Bush Pardon Watch: Who Gets Off The Hook?

Attention, convicts: Time is running out to get applications into the pardon attorney at the Justice Department if you're hoping that President Bush will be your decider. Few of you should get your hopes up -- Bush has rejected a record number of requests for pardons and commutations. In the last eight years, he has pardoned 157 people -- a miserly sum compared to his predecessors. But you don't have to give up entirely: More are expected in the coming months, most notably for Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Before President Clinton went on a pardon spree for wealthy friends and campaign contributors at the end of his presidency, pardons and commutations were traditionally bestowed on average citizens who had successfully reformed their lives and given back to their communities after completing lengthy sentences. Pardon experts believe that of the Bush prospects, the 1980s junk-bond king Michael Milken best fits the rich-and-famous description.

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