Bronx Borough President Appeals to President Clinton

Justice4JP Release - November 30, 2000


OFFICE OF THE BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT

November 29, 2000

Hon. William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I write in connection with your ongoing review of the matter of Jonathan Pollard, in connection with his pending request for clemency.

On November 27, 2000, Members of Congress Weiner, Nadler, and Schakowsky wrote you regarding a motion for resentencing filed by Mr. Pollard's counsel in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, on September 20, 2000. Mr. Pollard's application to the Court sets forth a claim of ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct in his request for a new sentencing.

I respectfully submit to you that in light of the claims set forth in his application to the Court, specifically that the present sentence violated the terms of the agreement under which he pleaded guilty to the charges against him and that his counsel failed to file a timely Notice of Appeal thereof, Mr. Pollard should certainly be entitled to a new sentencing. All fair-minded observers agree that Mr. Pollard would certainly have never pleaded guilty had he not received a guarantee that his sentence would not be one of life imprisonment.

I join in the request of the Members of Congress that you consider the contents of Mr. Pollard's application to the Court during the course of your review of this matter. I, too, urge you to commute Mr. Pollard's sentence and certainly, at the very least, I urge that the government not oppose Mr. Pollard's application for a new sentencing hearing.

As you leave office, this simple gesture, after the many years Mr. Pollard has already served, would be viewed by humanitarians and justice-seekers everywhere as most fitting a President who has always sought to right wrongs.

Thank you for your consideration. Warm regards.

Sincerely,
(signed)
Fernando Ferrer


See Also:
  • Calls for Pollard's Release