Libby Appeal Denied

From Matt Apuzzo of the AP:

WASHINGTON - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby cannot delay his 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled Monday.

The decision is a dramatic setback for Libby, who likely will have to surrender to prison in weeks. The ruling puts pressure on President Bush, who has been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

...

Libby believed he had a good chance of overturning the conviction on appeal and asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to put the sentence on hold. In a two-sentence ruling, the court refused.

...

The decision leaves Libby with few legal options, the most likely being an appeal to Chief Justice John Roberts. Barring an intervention there, it seems only Bush could spare Libby prison time.

I have no idea what the timing of Supreme Court involvement would be.  [A surprised Beldar thinks the odds of getting Supreme relief is "very, very remote".]

As to the ruling itself, I am officially surprised - I thought Libby's arguments on the constitutionality of the Fitzgerald appointment were at least close enough for a stay pending appeal, as did the Twelve Amigos who filed their amicus brief with the trial court.

As has been discussed previously, Bush has other options than a full pardon available to him.  For example, Bush could commute Libby's sentence to a fine and probation; that would allow Libby to continue his legal appeals without going to jail (and keep open the possibility of an end-of-term full pardon).

MORE: If someone can find the judges' opinion or order, that would be lovely mildly interesting - apparently it is but one paragraph.  I have not found it at the DC District Court website.  Apparently

Comments

[ann]

I support this war. I am now considered a criminal in the justice system. Lock me up with Libby!!

[Extraneus]

Interesting opportunity for Bush to change the subject, get the nutroots into a nice frothy lather, mend a fence or two on his own side, etc.

I'd think about sending Cheney out to make the announcement, personally.

[cboldt]

Link to Circuit Court Order

[Dale in Atlanta]

No surprise really; now the question is, will Bush have the courage to step in, and act, as he should?

[Carol_Herman]

Sure, "surprised" is one word you could use.

Or you could observe the "randomly chosen lot" of 3 judges, found they could grab this ball, because it "related" to Judith Miller. Ho hum.

The other thing I notice is that the robe wonders WANT people to be terrified of them.

Well, you'd be terrified, if before the knife went in, you discovered your surgeon was incompetent! But fully credentialed, just the same, wouldn't ya?

SLOW NEWS DAY.

That's also worth notice-ing. Just because blokes go to law school, doesn't really make them smart.

There are very few good judges in this world.

And, I'd bet the "punt" of Libby to jail is also an attempt to bring Dubya out from hiding.

Is sending Libby to jail any different than watching a robed-wonder sending Paris Hilton to the hoosegow? The deputy district attorney, who got this "gift" happens to have a wife who also drove on a suspended license.

Most of the time the robed wonders think they can get away with almost anything. (Ah, except the dude who used a penis pump while seated at his bench. Was that a work accident waiting to happen, or what?)

No respect for the scum just because they wear robes. On par with the Cardinals' hats that covered up the rape of children.

You think most people hold our court system up to respect? Then you haven't met people who've received subpeonas to show up for jury duty. Get a clue.

[Walter]

Seems like a good time to note a recent column on the limits of the Presidential pardon power when persecuted by particular prosecutors[such alliteration!].

John Dean, someone who knows a little about investigations into White House misbehavior, has a new Findlaw column.

In it, he compares Libby's likely sentence with those given his former colleagues in the Nixon administration and warns that Libby could be further prosecuted under conspiracy statutes were he or Cheney to directly request a pardon.

Good stuff.

Dean's ruminations

[clarice]

Frankly, I find almost everything Dean writes balderdash and will skip is.

Beldar reminds that Roberts is the Justice who handles emergency appeals from the D C Circuit.

[Walter]

good stuff

... in an ironical sense, bien sur.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Feh. The notion that Fitzgerald could prosecute Cheney for asking Bush for a pardon for Libby seems like just a *bit* of a strtch.

[manys]

As someone else mentioned, this surely renders obvious the joining of Patel, et al to the conspiracy against Dick Cheney. How soon is it to begin disbarment proceedings against Fitzgerald and the rest of them?

[epphan]

Holy Cow. Where do I go to get my eight minutes back after reading that hogwash from Dean. That's a scary kind of stupid.

[clarice]

Lucianne headline only--third doctor arrested in UK plot.

Wow, that's some NHS!

[windansea]

Wow, that's some NHS!

yep, Michael Moore should go there and have his stomach stapled.

[danking]

Moore would be denied windansea.

Those doctors aren't allowed to touch pork.

[manys]

Anybody get the latest US Magazine?

