President Bush, on his last day in office, commuted the sentences of convicted border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso.
Here’s an explanation of the difference between a pardon and a commutation…
Bush has been cautious in his use of pardon powers, and particularly careful when it comes to commutations of prison terms. Where a pardon is an official forgiveness of a crime (typically requested at least five years after the completion of a prison term), a commutation is a reduction of sentence.
