washington (jta) | A U.S. federal appeals court appears unwilling to give lawyers for Jonathan Pollard access to classified information they say would help in their appeals for clemency for the former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, now serving life in prison.
In oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this week, members of the three-judge panel repeatedly questioned whether the court could let Pollard’s attorneys see classified information for a clemency petition, suggesting it was outside the judicial process.
The court also seemed poised to rule against Pollard’s other motion, to seek a new sentencing hearing because of ineffective counsel, saying Pollard is asking for provisions beyond the normal appeals process.
“I think that’s a problem with Mr. Pollard’s litigation,” said a visibly frustrated Judge David Sentelle. “He thinks he’s unique.”
The appeals hearing is the latest in the battle to free Pollard, who was sentenced in 1987 after pleading guilty to spying for Israel.
Pollard’s attorneys and members of the American Jewish community lobbied hard for Pollard’s clemency during the Clinton administration as well as previous administrations. They argued that his life sentence was unjust because he had pled guilty and that it was harsher than sentences of other convicted spies who had worked for countries that were not allies of the United States.
If this appeal is denied, Pollard is likely to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
Israel, which granted Pollard citizenship in 1995, has also raised the clemency issue with successive American administrations. On Tuesday, March 15, the Israeli Knesset passed a resolution demanding that the government make the United States releasing Pollard a condition for Israel’s freeing more Palestinian prisoners.