MORE ON BUSH’S STINGINESS REGARDING PARDONS at the Sentencing Law & Policy Blog. I can understand being gun-shy after the Clinton debacle, but using the pardon power to mitigate injustices in the system is part of the job. Being careful is one thing; shirking is another.

UPDATE: Brett Bellmore emails: “Shirking, indeed; One could equally ask, were there no bills in the last four years deserving of a veto? Bush seems strangely unwilling to exercise certain Presidential powers.”

On the other hand, Bob Schneider emails: “I see a pattern here, with his frugal (indeed, non-existent) use of the veto. Despite protests from the Left of a president eager to usurp rights and power, Bush is a actually overly cautious about overruling the decisions of other institutions.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: More on the pardons issue here.