A U.S. district court judge on Thursday rejected a request by Anne Henderson Pollard to be transferred from a Minnesota prison facility to an institution where she could receive better medical treatment.
Judge Harry MacLaughlin of the Fourth U.S. District Court in Minneapolis approved the medical treatment she has been receiving as an inmate in the Federal Medical Center prison facility in Rochester, Minn.
He also upheld last month’s decision by a prison court magistrate imposing a 24-hour medical watch on Pollard, whose husband, Jonathan, is serving a life prison sentence after being convicted of spying for Israel.
The ruling is the latest setback for Anne Pollard, who has complained of a variety of digestive and skin disorders during her incarceration.
Pollard is serving two concurrent five-year terms in federal prison for being an accessory after the fact to unauthorized possession of national defense information and being part of a conspiracy to receive and embezzle government property.
In his five-page ruling, MacLaughlin conceded that the court was “troubled” by the around-the-clock watch, which was imposed on Pollard for fear that she would inflict injury upon herself. But he said there was “adequate evidence to support why the watch was imposed.”
The court also overruled Pollard’s claim that her treatment by her prison doctor showed “deliberate indifference” to her medical needs, although her doctor “may have reacted poorly to petitioner’s assertive demeanor and frustration with her illness.”
The judge said that Pollard’s continued incarceration at the Minnesota facility also did not constitute deliberate indifference to her needs. Pollard had requested a transfer back to a minimum security prison in Danbury, Conn.
“The court is not without sympathy for the plight of Mrs. Pollard. However, it should be borne in mind that Mrs. Pollard is a convicted felon,” said MacLaughlin.
“Incarcerated persons simply do not have the same discretionary choices as those who are not incarcerated,” he added.
Pollard’s lawyer, Thomas Nelson, said he was disappointed by MacLaughlin’s ruling, but said he appreciated the judge’s words of sympathy for Pollard. He vowed to continue to press the Bureau of Prisons “to treat Mrs. Pollard in a caring and humane way.” He did not rule out the possibility of a further appeal.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
