The nonexistent Jewish Lives Matter movement would not be surprised by the newest defeat for Jonathan Pollard.
Last Thursday in a dreary New York courtroom, a liberal judge who is an Obama administration appointee, refused to loosen parole conditions for Mr. Pollard.
Among other restrictions, his lawyers say two have prevented him from being hired as a financial analyst. His work computers are closely monitored. So are his whereabouts.
He was released on parole last November after serving 30 years, 7 in solitary confinement.
The median sentence for Americans who spy for enemy countries is 2 to 4 years.
Mr. Pollard, who looks considerably older after prison, turned 62 years old last week. Obviously he remains a broadband security threat to blow away at least all 50 states, and perhaps sizable chunks of the outside world if not more. Maybe the moon and the sun.
Because he is a Jew, Mr. Pollard, an intelligence analyst for the government, was sentenced to life in prison in 1986. His crime: He spent a year and a half relaying secret information to Jerusalem, an ally at the time.
Had Jonathan Pollard been Jonathan O’Brien or Jonathan Mohammad Alivi, he could have walked into and out of prison in the same day – for a far worse crime.
On the Heinous Scale, Mr. Pollard’s crime may weigh a pound.
Hassan Abu-Jihaad, an al-Qaida operative, drew 10 years, the maximum contemporary sentence for spying for enemy countries. Maybe it is more if you spy for Israel.
Mohammad Reza Alivi, a naturalized citizen born in Iran, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for taking computer software to harmless Iran that he obtained at the plant where he worked for 17 years.
Mohammad said he was sorry. Judge Wake, who may not have been, reportedly said “that’s okay. You’re not Jewish, are you?”
