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Some big names seek pardons in U.S.

Washington: Circumventing the backlog of clemency applications at the U.S. Justice Department, some high-profile criminals and their well-connected lawyers are now appealing directly to President George W Bush for special consideration on their pardon pleas as he neared the end of his term.

The overwhelming majority of petitioners are not household names. Rather, they are people who served prison time for fraud or drug offences and now seek the President’s help so they can vote, live in public housing, own handguns or find jobs.

Among those seeking presidential pardon before Mr. Bush leaves the White House on January 20, 2009 are the former junk-bond salesman Michael Milken, who hired the former Solicitor-General Theodore B Olson, one of the nation’s most prominent Republican lawyers, to plead his case for a pardon on 1980s-era securities fraud charges.

Two politicians convicted of public corruption, ex-Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican, and Louisiana Governor Edwin W Edwards, a Democrat, are asking Mr. Bush to shorten their prison terms, Washington Post reported.

“It remains to be seen how Mr. Bush will respond to these requests as his term ends,” it said, noting that the President has used his broad pardon powers rarely during seven years in office, granting 157 pardons out of 2,064 petitions, and only six of 7,707 requests for commutations. — PTI

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