国境警備官(服役中)に対するブッシュの減刑措置(2) |
前エントリのつづき
私の担当科目に、少人数・ゼミ形式の「学術特論」があり、インターネットを活用しながら進めている。最近は、米FOXニュースのトーク番組『ハニティ・アンド・コームズ』を教材にしてきた。
いずれも論客のショーン・ハニティ(保守派)とアラン・コームズ(リベラル派)がゲストを挟んで議論を繰り広げる面白い番組である。もっとも、今年からコームズが抜け、番組名も『ハニティ』に変わった。
私個人の発想は、コームズより圧倒的にハニティに近い。ただ、例えばジョン・ボルトンとコームズの論争など興味深かっただけに、やや残念な気もする。新番組の今後に期待したい。
「国境警備官の発砲・有罪事件」に関する担当検事とハニティの白熱したやりとりは、下記サイトにビデオがある。
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,452005,00.html
同じサイトに「トランスクリプト」(議論を文字に起こしたもの)が掲載されているので、事前にコピーを学生に渡しておき、ビデオと文字版を交互に見つつ授業を進めていくわけである。
下記はそのトランスクリプトである。重要部分を訳して掲げようと思ったが、ちょうどオバマ氏の大統領就任演説が始まる時間になったので、とりあえずここまでとする。
検事側は、量刑が「不当に重い」とすれば、それは議会が法律でそう規定し、裁判所に裁量の余地がほとんどないためであり、文句があるなら議会に言ってくれなどと主張している。
Border Agents' Prosecutor on Sentencing for Drug Smuggler's Shooting
Friday, November 14, 2008
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Two U.S. Border Patrol agents who were jailed two years ago after shooting a Mexican drug smuggler were back in court this week. Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos were looking to have their original 11- and — 10- and 11-year sentences reduced after a number of their convictions were thrown out.
Judge Kathleen Cardone showed no mercy, however. The — she left the original sentences unchanged. The agents maintained that admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Adlrete Davila was armed and non-compliant at the time of the shooting. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IGNACIO "NACHO" RAMOS, JAILED BORDER AGENT: The last thing I see is Agent Compean and the drug smuggler go over the levee when — so I ran to their last location.
As I get over to the other side of the levee, all I see is Agent Compean on the ground and the drug smuggler running from them. I gave chase to the drug smuggler. I gave him one command to stop, and that's when he turned and pointed a gun at me. And that's when I fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLMES: You can also check out the rest of this exclusive interview at HannityandColmes.com.
With us now is the man who prosecuted the agents,
Sir, you've come under a lot of fire because of prosecuting this case. And a lot of people seem, of course, to side with the agents over the drug smuggler, who was testifying at his trial. How do we explain to people what's going on here and that the law has to be enforced?
JOHNNY SUTTON, U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, unfortunately, there's been a huge amount of misinformation just like that little clip you played right there about Agent Ramos explaining what happened, that the doper had a gun.
He never mentioned anything about a gun until a month after the shooting. They covered it up. He never mentioned to any of his co- conspirators that the doper had a gun. None of that made sense. That was a story that came up later.
And this was a two-and-a-half week jury trial. That's the thing that's kind of tough about this case, is the facts don't come out.
One thing that's important to say is that the court of appeals has reviewed the entire transcript. And they've affirmed all the substantive charges of the case and determined that these two guys got a fair trial. The judge made correct rulings.
And the doper, who everybody has complained about so much, who I said as soon as I can put him in prison I would, we've moved mountains to get this guy convicted. And we did. He's convicted, and he got a nine-and-a- half-year sentence.
COLMES: The same judge, as I understand it, too, by the way. And using a weapon in commission of a felony is an automatic 10 years. So the judge didn't have a lot of leeway in terms of sentencing, correct?
SUTTON: Yes, that's why this, it shouldn't be a shock to anybody that these guys got the same thing that they got before. The sentencing guidelines are very tough in this area. There's a 1-year mandatory minimum. She already made a dramatic departure to get them down to one and two years. Their guidelines were up around, I think, five and six years. She dropped way down to give them one and two years, and then of course, that mandatory minimum is what hits them.
But, again, if anybody is complaining about that, they need to talk to Congress. I mean, Congress has ramped up those laws. They apply to cops. Anyone who tells you different is just not reading the law. It's — the court of appeals lays it out clearly in the opinion. And I encourage everybody who's interested in this case to go get that Fifth Circuit opinion and read it.
HANNITY: You and I have gone around and around about this now that it's in the news.
SUTTON: We have.
HANNITY: And we went over this. We've gone over it in the past. The person we're talking about, by the way, has admitted to smuggling several hundred pounds of marijuana on the day he was shot. And by the way, he was shot in the buttocks. He wasn't killed. You know, so this seems excessive to me.
And then here we have an admitted drug smuggler, and what frustrates me is that a lot of other people, as you — he was flown in to testify. And his testimony, you know, was, I guess, believed by other people over, you know, law-enforcement officials. And I have a hard time giving this man any credibility, considering he was bringing drugs into our country at the time. He was bringing drugs in here illegally. That bothers me.
SUTTON: He was, Sean.
HANNITY: I don't — you know, I don't have a lot of sympathy for him.
SUTTON: And neither do I. I mean, if these agents had done their job, we would have had him in prison long ago, back when we originally caught him.
But because, instead of doing their job, they committed a bunch of serious crimes. They shot an unarmed guy running away with — 15 times they shot at this guy with .40 caliber.
HANNITY: OK. But you're putting this...
SUTTON: And instead of reporting it they covered it up.
HANNITY: But you weren't there. So we're taking the word of a convicted drug pusher over the...
SUTTON: Sean...
HANNITY: Hang on a second. Wait a minute, but you're taking his word, because he was flown into come testify, with immunity at the time, flown in to come into this country and testify against law enforcement agents. And for whatever reason, people took his word against theirs. I don't get it. I'll be honest.
SUTTON: Quit saying he was flown in. I mean, we walked him across the border at Juarez into
HANNITY: OK. You bring in the illegal immigrant, the drug pusher, in to testify against the law-enforcement agent.
SUTTON: Of course. And we do that — and he wasn't the only witness. There's other agents at the scene that testified against this agent. Agent