Pollard was a spy for a friendly state, and wisely or not, our judicial system distinguishes between spies for hostile and friendly states. On Weinberger's word, the judge rejected the prosecution's deal and imposed the life sentence. The Weinberger document, however, was then and has since remained secret, and as a result, Americans know nothing of the judge's grounds for his decision. A year or so ago, when Pollard was preparing a clemency petition, not even his attorney, who had been cleared by the government to see classified information, was permitted to review Weinberger's declaration. The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees to any accused an open trial, a right designed to allow the citizenry to monitor the fairness of the judicial process.
Lawyers acknowledge that the courts have never articulated a comparable doctrine for sentencing.
Still, a sense of fairness strongly suggests that a person should not be committed to prison for life without the public knowing why. The government's strategy has been to leak information about Pollard's crime to the press. Reliable as the Times's sources may be, they are no substitute far formal evidence. The press has reported that Pollard provided data used in Israel's 1985 bombing of the PLO headquarters in Tunis. The press has even told us that, from prison, Pollard continued to supply Israel with secrets, though most of his time has been served in solitary confinement.