[For original:
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2010/092710.pdf ]

September 27, 2010
Dr. Lawrence J. Korb
203 Yoakum Pkwy Apt 908 Alexandria. VA 22304
The Honorable Barack H. Obama President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:

As Assistant Secretary of Defense a the time of Jonathan Pollard's arrest I
respectfully request that you exercise your power of clemency on behalf of
Mr. Pollard who has now been in prison for 25 years.

Jonathan Pollard is the only person in the history of the United States to
receive a life sentence for passing classified information to an American
ally.

Based on my first-hand knowledge, I can say with confidence that the
severity of Pollard's sentence is a result of an almost visceral dislike of
Israel and the special place it occupies in our foreign policy on the part
of my boss at the time, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

Secretary Weinberger submitted two affidavits to the court in order to
convince the judge to give Pollard a harsher sentence than the one requested
by the government, despite Pollard admitting guilt, plea bargaining and
cooperating with the government. The government committed to not seeking a
life sentence but due to the Weinberger Affidavits, the redacted version of
which I have read, Mr. Pollard received a disproportionate life sentence.

Secretary Weinberger omitted his crucial involvement in the Pollard case
from his memoirs and when asked by the famed investigative journalist Edwin
Black, about the omission, Weinberger indifferently responded, "Because it
was, in a sense, a very minor matter, but made very important." Asked to
explain, Weinberger continued, "As 1 say, the Pollard matter
was comparatively minor. It was made far bigger than its actual
importance." When asked why this was so, Weinberger replied "I don't know
why-it just was."

Mr. Pollard was not charged with harming America and has repeatedly
expressed remorse for his actions. Furthermore, the average sentence for
his offense is 2-4 years and today the maximum sentence is 10 years.
Justice would best be served by commuting Pollard's sentence to the time he
has already spent in Sincerely,

Lawrence J. Korb