CCAR Appeals to President Clinton, Again

Justice4JP Release - November 30, 2000

Mr. William Jefferson Clinton
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing in connection with your ongoing review of the matter of Jonathan Jay Pollard. As you know, Mr. Pollard will soon complete his fifteenth year in jail.

While I have previously made known to you my strong views in favor of commutation or clemency, I wish to bring to your attention additional information that I have just learned.

On September 20, 2000, new attorneys for Mr. Pollard filed a motion for resentencing in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. I have read the papers.

The papers, supported by documentation, present a compelling and very disturbing picture of serious government misconduct that went unchecked by Mr. Pollard's then-counsel. As a result of that misconduct, and as a result of his attorney's ineffectiveness, Mr. Pollard was sentenced to life in prison on the basis of false allegations, and under circumstances that violated his plea agreement.

Also disturbing is that, after Mr. Pollard had been sentenced to life in prison, his attorney failed to file a Notice of Appeal - a simple and straightforward task that any attorney would have routinely done. By that failure, Mr. Pollard's then-counsel deprived his client of direct appellate review of the sentence. He doomed Mr. Pollard to an unreviewed sentence of life in prison.

The papers that have now been filed by new counsel seek to have Mr. Pollard resentenced on the basis of a truthful record, untainted by government misconduct, and in a manner consistent with the government's commitments under the plea agreement. The papers seek a court hearing so that the truth can finally be uncovered.

I respectfully urge you to consider this recent court submission as part of your executive review. In light of the egregious government misconduct, coupled with the ineffective representation, I believe that fundamental fairness warrants an immediate commutation of Mr. Pollard's sentence.

Respectfully,
(signed)
Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff