Free Republic

PHOENIX -- One of two inmates accused of taking a pair of guards hostage in a prison watchtower said Friday he would protest a judge's ruling by not attending his trial next month. Ricky Wassenaar, charged with attempted murder and sexual assault in the January standoff, said he was reacting to a decision requiring him to wear electronic monitors during his trial. He is abandoning plans to represent himself, he said. Shackled and under the watch of six SWAT team members during a pretrial hearing Friday, Wassenaar asked that he be allowed inside the courtroom without any type of restraints...

The treatment of a Jew Jonathan Pollard about 18 years ago held a sensitive position in the United States intelligence community which gave him access to some classified information. Being a Jew, besides being a United States citizen, gave him an extra awareness about the dangers his Jewish people in Israel were facing, Israel being at the time classified as a United States friendly nation - certainly not an enemy state. Besides, there was a commitment during those days by the United States that they would pass on the intelligence information that would be vital for Israel's security to know....