The Incredible Judicial Disparity: Berger v. Libby by Frank Salvato

"If you needed any more proof that the American judicial system is completely and alarmingly subjective – beyond Paris Hilton's early release – look no further than the disparity between the sentences imposed on Sandy Berger and I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. In Washington DC’s version of The Peoples’ Court, it would seem that the deciding factors in how severe a sentence one gets depends on political party affiliation, the severity of the crime be damned.

This past Tuesday US District Judge Reggie B. Walton, a Bush 43 appointee, sentenced former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby to 30 months in prison and fined him $250,000 for obstruction of justice and lying to a federal agent. Walton said he saw no good reason to allow Libby to remain free pending appeal. Walton also required Libby to serve two years probation upon release from prison.

Libby’s conviction stems from an overly aggressive investigation into the alleged “leaking” of a covert CIA agent’s name, Valerie Plame. Plame, the wife of the irritatingly smug Joseph Wilson, had sent him on a non-White House sanctioned exploratory mission to Niger, which, as Christopher Hitchens aptly points out, inadvertently validated President Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein had been shopping for yellowcake uranium in Niger, a point the agenda-driven media dropped at the Wilson’s allegation of Plame’s outing."

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