Former Attorney General Mukasey: Pardon Pollard

More voices for freeing Pollard:

Former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey sent a letter to US President Barack Obama calling for Jonathan Pollard's sentence to be commuted to the time he has already served - 25 years.

"[Pollard] has not been alleged by anyone to have had any motive to harm the United States," Mukasey wrote Obama in the letter that was released Wednesday. "In these circumstances, a life sentence can only be considered utterly disproportionate to the crime."

"I had occasion myself to consider life sentences, and indeed to impose them," Mukasey wrote. "In more than 18 years on the bench, I imposed such sentences on four defendants," he went on. "Two of these had committed double murders and the two others were convicted of terrorist acts. The accusations against Pollard are not even close in their severity to those kids of crimes."

Mukasey noted that Pollard had passed information to a friendly country without intention to harm the US. "I think it would be proper for you to use your power as the President if the United States to release the man who has already paid a price far beyond what the severity of his deeds required."