Conference of Presidents Joins 8 Senior US Officials in Decrying Pollard's Continued
Incarceration on False Charge; Calls for his immediate release
Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations
Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman
Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman
Contact: Malcolm Hoenlein 212-318-6111
JEWISH LEADERS URGE PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ACT TO FREE POLLARD
Friday, December 5, 2014
- New York, NY Statement by Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations:"The reports of Jonathan Pollard's hospitalization, following his loss of consciousness underscores the need for immediate action for his release. It is regrettable and inexplicable that the Parole Board denied his application after serving 30 years, much of it in solitary confinement, far beyond anyone accused of a comparable crime. We join the distinguished Americans including Ambassador R. James Woolsey, Senator Dennis DeConcini, Senator David F. Durenburger, Robert C. MacFarlane, Lawrence J. Korb, Professor Angelo Codevilla, Congressman Lee Hamilton, and Bernard W. Nussbaum, who strongly protested the 'unjust denial of parole' and questioned the decision which, they wrote, 'mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard's actions and makes a patently false claim on which it bases its denial of parole'.
"Underscoring the misguided decision regarding his parole was that he was given the highest score for suitability for release. There are many other factors that make clear that his unconditional release is long overdue.
"We urge President Obama, especially in this holiday season and given Mr. Pollard's worsening health, to take steps immediately to expedite gain Mr. Pollard's release and to commute his life sentence to the more than 29 years he has already served."
The text of the letter from the Senior US Officials is as follows:
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500November 14, 2014
Dear Mr. President:
Re: Unjust Denial of Parole for Jonathan Pollard
We, the undersigned, in our official US government capacities, at the time of and subsequent to Jonathan Pollard's arrest, are fully familiar with the Pollard file and with its classified contents.
We write to protest the unjust parole process which on August 4, 2014 denied parole to Jonathan Pollard after 29 years in prison. Our review of the Parole Commission decision compels our strongest objections to the conclusions of the Commission and our dismay with the deeply flawed process.
The Parole Commission decision document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard's actions and makes a patently false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole.
The Commission's allegation that Mr. Pollard's espionage "was the greatest compromise of US security to that date" is false; and not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file. Yet it was this fiction that the Parole Commission cited to deny parole.
We have learned that at the parole hearing, the government relied heavily on a stale, largely discredited, 28-year old classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger, without any scrutiny or rebuttal since Pollard's security-cleared attorneys were denied access to the document and the Parole Commission is not cleared to review it. Mr. Weinberger himself discounted his original damage assessment of the Pollard case in a 2002 interview when he stated that the Pollard case had been exaggerated out of all proportion and that it was in fact "a very minor matter but made very important."
The unreliability of the 1987 Weinberger document was known to and ignored by the Parole Commission. Worse, the Parole Commission ignored all other documentary evidence that mitigates in favor of Mr. Pollard's immediate release.
As we have indicated in previous communications to you, Mr. President, Jonathan Pollard's sentence is grossly disproportionate. All factors considered, including his comportment as a model prisoner for nearly three decades, Mr. Pollard's unconditional release (let alone his release on parole, which does not address the disproportionality of his sentence) is long overdue. Copies of our previous letters to you, urging Mr. Pollard's release were included in his parole submission and ignored.
We would like to point out as well, that the Parole decision document notes Mr. Pollard's Salient Factor Score, indicating his suitability for release as "10" which is the highest score possible. This too was ignored.
We, the undersigned, in our official US government capacities, at the time of and subsequent to Jonathan Pollard's arrest, are fully familiar with the Pollard file and with its classified contents.
We write to protest the unjust parole process which on August 4, 2014 denied parole to Jonathan Pollard after 29 years in prison. Our review of the Parole Commission decision compels our strongest objections to the conclusions of the Commission and our dismay with the deeply flawed process.
The Parole Commission decision document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard's actions and makes a patently false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole.
The Commission's allegation that Mr. Pollard's espionage "was the greatest compromise of US security to that date" is false; and not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file. Yet it was this fiction that the Parole Commission cited to deny parole.
We have learned that at the parole hearing, the government relied heavily on a stale, largely discredited, 28-year old classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger, without any scrutiny or rebuttal since Pollard's security-cleared attorneys were denied access to the document and the Parole Commission is not cleared to review it. Mr. Weinberger himself discounted his original damage assessment of the Pollard case in a 2002 interview when he stated that the Pollard case had been exaggerated out of all proportion and that it was in fact "a very minor matter but made very important."
The unreliability of the 1987 Weinberger document was known to and ignored by the Parole Commission. Worse, the Parole Commission ignored all other documentary evidence that mitigates in favor of Mr. Pollard's immediate release.
As we have indicated in previous communications to you, Mr. President, Jonathan Pollard's sentence is grossly disproportionate. All factors considered, including his comportment as a model prisoner for nearly three decades, Mr. Pollard's unconditional release (let alone his release on parole, which does not address the disproportionality of his sentence) is long overdue. Copies of our previous letters to you, urging Mr. Pollard's release were included in his parole submission and ignored.
We would like to point out as well, that the Parole decision document notes Mr. Pollard's Salient Factor Score, indicating his suitability for release as "10" which is the highest score possible. This too was ignored.
The Parole Commission also ignored compassionate factors, such as Mr. Pollard's age (he has spent half of his life in prison) and his poor state of health; and his family situation (his wife has had two bouts with cancer and had to manage without her husband's presence or assistance).
As former officials of the US government who served our country with pride, we take no pride in the ongoing miscarriage of justice which has deprived Mr. Pollard of his right to fair and equal treatment before the law. Mr. Pollard committed a serious offense and justifiably received a severe sentence. Efforts to secure commutation of Mr. Pollard's life sentence began in earnest only after Mr. Pollard had served 20 years as a model prisoner and adequately expressed remorse. It is clear that his sentence is far more severe than others in the US convicted of the same offense. We are deeply troubled that his grossly disproportionate sentence is now continuing into a 30th year of incarceration with no end in sight.
Denying a man his freedom based on a claim of damage that is patently false while ignoring exculpatory documentary evidence and hiding behind a veil of secret evidence is neither fair nor just, and it simply is not the American way. It is precisely for cases like this which clearly deviate from the standard of American justice - and compassion - that our nation prides itself on, that the Constitution grants the president of the United States virtually unlimited powers of executive clemency.
We therefore strongly urge you, Mr. President, to tolerate no further delay in rectifying an injustice that has gone on for far too long. We urge you to act expeditiously to commute Mr. Pollard's life sentence to the 29 years which he has already served.
Respectfully,
Amb. R. James Woolsey
Former Director of the CIASenator Dennis DeConcini
Former Chair of Senate Intelligence CommitteeSenator David F. Durenburger
Former Chair of Senate Intelligence CommitteeRobert C. MacFarlane
Former US National Security AdvisorLawrence J. Korb
Former Assistant US Secretary of DefenseAngelo Codevilla, Prof. emeritus Boston Univ.
Former Senate Intelligence Committee StaffCongressman Lee Hamilton
Homeland Security Advisor to Pres. Obama and Former Chair of the Select Committee on IntelligenceBernard W. Nussbaum Former White House Counsel
The Conference of Presidents is the central coordinating body representing 50 national Jewish organizations on issues of national and international concern.