Walter B. Jones: “today is 324 days of incarceration for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted in…”

“today is 324 days of incarceration for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted in March of 2006 for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our border into Texas. These two decorated Border Patrol agents, who were doing their duty to protect the American people from an illegal alien drug smuggler, are serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences. This week, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans began hearing oral arguments for the agents' appeal. During the hearing, one of the three judges on the case, Judge E. Grady Jolly, said, ``It does seem to me that the government overreacted here. For some reason, this one got out of hand.'' The judges in this appeal will need to examine why the judge allowed the smuggler to plead the fifth amendment despite his immunity agreement, and why the jury was not allowed to hear crucial evidence that the smuggler was a repeat offender. The judges will also need to look at why the prosecutor charged the agents under a statute that was intended for violent criminals carrying guns, not for law enforcement officers acting in the line of duty. Nothing can erase the suffering these agents have undergone and the months they have spent in prison in solitary confinement away from their families.”