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Well, you'd be terrified, if before the knife went in, you discovered your surgeon was incompetent! But fully credentialed, just the same, wouldn't ya?

I'd be even more scared if I found out my neurosurgeon doctor is a terrorist car bomber.

[David Walser]

I shouldn't be surprised nor should I be depressed over this decision. I am both. How can the constitutionality of the SC's appointment not be a close question? It's primarily, if not entirely, a question of law, which means the appellate court owes the lower court no deference. There is no precedent or authority directly on point (because no one has EVER been appointed in the same manner as Fitzgerald, with the same sweeping powers, with the same lack of supervision, and in defiance of established regulations) and strong, cogent arguments can be made on both sides of the question. Is not this the dictionary example of a "close question"? How, then, did this panel conclude the appeal provided no close questions?

Again, I should not be surprised, depressed, or upset, but I am, now, all three. I think I'll stop writing before I add enraged to the list.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

On this day in history:

1788 - It was announced in the U.S. Congress that the new Constitution had been ratified by the required nine states, the ninth being New Hampshire.

Note: 12 years from 1776 to 1788, yet we expect Iraq to have accomplished everything in 4 years. It took us 12 years just to get our Constitution in place, let alone a government in place under that Constitution.

And how many people think our Constitution would get ratified today? Never happen.

[danking]

My biggest surprise is that judges ruled that it's OK to jail reporters over perjury charges.

Wonderful precedence...

[maryrose]

Like every other ruling in this case the ultimate judgment is flawed and wrongly decided. I now believe this is their way of making an example of Libby and that now he is the scapegoat. All other attempts to get back at the Bush administration have failed so they are pinning the tail on Libby. They want to achieve a direct on cheney but he has out manuevered them from the start. This case is not based on the merits at any point. it is a partisan exercise and an over power play. Of course right now President bush can trump them and I hope he does. Their futile attempt to get Gonzalez has blown up in their faces. They continue to show their true partisan hack colors which accounts for their abysmal ratings.A travesty of justice is occurring right under our noses.

[ann]

Where is Hit?

I am now a cynic.
I need a drink!
I need a laugh.

I Blame Bush!!!!!

[Vail Beach]

This is a terrible system, and it's the conservative Congress of the mid-1980s who are to blame. A convicted felon (Libby, an unlucky pothead, a SOX violator) first asks the judge who presided over his or her trial for bail relief during the appeal. Uh, no, says the judge. No, I didn't violate your constitutional rights, thank you very much.

Then the defendant takes the case to a three-judge emergency appellate panel, who make their ruling based on a quick sketch of the defendants' appeals case; with the law telling them they should err on the side of denying bail.

Ever since Michael Dukakis' wipeout, our country has not had a political party dedicated to civil liberties as the term used to be understood. When Gov. Bill Clinton executed a retarded man during his 1992 campaign, he was sending a signal to the Democratic party that it was time to drop this civil liberties crap, it's a Willie-Horton loser. Since then, the Democrats have joined the Republicans in searching for amendments to the constitution they can ignore for political gain.

It would be ironic, but very desirable, if the Libby case caused the Republican party and conservatives to take up the cause of civil liberties. There are ample reasons for them to do that beyond Libby. The prosecutorial branch of the government has simply gone off the rails, and the judiciary isn't doing enough to steer them back.

[SunnyDay]

So, what in the case they cited in the decision? or was that discussed already. I'm sorry, I stay way behind unless it's troll-propelled, then I stay away.

We can expect no opinion, I take it. sigh. I do hope bush intervenes, but my hopes are dwindling. I agree, they have not been able to get Cheney or eeevil Rove, or even get close to Bush, so Libby it is.

Another casualty of the Iraq war. Like Ollie North, his sacrifice is one that is not honored.

[clarice]

The UK Times reports that the third doctor was arrested. His family says it was because he was using the cell phone of one of the men the police are looking for. How can that be? The only "evidence" that Atta was not meeting with Iraqi intel in Prague when the Czechs say he was is--ta da--someone used his cell phone in Fla at the time of the meeting.

[SlimGuy]

If I were a Jewish patient in the NHS system I would be worried that a "Asian" doctor would turn me into another failed surgery statistic.

Sort of the slow bleed rather than the final solution.

[PeterUK.]

My advice to Mr Libby,Scoot,Venezuela beckons,write the book,make the movie,should recoup you legal fees on the book deal alone.Shake hands with Hugo,don't swap spit,you could make Attorney General in any Democrat administration.

