Different laws for different people

Tomorrow we mark the adoption, 231 years ago, of the Declaration of Independence, a document revered among our citizenry and used as a model for similar declarations by other peoples around the world. The words of Thomas Jefferson gave voice to the colonists' grievances against Britain's George III and served notice that the people of America would not be ruled by tyranny.

Now, 11 score and 11 years hence, we are governed by another tyrant, and he is fittingly named George as well. Bush's commutation of Lewis Libby's sentence is outrageous, making a mockery of the rule of law. Forget all of the specious arguments; Libby lied, under oath, to a grand jury. A high official of the Bush Administration believed that it was OK for him to mislead an investigation that was paid for by taxpayers and that dealt with issues of national security. In return for Libby's not rolling on other Administration personnel, he gets his sentence wiped away. We're worried about T-shirts that advise our children to "Stop snitching," but Libby adopted that mantra and was rewarded.

Over at the Justice Department there are more than 3,500 applications for commutations and pardons. Bush, the "compassionate conservative," has signed off on just three and each of the people involved served more than 10 years in prison. Libby's crime is worse -- much worse -- than petty drug offenses that carry mandatory sentences of years and years in federal prison, yet we lock up thousands of poor or working people for those transgressions and label the offenders "miscreants" responsible for many of society's ills.

A president can pardon a crime or commute a sentence; the power is clearly in the Constitution. Still, this action by George W. Bush tramples on the precept of "equal justice under law." It is a disgrace.