Washington – President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others, The Associated Press learned Monday.
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The new round of White House pardons are Bush’s first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list include drug offenses, income tax evasion, bank embezzlement and violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Bush has been stingy during his time in office about handing out such reprieves.
Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That’s less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.
On the latest pardon list were:
- Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo.
- Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D.
- Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill.
- Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas.
- Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va.
- Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga.
- Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C.
- Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla.
- William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas.
- Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla.
- Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala.
- Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles.
- Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas.
- Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark.
Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit.
Under the Constitution, the president’s power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.
Some high-profile individuals, such as Michael Milken, are seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption — former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards — are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.
One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.
If Bush were to pardon anyone involved, it would provide protection against criminal charges, particularly for people who were following orders or trying to protect the nation with their actions. But it would also be highly controversial.
At the same time, Obama advisers say there is little — if any — chance that his administration would bring criminal charges.
Ill be the first-WHY NOT POLLARD??????????
or Rubashkin
because he’s jewish
I’LL BE THE SECOND. WHY NOT JONATHAN POLLARD?!
I will be the first to ask why Polard
None of the pardons were for anyone serving a life sentence, or anything near it. (The longest prison sentence for any of them was three years.) A cocaine dealer serving a 30 year sentence had his sentence commuted after 15 years. Commutation, and not a pardon, may be the best that Jonathan Pollard can hope for if this pattern continues. (He could also be released on parole, without Presidential action, but would need to apply and has never done so.)
Pollard has a bigger chance of being pardoned by Obama then Bush, Republicans never pardoned many Jews while democrats have a great history of pardoning Jews, Remember Clinton?
The above list does contain even one Jewish name
Yeah, why didn’t Clinton Pardon Pollard after he promised to?
Thank you bush, i’ll always remember you as the bushy president who had moments of wildfire, windy hurricanes, tornadoes, floods etc etc.
Clinton came close to pardoning Pollard, but facing the threat of mass resignations from the intelligence community, he changed his mind at the last moment.
Pollard was even moved in anticipation of his impending release.
The quieter we are about a pardon for Pollard at this time, the greater his chances of getting one. If too much is said, the media will publicize it in a negative way and Bush will feel too much pressure to act on Pollard’s behalf. If if remains quiet, Bush could grant Pollard a pardon just before he leaves office.
Polarad is not hero of the Jewish people. He took money for what he did.
He did it for money.
you dont need to be convected in order to get pardoned
Pollard is obviously a weid case… Didn’t Joe Lieberman look at it and find it not worthy of a pardon (not that it was his call)? I could be wrong. But then again, other people got lighter sentences for worse cases. There is something else going on besides him being Jewish. Pollard had a great lawyer, Ted Olson.
Clinton should have pardoned him… But Pollard’s wife wasn’t giving a lot of money to the Clinton Library and Massage Parlor. Speaking of which, Marc Rich, who ran away before sentencing, was pardoned. As others have correctly pointed out, you need to be convincted to get a a pardon. I remember the Marc Rich pardon, escpecially since Eric Holder, a person Obama may appoint as Attorney General, has his fingerprints all over this crazy case. Back to Rich… I know people who thought it was great because he donated money to Israel, including Birthright. So I aked, what would you think of me if I stole money but gave some to a yeshiva or shul? I’m still a thief. Tzeddakah can’t save me from that.
Mr. 49er said: “he’ll have 2 wait 4 obama to pardon him…”
Why, aren’t you playing judge & jury! You already have the poor nebbach tried & convicted & he hasn’t even had his day in court yet! Arent’ you jumping the gun? Or maybe you think Mr. U.S. Attorney has an airtight case against him……..!
Personally, I don’t think even Obama is so stupid to pardon someone in a federal bank fraud case. Sends a very bad message to the honest people out there.
Fig Pue III? 3 generations wanted to give this name to their sons? They should be arrested for that alone!
Fahrfrumt (#37): No, YOU are wrong. Pollard did take money — in fact, before he spied for Israel he offered his services to Red China and apartheid South Africa. Read some books on the subject. Once he was caught and sentenced, suddenly he became SuperJew. Read Wolf Blitzer’s book “Territory of Lies” or Ronald Olive’s “Capturing Jonathan Pollard” if you want a glimpse into his character and motives. Stop making him into some sort of Jewish hero.
Pollard not only got paid regularly by Israel, with money, jewelry and other perks, tthe sheer volume of what he stole was mind-boggling. The following three paragraphs are from a transcript of the investigative series NOVA:
“For his initial transaction Pollard was given a $10,000 diamond and sapphire ring for his fiancée, Anne Henderson, and paid over $10,000 in cash. Spymaster Avi Sella also agreed to pay Pollard $1,500 a month for his espionage activities as long as they continued.
“For about a year after the time Pollard met Avi Sella, he gathered computer printouts, satellite photographs, and classified documents from his department three times a week and brought them to various Washington apartments. There, they were copied and returned to Pollard, who restored them to the Navy the following day. In exchange for his services Pollard received, in addition to the agreed salary, a lavish collection of gifts for himself and his wife, including a honeymoon in a private compartment aboard the Orient Express.
“By his own estimates Pollard passed to his Israeli handlers more than 800 classified publications and more than 1,000 cables, probably the largest cache of materials ever passed through espionage. “
where are all the the famous strictly by law guys ?
polard broke the law
he should be jailed to the max
To show how stupid Pollard’s advisors have been:
He was first eligible for parole in 1995 after serving ten years of his sentence. They claim that he did not apply because if he had been turned down he would be ineligible for another 15 years, even though there is nothing on the US Department of Justice internet site that describes parole regulations that would indicate such. 13 years have now passed and he still is in prison. The worst thing that could have happened had he applied for parole in 1995 is that he would still be in prison today. Well, the worst thing has happened. We do not know what would have happened at a parole hearing because there has not been one.
The question has to be raised, who is benefitting by keeping him from applying for parole? And does pidyon shvuyim apply to someone who won’t take steps himself to get out of prison? (I think the answer is yes, but the case is troubling nevertheless.)
Text “free Pollard” to 248-259-6829 to show support for Jonathan Pollard before Bush leaves office. please text to Your whole phone book, don’t stop the chain.
I will answer many of the above why not Jonathan Pollard, because Hashem is waiting for us to make a world wide Yom Tefeliah to pray for his release. Lev Melochim V’sorim BeYad Hashem Bush is doing what Hashem has puts into his mind, Jonathan Pollard is being used as a wake up call to all of us to do a real Teshuva this includes all Jews around the globe no matter of our background, religious or not no difference, we all have to unite and pray with all our might to Hashem, the results will be that he will be out of prison immediately, united back with his family in Eretz Yisroel
“The above list does [not] contain even one Jewish name.”
If he does pardon any Jews, hopefully it will not be someone who brought shame and disgrace to the Jewish community like Marc Rich, a fugitive and tax cheat who made billions of dollars trading oil with the (Khomeini-era) Iranian enemy who had sworn to destroy both the “Great Satan” (America) and the “Little Satan” (Israel), Rich was pardoned not on the merits — he never showed any remorse or contrition — but because his wife gave Slick Willie a big ($500K) contribution for his so-called “library” (there are also some stories that Clinton, who apparently NEVER learns from his past mistakes, may have had some sort of personal relationship with the blonde, glamorous and quite ditzy Mrs. Rich).
And don’t give me stories about all the tzedaka Marc Rich gave and what a great baal chesed he was — the money was clearly tainted, ill-gotten gain, and Torah says the giver of such money gets no z’chus from such a tainted gift.
The President will not pardon Pollard,not because he is jewish but becuase he is a TRAITOR.He spied for another country, it does not matter what country it was.
what in the world is everyone’s obsession with pollard??? just cuz he’s jewish? do u know how many jews are in jail? frum jews! innocent ones! why the fuss over some non frum jew who gave over american secrets? stop being like sheep- think for yourself and there’s no reason to be so passionate about pollard
why not nat schlasinger why not the 3 fathers of big familys the kids waiting for there father to come home and they were the most biggest bally tzuduka in our nations speical for our brothers in isreal and what they realy did was doing what there father(should rest in peace) askem to do the famos jackobowitz family
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Jonathan Pollard should be freed on these conditions.
1- he must remain in his house
2- he can not make a phone call without being monitored
3- all people visiting him are subject to video recording.
all of that is for the safety of the world. To be frank. I don’t want Israel to have access to what we do. They should minds their own damn business. The conditions I list are completely reasonable.
THE CRIME:
Jonathan Pollard was arrested in 1985 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver classified information to the State of Israel.
Jonathan Pollard never had a trial. At the request of both the U.S. and Israeli governments, he entered into a plea agreement, which spared both governments a long, difficult, expensive and potentially embarrassing trial. Jonathan Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution. Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled – in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government. On March 4, 1987, he was sentenced to the maximum penalty, life in prison.
A DISPROPORTIONATE SENTENCE:
Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States and he was never indicted for compromising codes, agents, or war plans. Jonathan Pollard was indicted on only one charge: one count of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States.
Jonathan Pollard’s life sentence is grossly disproportionate when compared to the sentences of others who spied for allied nations. No one else in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally – only Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is two to four years. His life sentence is also disproportionate when compared to the sentences of those who committed far more serious offenses by spying for enemy nations.
EXPRESSIONS OF REMORSE:
Jonathan Pollard has repeatedly expressed his remorse publicly and in private letters to the President and others. He regrets having broken the law, and is sorry he did not find a legal means to act upon his concerns for Israel.
Sign The Petition Today!
For more information about the Pollard case, visit http://www.jonathanpollard.org
Sorry, but that simply isn’t true. Pollard did not cooperate fully with the United States.
And while he pled guilty to a lesser charge, the evidence is compelling that he was perfectly willing to sell US secrets to multiple nations (including Pakistan and South Africa), and there is very good reason to believe that the information he sold to Israel included the 10 volume crown jewels of American Signal Intelligence.
Finallly, the plea agreement specified that the judge was not limited in the sentence imposed.
If Jonathan Pollard feels remorse, why doesn’t he apply for the parole he is eligible for?