Will Obama free Pollard?

Put it this way:

Will I vote for him if he does so? No.

Will Charlie vote for him even if he doesn’t? Yes.

So why should he?

Also, we need to admit that there is more to the Pollard story than we know. Recall that George Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was freed. Why? I don’t know.

but refuses to apply for parole.

I have not heard that before.

Tell us more about that.

Are there procedural problems with applying for parole that would hurt his other appeals? Do you need to admit guilt? What is the stated reason?

Why should he; he has the stupid Jewish vote no matter what he does. If Obama releases Pollard, he will antagonize the majority of Americans, who couldn’t care less about Pollard.

“I have not heard that before.

Tell us more about that.”

Parole in the federal prison system was abolished in the late 1980s. But because Pollard started serving time before that, he is grandfathered in and is one of the few inmates left who can actually apply for parole. He has been eligible to apply for 15 years but has never done so.

“Are there procedural problems with applying for parole that would hurt his other appeals?”

No. He doesn’t have any other appeals. His attorney neglected to file a Notice of Appeal in a timely manner so he lost the right to appeal his sentence — ever. That sounds unfair, but the current federal judiciary has been stacked with judges who are completely unfavorable to convicted felons.

” Do you need to admit guilt? What is the stated reason?”

I am not a parole attorney so I don’t know how much of a confession you have to make. Here is the link to the US Parole Commission:

http://www.justice.gov/uspc/

Among the claims that have been made by Pollard’s defenders are

(1) If he is turned down for parole, he can’t apply again for 15 years. That is false. If he were to apply and get turned down, there is a MANDATORY rehearing 15 years later. The irony is that 15 years have passed since his first opportunity to apply. But he could have applied every 24 months since he was first eligible. (I have no idea who is passing on this false information.)

(2) He is certain to get turned down because of all the opposition. Given all the public officials who have called for his release, that certainly seems a pretty poor argument.

BTW he has a presumptive parole date of November 21, 2015, thirty years after his arrest. The rules say that he gets paroled then unless the government can convince the parole board that he is likely to commit further crimes, which is highly unlikely since he is never going to get anywhere near classified information in the future. Even after that release, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.

Charlie:

Does that make sense?

If there was no procedural or strategic reason to not file for parole, why wouldn’t he have done it?

claims that have been made by Pollard’s defenders

What do you mean “defenders”? Do you think I have a vested interest in seeing him pardoned as opposed to paroled? Who does?

What about him? Why would he not want to file for parole? Do you think he has some reason he wants to remain in jail?

Are his attorneys imbeciles? (besides the original one who clearly was.)

Admittedly I do not understand the issues, but don’t you think it is rather simplistic to think he can just file for parole and has simply forgotten to do so, and all of us fools are making a big deal for no good reason?

“obama pardoned 9 people so far in his first 682 days”

Correct. 9 pardons and zero clemencies. There is a big difference.

chalie, what the difference between pardon and clemency

from the web:

While clemency and pardon are not interchangeable, a pardon is a form of clemency. Clemency is a general term for reducing the penalties for a particular crime without actually clearing your criminal record. A clemency can come in the form of a pardon, which is forgiveness of a sentence, a commutation, which is reduction of a sentence, or a reprieve, which is a temporary putting off of punishment while the situation is analyzed further. Therefore a pardon is always clemency, but when someone receives clemency, it does not necessarily mean a pardon.

A pardon is meant to indicate forgiveness of a particular crime, either because a person was wrongfully convicted or the punishment was not appropriate for the crime committed. A commutation is a merciful act offered when it is determined that the penalty given was too harsh. A common use of commutation is to reduce a death penalty verdict to life in prison. A reprieve may be given when more information is needed before it can be determined that it is appropriate for a person to serve a particular sentence. This is also often used in death penalty situations.

It’s important to note that in all cases of clemency, pardon or otherwise, the person’s conviction is not overturned or removed from the public record. In fact, some people feel that accepting a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt. Those seeking to remove a criminal record will need to pursue expungement or having their record sealed. When a conviction is expunged, it is as if it never happened. There is no need for any kind of clemency because the crime is deleted from the record. This is obviously the ideal situation, and it happens more commonly than one might think. For many first offenses, even felonies, expungement is a real option.

thanks 80