[SlimGuy]

Clarice

Yeah like Atta had this really cool new Iphone rather than a freebie throw away from some provider that his room mate used to call a 1-900 hot date hunny line.

Sure he couldn't have had a backup cellphone or three that was directly hardwired to a cave in the mountains for a code word talk scam update that sounded like something totally innocent.

[cboldt]

-- How can the constitutionality of the SC's appointment not be a close question? It's primarily, if not entirely, a question of law, which means the appellate court owes the lower court no deference. There is no precedent or authority directly on point (because no one has EVER been appointed in the same manner as Fitzgerald, with the same sweeping powers, with the same lack of supervision, and in defiance of established regulations) and strong, cogent arguments can be made on both sides of the question. Is not this the dictionary example of a "close question"? How, then, did this panel conclude the appeal provided no close questions? --

Either the panel saw the bottom legal issue differently from the way you see it (i.e., whether or not there are strong cogent arguments on both sides of the issues Libby raised in his filings), or they acted in an outcome-driven fashion for unstated motives. The decision shows no indication of deference to Walton.

[topsecretk9]

Joe Wilson and his very important beard say that you all are an accessory to a crime for wanting a Libby pardon - and so I guess is an accessory to a crime Bill Clinton, dem donor Denise Rich among others and even Libby for pardoning Marc Rich

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/02/joe-wilson-libby-pardon/

[clarice]

Today the WaPo reported Waxman was bitching that Rove should not have had his security clearance renewed because of his role in Plame. I think the otherside is getting increasingly tiresome and preposterous.

[clarice]

Don't you hate it when your cell phone isn't working?
Breitbart:
"

View larger image

The attempted London car bombings were meant to be detonated by calls to mobile phones in the two vehicles, but failed for technical reasons, the Evening Standard reported Monday.
The calls made on the phones allowed police to trace those behind the failed attacks last Friday, the London daily evening newspaper said, without giving sources.

The phones were meant to set off blasts when they were called, but the devices failed to detonate the mixture of gas canisters and nails in the two Mercedes cars parked in London's entertainment district.

The bombers twice called the car outside the "Tiger Tiger" nightclub on Haymarket off Piccadilly Circus and the one in nearby Cockspur Street off Trafalgar Square four times, it added. "

[anduril]

TM: As to the ruling itself, I am officially surprised...

anduril: I am officially blown away.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Does anyone think it odd that this denial is not listed on the DCCofA website? Or is this normal?

[PeterUK.]

One of the doctor arrested Bilal Abdulla was ans Iraqi who graduated in Baghdad in 2004.In times gone by he could have been hanged,it will be interesting to compare the legal process in this case with that meted out to Mr Libby.
Any bets on exculpatory articles appearing in the left media any time now.
The other man is a Palestinian with a Jordanian passport.

[topsecretk9]

They've arrested (or detained) an eighth person in an undisclosed country "overseas" - said to be a doctor.

Also - yuppy designer dunderhead terrorist kills 9 wounding more including 7 Spanish tourists in successful car bomb NON EVENT.

[Poppy]

I understand these were the PELOSI bombers, alot of smoke, but in the end got nothing done.

[topsecretk9]

On the Yemeni car bomb by "yuppie" terrorists that killed 9...Larry Johnson had this to say...

[Jane]

I'm too pissed off to comment on Libby. As for the bombing MD's, it seems to me they have a lot more bad things at their disposal than car bombs. Why aren't they stealing drugs and poisoning the water system, or leaving a trail of anthrax along their way? It's odd.

[Jane]

Fox reporting that 5 doctors are now being held in the UK bombings.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Sky News is reporting that FIVE doctors are being held in the British terror plot.

PUK, don't go to the doctor.

[clarice]

Sky News now reporting FIVE doctors have been arrested in connection with the UK bombing plot.

[Rick Ballard]

I wonder what the total numbers of doctors involved might be?

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

I wonder what the total numbers of doctors involved might be?

Even one is too many. The involvement of these doctors is far more terrorizing, in my eyes, than an isolated car bomb going off.

[Poppy]

I thought Micheal Moore only had great things to say about the British free, all you can eat, top notch, health care system.

Why are the importing all these third world doctors?

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

Bush commuting Libby's sentence. Breaking news

[Jane]

Fox reporting that President Bush is commuting Libby's sentence in a matter of minutes!

[Jane]

I am so bloody glad. And I'm absolutely convinced it was my email - not.

[Elliott]

BUSH!!!

[anduril]

CBS too.

[Elliott]

JANE'S EMAIL!!!