New Jersey Assemblyman Gary Schaer's Letter to President Bush

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February 27, 2007

Hon. George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to request that you grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. citizen convicted of spying for the State of Israel in 1986. Mr. Pollard is currently serving a life sentence in a federal penitentiary.

The story of Mr. Pollard would be unremarkable but were it not for the fact that the maximum sentence for his crime is 10 years; he has now been incarcerated for more than 20. Additionally, the median sentence for such an offence is two to four years.

As the first Orthodox Jewish member of the New Jersey State Legislature and a proud American, I respectfully request your consideration to exercise Executive Privilege and commute Mr. Pollard's life sentence. Quite simply, Mr. Pollard's sentence is not a reflection of the severity of the crimes he committed, and the years he has spent in prison is contrary to our historic American tradition of fairness. Furthermore, there has been evidence cited by judges sitting on the federal bench which note that during Mr. Pollard's trial, the government engaged in serious misconduct that went unchecked by an ineffective defense counsel.

For the above noted reasons and more, I urge you to please consider Mr. Pollard's release after more than 22 years in prison.

Sincerely,

Gary S. Schaer
State of New Jersey Assemblyman,
36th District