Text: Conservative Republican Leader Gary Bauer's letter to Obama for release of Jonathan Pollard
Justice4JPnews - November 22, 2010
View the original letter: PDF – Word
November 15, 2010
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Joining the call of others, I respectfully write to request that you exercise your power of clemency by commuting Jonathan Pollard's prison sentence to time served.
Mr. Pollard is currently serving his 25th year of a life sentence (seven of which were spent in solitary confinement). He was indicted on one count of passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States - an offense that normally results in a 2-4 year sentence. He pled guilty under a plea agreement with which he fully complied but which was ignored by the sentencing judge.
I do not condone espionage, nor do I underestimate the gravity of Pollard's crime. But it is patently clear that Mr. Pollard's sentence is severely disproportionate and (as several federal judges have noted) a gross miscarriage of justice.
Religious leaders from all faiths and prominent national figures have publicly stated their support for Mr. Pollard's release: former assistant secretary of defense Korb, Rev. Hesburgh of Notre Dame, Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, former federal judge Leighton, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olsen, Pastor John Hagee, and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. Perhaps most noteworthy, similar support has come from those who have seen the classified information of the damage that Pollard caused - former CIA Director James Woolsey, and former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Dennis DeConcini.
After more than two decades in the harshest prison conditions, Mr. Pollard's health is declining. He has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, and by all accounts has been a model prisoner.
Commuting his sentence to time served would be a wholly appropriate exercise of your power of clemency -- as well as a matter of basic compassion and American justice.
Sincerely,
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
PDF – Word