Jason Baran

Scalpel. Check.

Clamp. Check.

Fat pound of grass ·

That may very well be what you'll hear at the UA College of Medicine if the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency has its way.

Scott Brennan has spent the last year in prison for drug trafficking. He has also decided that he would rather go back to school than stay in prison. He hired a big shot attorney and launched an effort to convince the clemency board to commute the remainder of his sentence. Along the way, he gained the support of a list of people that reads like a Who's Who of Arizona politics that includes four former governors, scores of medical students, professors and others. The spin he and his attorneys put on the situation is that of redemption and public service.

He claims that he's not a bad guy and wants to dedicate the rest of his life to helping poor people in under-served communities. And the only way he can do that is if he gets out of prison now.

Brennan is in prison because he repeatedly delivered shipments of marijuana to the airport and helped translate Spanish for his associates. By his own estimate, he earned $20,000 delivering poison to those same vulnerable communities he wants to save. Things aren't adding up.

Melvin Macdonald, Brennan's influential attorney, claimed in the Arizona Daily Star that Brennan "wasn't in the drug business." Is that a fact? Usually business is defined as the exchange of goods or services ÷ such as drugs and delivery, respectively ÷ for money. Sound familiar?

Brennan's imprisonment interrupted what was by all accounts a remarkable beginning to a promising career in the study of medicine. Professors have fallen all over themselves to praise his achievements. And that's exactly what he was banking on.

He convinced the clemency board to unanimously recommend to Governor Hull the commutation of the remainder of his sentence. The governor has the next three months to reject the action or let it take effect.

Brennan says he wants to make things right with the world. Well, that's wonderful and he may be genuine in his desire to help people. He may have decided that he messed up in a big league way. He may have found religion and really may be on the straight and narrow from here on out.

But this isn't really about him. It's not even about the alleged injustice for those who can afford expensive attorneys. It's about the message implicit ÷ but painfully obvious ÷ in commuting his sentence. The decision screams that our laws don't matter, that drug trafficking is OK, and above all, that our leaders are weak.

No one should care if Scott Brennan is uniquely intelligent or hard working. No one should care that "it was only marijuana." Everyone should care that every single member of the clemency board caved in to some politicians and a sob story, and threw the laws designed to protect the people right out the window.

They came across the case of some guy with a good attorney and a well-spun story, and said that drug laws ÷ drugs and the welfare of Arizonans ÷ don't matter. He served less than half of a sentence that was part of a very favorable deal from the state. Now this felon wants to back out of the deal, and the board cheers with unified exuberance.

This is a shameful decision by the board. It should be of no consequence to the board that he's bright or that he's been a good boy for the past year. Their responsibility is to the state. The board is to ensure that every inmate pays his debt to society.

Regardless of Hull's decision, Brennan will be eligible for early release in a year, which he surely would be granted considering his recent good behavior and benevolent spirit. If he is so exceptional and the medical school is willing to risk its reputation on him, they can make an exception and wait for him.

Until then, Governor Hull can fulfill her oath to support the constitution and laws of the state of Arizona, and let Scott Brennan repay his debt to society.