New developments in the Scooter Libby case:

from: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/3/222342/4056

Judge Walton Issues New Libby Court Order
by pontificator ; Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 07:25:36 PM PDT

"It appears that President Bush made a serious mistake in his Commutation Order. As justification for invalidating Libby's prison sentence, he pointed out that Libby would still be subject to two years probation, a harsh sentence, Bush says (rolls eyes).

Oops!

As Judge Walton just noticed, it looks like Libby won't even serve probation, since, under the federal system, "supervised release," as it is called, can only follow an actual prison sentence.

Talk about incompetence. Bush can't even get Obstruction of Justice right!

New Court Order here (warning -- pdf):

http://sentencing.typepad.com/ "

-snip-

Also, see this comment from that diary:

Will the defense move to vacate the sentence, on the basis that Bush's clemency order leaves a part of the sentence (supervised release) in violation of the Constitution?

IANAL, but it seems like the WH lawyers left Walton in no-man's land.

While this seems to me to be WH incompetence, and not a brilliant plan on the legal folks in the WH, the bottom line seems that Bush is going to have to commute the supervised release, to avoid some crazy legal wranglings...

by 2lucky on Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 11:08:35 PM PDT

-snip-

In addition, here's an excerpt from an article about Bush's commutation of Libby's sentencing:

LIBBY'S SENTENCE NOT USUALLY LONG

"Though Bush calls the 30-month prison term 'excessive,' records show defendants convicted of similar crimes served jail time."

By Richard B. Schmitt and David G. Savage,[LA]Times Staff Writers
July 4, 2007


..."Whether Libby would have to serve probation was in some doubt Tuesday. The sentencing judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, said in court papers that it was unclear whether a defendant who had not done jail time could still be subject to supervisory release. He asked the lawyers to advise him on the issue."

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, speaking with reporters two hours before Bush made his comments, said the president spent "weeks and weeks consulting with senior members of this White House about the proper way to proceed."

"He spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to maintain the faith in the jury system, and he did that by keeping intact the conviction and some of the punishments," Snow said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-libby4jul04,0,6710317.story?coll=la-home-center