by Craig Crawford
from Congressional Quarterly

At the end of the day, only a journalist went to jail in the CIA leak investigation.

President George W. Bush’s commutation of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s jail sentence means that only reporter Judy Miller spent time in the slammer - and that was for protecting Libby, the leaker. The former White House aide let Miller sit in jail for nearly three months last year without revealing to prosecutors that he was the source she was refusing to name.

While Miller was no angel in this matter, she was not convicted of a crime. And Libby goes free despite being convicted and sentenced for perjury and obstruction of justice. The president now says jail would be an “excessive” punishment for Libby, but he showed no such concern when a reporter was incarcerated for protecting his White House.

The most lasting legal significance of this case will be its chilling effect on journalists - even on those who, unlike Miller, try to protect whistleblowers and other sources who are genuinely serving the public interest.

Contributing Editor Craig Crawford is a news analyst for NBC, MSNBC and CNBC. He can be reached at ccrawford@cq.com.