Will Bush Pardon High-Profile Figures?

Dec. 2, 2008— -- President Bush has less than two months to decide whether to pardon or commute the sentences of some controversial figures, including former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, former White House official Scooter Libby and accused terrorist John Walker Lindh.

The president, who has a nearly unfettered constitutional power to pardon, has used it sparingly. He has granted fewer than 200 of 10,000 petitions filed in the past eight years.

Last week, Bush granted 14 pardons, but the list comprised little-known figures and made no mention of high-profile individuals who have formally petitioned the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney. These figures include:

The Justice Department has a complex system to handle the thousands of requests that come in each year.

Under department guidelines, a person is not eligible to file a pardon request with the department until five years after his release from jail, or the date of conviction if there was no condition of confinement. However, the rules are not binding on the president who retains the authority under the Constitution to pardon someone who has not even applied for reprieve.

This has led to speculation that the president might decide to pardon former government officials such as I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, who was found guilty of lying to federal investigators in the Valerie Plame case. Bush has already commuted Libby's 30-month prison sentence, but a pardon would act as an official statement of forgiveness. Libby's lawyers declined to comment.