This morning NPR ran this story with the lede that Scooter can pretty much give up any hope for leniency on appeal.
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that criminal sentences within guidelines set by a federal commission are generally entitled to be upheld on appeal, a decision that limits legal options for defendants who feel that they have been punished too harshly.
[…] The case that the court decided yesterday, Rita v. United States, No. 06-5754, was meant to help define “advisory.”Victor Rita, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, asked for a lighter sentence based in part on his past military service. But the judge gave him 33 months, as suggested by the guidelines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, upheld the sentence, saying that penalties within the guidelines are “presumptively reasonable.”
Scooter never had much hope (yes Virginia, perjury is a crime), but even a true-blue party-line Bush nominee will have a hard time throwing him a line unless the judge likes being overturned.
ThymeZone
I really love the “no underlying crime” argument that the GOP’s paid gum-flappers are spreading all over the airwaves.
“Yeah, I shot the cop, but I was never actually robbing the bank in the first place.”
The unmitigated gall and nerve of these fuckstains, really. “No underlying crime” my ass. Lying to a grand jury is a crime. No “underlying crime” is required to make it so.
Jake
Good.
Bye.
Zifnab
Fuck it. Conservatives are nothing if not grossly inconsistant. Scooter will drag this to the SCOTUS and whine like a kicked puppy. And Scalia will wax nostolgic in his twenty page brief about how perjury isn’t really a crime if you haven’t been convicted of anything else and deputies to the President are special people and this is all a big witch-hunt. And the Alito and Roberts will nod sagely. And Thomas will babble in tongues which people will take as consent. And it’ll be left up to Stevens as to whether we’re going to have a sane Judiciary today or not.
Peter VE
I guess ole “Whiner” Libby will have to wait until 1-19-09.
Somehow I don’t remember the friends of G. Gordon putting up this kind of fuss.
Teak111
Let Cheney take care of this mess.
DougJ
Hey, it worked for Bob Marley and Eric Clapton.
Derek
Glad you guys agree on perjury! Lets send Bill to jail for perjury as well! Oh wait… you where against jail time for Bill…
liberal
Derek wrote,
Except that Clinton wasn’t actually convicted of perjury.
Tony J
Or for Obstruction of Justice.
And now the Scooter Libby Road-Block Party is winding down, Fitzgerald can get back to pursuing the main target in his investigation, namely Great Chief Clouded Dick and his Office of Presidential Vice.
That’ll be nice, won’t it?
Vladi G
A bold attempt by Derek. Now that Stormy’s gone, Derek makes his move to be named Balloon Juice’s dumbest commenter. I wouldn’t bet against him.