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Contacting the White House to request clemency for Jonathan Pollard does little good if he won’t apply for parole. All requests for Presidential clemency go through the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney, Ronald L. Rodgers. Mr Rodger’s office has pointed out a number of times that unless Jonathan Pollard applies for parole he will not be considered for Executive Clemency.
The Rules Governing Petitions for Executive Clemency clearly state in Section 1.3 Eligibility for filing petition for commutation of sentence “No petition for commutation of sentence, including remission of fine, should be filed if other forms of judicial or administrative relief are available [such as parole], except upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.”
And in the United States Attorneys’ Manual, Section 1-2.113 Standards for Considering Commutation Petitions it says “the availability of other remedies (such as parole) are taken into account in deciding whether to recommend clemency.”
Not applying for parole guarantees Pollard won’t get it and damages his chances of getting clemency because Obama may simply look at what the Pardon Attorney rules say and dismiss consideration of clemency. Pollards’ own website has a letter “”I followed [the National Council of Young Israel] request to send a letter to President Bush. The response from the White House was that Mr. Pollard was eligible for parole, but had not requested parole.“
Why should we expect anything different from Obama?
Jonathan Pollard’s supporters need to be made aware of this and help persuade Jonathan that it is in his best interest to apply for parole without any further delay. So far calling for clemency over and over hasn’t worked. Maybe applying for parole would?
You tell ’em Mr. T!
Something sounds fishy. It’s hard to believe that all the askonim and all the various government officials up to Netanyahu himself would not be aware of that.
I also find it difficult to believe that his lawyers are not aware of that*.
The Wolf
* (Assuming, of course, that the OP’s presentation is, indeed, factual.)
From J. Pollard. org:
“Why Pollard Doesn’t Apply for Parole
Hillel Fendel – (IsraelNN.com) – 20 Elul 5767, September 3, 2007
Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel and a long-time activist on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, explains why Pollard has not applied for parole.
The Question
A recent Arutz-7 article on Pollard, reporting the National Council of Young Israel-sponsored call-the-White House campaign and reasons why Jonathan Pollard must not be abandoned by the Jewish community, provoked one reader’s curiosity regarding Pollard’s chance for parole. The reader wrote a talkback as follows: “I followed [the National Council of Young Israel] request to send a letter to President Bush. The response from the White House was that Mr. Pollard was eligible for parole, but had not requested parole. Does anyone reading this understand this response? Why would Mr. Pollard not request the parole?”
Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who has visited Pollard in prison four times, [J4JP Correction: Rabbi Lerner has visited Jonathan Pollard numerous times; 4 times in recent weeks alone!], responded with a lengthy comment of his own. Rabbi Lerner wrote that though it’s true that Pollard is eligible for parole, “the implication that there is a possibility that he would receive parole is totally incorrect.”
Parole is Impossible
Pollard’s “pro-bono attorneys have done and continue to do everything that can be done, within the legal field, to gain Jonathan’s freedom,” Rabbi Lerner wrote. “They are outstanding professionals, stymied only by a judicial system that is strongly biased against Jonathan… The [relevant] law enforcement and intelligence agency officials… have indicated that they would oppose parole… Parole is a virtual impossibility under those circumstances. Every legal expert the Pollard camp has spoken to, and there have been many, told them that the parole board would reject Jonathan’s request out of hand.”
However, even worse than the rejection itself is the fact that it could lead to a 15-year delay before the next parole request can be submitted. This 15-year “set aside” means “the case cannot be revisited for another 15 years,” the rabbi writes, which would be “catastrophic for any clemency request that might be made within that time period. In short, a parole request is absolutely the wrong avenue to follow.”
In addition to asking for Divine intervention, Rabbi Lerner writes, “the only ‘human’ chance is for the president [Bush] to be approached by the right people, with the right documentation, at the right time, and we are working in that direction. The moment we feel there is a chance for clemency, a request will be filed.”
Noting that Pollard’s health is not good and that he suffers from numerous illnesses, Rabbi Lerner states the importance for “everyone to continue to call the White House, daily, 202-456-1414 or 202-456-1111, and request that the president release Jonathan Pollard; 22 years in prison is enough! The calls have been noticed. The president is aware that Pollard is an issue the community cares about, and that is important.”
Regarding requests for clemency, Pollard’s lawyers have explained that the government has refused to allow them – even though they have top security clearances – to see the documents that were submitted to the sentencing judge prior to sentencing in 1987. “Without access to that file,” the lawyers write, “people… know that they have free reign to say absolutely anything about Mr. Pollard without any risk that they will be contradicted by the documents. Applying for parole without access to the court file and in the face of unremitting hostility… in the intelligence community, would be significantly less effective than an application on the basis of the complete court record.”
Now Mod -80, I’m calling you to close this topic, since you are in that mood.
- The topic ‘Jonathan Pollard must apply for parole to get clemency’ is closed to new replies.