Regarding the CJN's Pollard "Clarification"

January 23, 1997

Mr. Ben-Dat
Editor, CJN

Dear Mr. Ben-Dat:

Jonathan and I would like to reiterate the statement that Jonathan made in our original press release, and that is:

We are aware that prison officials, Mr. Joe Meko (Assistant Warden) and Mr. Frank Collinsworth (Unit Manager) were contacted by Ha'aretz and by the Toronto Star, and in both cases,

they refused to be interviewed

, and they

did not

breach public trust by disclosing information of a personal nature to any journalist.

A copy of the (U.S.) Bureau of Prisons "Inmate Public Information" list follows. The items listed are

the only information

that a prison official may disclose without being in violation of federal regulations and without violating an inmate's

legal right to privacy

Prison officials may

not

give interviews unless the inmate

consents and signs a legal waiver

. Jonathan did

not

sign any such waiver, and neither Mr. Meko nor Mr. Collinsworth were interviewed.

To imply that a prison official was interviewed and disclosed personal information (as the CJN did in the "Clarification" p15 Jan. 23/97) when

no such interview

took place is a

serious breach

of journalistic ethics.

It would have been more worthy of the CJN to make

a simple phone call to prison officials

to verify the facts in a responsible journalistic manner, rather than to take the word of the Toronto Star, where the false story originally appeared. In the interests of truth, a published correction, namely this letter, should be made available to your readers.

On behalf of Jonathan and myself,

Mrs. Esther Pollard
(Mrs. Jonathan Pollard )

cc Mr. F, Collinsworth
cc Mr. J. Meko
cc Mr. B. Rose

Inmate Public Information

Name
Date of Birth
Inst. of Confinement
Court Docket No.
Judicial Dist. of Conf.
Commitment Date
Release Date
Date Elig. for Parole
Date Sentence Began
Date Sentence
FBI Number
Fine Imposed
Full Term Exp. Date
Full Term less 180 days
Good Time Rate
How Commit./Discharged
Time Served
Transfer Dest. (after fact)
Presumptive Parole Date
Judicial District of Release
Mandatory Release Date
Nature of Offense
Probation Action (rev. etc.)
Race
Reason for Sentence Change
Register Number
Release Destination (not address)
Sentence Procedure
Sentence Term
Sentence Type
Sentencing Judge's Name
Sex
Special Parole Term
TIME of Commitment (after the fact)
Inoperative Time
Jail Time Credit
Judicial Dist. of Commitment