Awaiting New Pardon Attorney: Backlog, and Chance to Make Mark

"I don't think this president has taken the pardon power very seriously, and I don't see any indication that's going to change," said Margaret Colgate Love, the pardon attorney under President George H.W. Bush. "I'm just waiting for the next administration. I'm not looking for anything from this one."

Still, scholars are watching closely to see whether the president will act in some long-simmering cases.

They include:

· I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former vice presidential aide convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice whose prison sentence was commuted by Bush last July. Libby still could receive a full pardon for lying to investigators about his role in sharing the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson with reporters.

· Ignacio Ramos and José Compean, onetime border guards who are serving prison time for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler in 2006 and trying to cover up the crime. Dozens of federal lawmakers have adopted their cause and have asked the Justice Department to reopen the case.

· Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of passing weapons intelligence to the Israeli government more than two decades ago and who has been the focus of a longstanding clemency push by Israeli supporters. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert renewed the plea for mercy in meetings with Bush earlier this year, a spokesman said at the time.