Judge Walton: Bush’s commutation of Libby sentence creates impression of unequal justice.

Thinkprogress:

U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Scooter Libby to 2.5 years in prison after a jury convicted the former White House staffer of lying to federal prosecutors and impeding an investigation into leak of a former CIA agent’s identity. Walton’s sentence was overturned by President Bush’s commutation order last July. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Walton said that, while he respected the president’s authority to issue the commutation, Bush’s actions create an impression of unequal justice under the law:

Walton, whom Bush nominated to the District of Columbia bench, acknowledged Tuesday that Bush’s decision was part of the system, but he also said it fed some people’s notion that justice isn’t equal.

“The president has that authority and exercised it, and that has to be respected,” said Walton, who is to speak Thursday in Milwaukee at a literacy event.

“The downside is there are a lot of people in America who think that justice is determined to a large degree by who you are and that what you have plays a large role in what kind of justice you receive. … It is crucial that the American public respect the rule of law, or people won’t follow it.”

Glad Judge Walton is speaking out...