by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
Jim Henley points out that the statutory punishment for perjury allows probation only after the convict first goes to prison. But, Scooter Libby will not spend a day in prison, placing him in one of those legal black holes the Bush/Cheney gang is so fond of (c.f. Guantanamo Bay, "serves both executive and legislative functions", etc.). Last night at Drinking Liberally a prosecutor happened to be on hand, and he said this sort of thing happens all the time, where the prosecution & defense reach some plea agreement, but the corrections department comes back and said "no, we don't have statutory authority to do that", at which point the crime & sentence are rearranged slightly to satisfy the letter of the law. It's unlikely that this will mean Libby's prison probation term disappears.
Both parties are encouraged to solicit the White House for clarification, so there's a small chance this could get interesting.
