Prez Bush 'Last Dance' in Office:

Bush commutes sentences of former Border Patrol agents

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On his final full day in office, President Bush issued commutations for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted in 2006 of shooting and wounding an unarmed illegal immigrant -- suspected of drug smuggling at the time -- and then covering it up. The prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will now end March 20. Ramos had received an 11-year prison sentence; Compean had received a 12-year term. They began serving their sentences in January 2007. "The president has reviewed the circumstances of this case as a whole and the conditions of confinement and believes the sentences they received are too harsh and that they, and their families, have suffered enough for their crimes," a senior administration official said.
"Commuting their sentences does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes. Ramos and Compean are convicted felons who violated their oaths to uphold the law and have been severely punished," the official stated.
"This commutation gives them an opportunity to return to their families and communities, but both men will have to carry the burden of being convicted felons and the shame of violating their oaths for the rest of their lives."
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Check out notable presidential pardons

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution grants the president "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States." With a stroke of his pen, the man in charge can make legal trouble disappear. As one might expect, this practice can be a bit controversial. President George W. Bush pardoned 19 people on December 23, 2008, but withdrew one of those pardons for Isaac R. Toussie a short time later.
Let's take a look at some of history's more notable examples.

1. George Wilson
In 1829, George Wilson and an accomplice received death sentences for murder and robbing mail trains. His accomplice quickly took a trip to the gallows, but Wilson had influential friends in Washington. These friends beseeched Andrew Jackson for leniency on behalf of their friend, and Old Hickory relented. In 1830, he pardoned Wilson for his capital crimes; the mail robber would only have to serve a twenty-year term for his other misdeeds.

2. Richard Nixon
Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, and just under a month later newly installed President Gerald Ford gave his predecessor a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he may have committed while in office.
While many observers decried the pardon as evidence of some backdoor dealing between Ford and Nixon, Ford went on national television to explain that he felt the pardon provided the best way for the country to move on and close the discussion of Nixon's antics.

3. Patty Hearst: The heiress-turned-militant spent almost two years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery before Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence in 1979. Bill Clinton later gave Hearst a full pardon on the final day of his presidency in 2001.

4. Roger Clinton: Bill Clinton's half-brother spent a year in prison after pleading guilty to cocaine distribution charges in 1984. When Clinton issued a flurry of 140 pardons on his last day in office, his little brother was on the list.
Roger didn't seem to appreciate his second chance, though; less than a month later he was arrested for drunk driving and disturbing the peace. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

Other notable pardons continued here