could stay out of prison for at least the next fiscal year. The same amendment would have to passed annually to keep them free. The amendment's sponsors, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) and Duncan Hunter (R-California), hope the action will keep the pair out of jail during the appeal process.
What about the Constitution?
The U.S.Constitution grants the president, not Congress, the power to override a Judicial Branch action by pardoning criminals. Should a bill containing the Ramos - Compean amendment come before him, what will President Bush do?
While the White House has not commented on the measure, many of Bush's supporters have urged him to use his constitutional power to pardon Ramos and Compean, so he might simply sign the bill.
On the other hand, President Bush might view the amendment as an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers doctrine and veto the bill. Of course, lacking the line-item veto, he would have to nullify the entire bill, not just the Ramos - Compean amendment.
Considering the strength of support for the Ramos - Compean amendment in the House, where it passed by a voice vote, the President might also decide to dispose of the issue before it even reaches his desk by pardoning Ramos and Compean himself.
Oh, the drug smuggler...
Shot on Feb. 17, 2005, while attempting to smuggle 800 pounds of marijuana from Mexico into Texas, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila has been set free, granted a U.S. visa allowing him to pass freely between the U.S. and Mexico, and has filed a civil rights suit against the United States seeking compensation and punitive damages.
