Yesterday Don Siegelman’s lawyers weighed in on the parallels between their client’s case and Scooter Libby’s. Vietnam and Gulf War veteran, Victor Rita’s case is another with interesting similarities.
Last month the Supreme Court heard Rita’s appeal for a lighter sentence after being convicted of perjury and giving false statements. At the time, the Bush Administration wrote a friend of the court brief in support of upholding the sentence.
Rita’s lawyers argued that the 33-month sentence he received was unreasonable, much like the conclusion President Bush drew in the case of Scooter Libby. Libby, like Rita, was also convicted of perjury and lying and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Both men were working for the government when the committed their crimes and both maintained their innocence even after conviction. One significant difference between the two cases is that Rita had previously been convicted of a similar crime.
In Rita’s case, the Supreme Court upheld his sentence finding the sentence reasonable.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DL) flagged Bush’s apparent change of heart on what constitutes a reasonable sentence:
The questions we should all be asking ourselves today are: Why is the President flip-flopping? Why does Scooter Libby get special treatment?”
