m in Israel,
The espionage law makes no distinction between civilians and military. The Rosenbergs were civilians, spying for a then-ally. John Walker, his brother Arthur, and Jerry Whitworth have been in prison longer than Pollard; Whitworth’s release date is when he will be 111 years old. Violating one provision of a plea agreement is like violating all of them — and the Pollards violated the gag order multiple times and in a particularly eggregious way. That infuriated the judge — not something that a person who has pleaded guilty should do — and the judge threw the book at them.
The real abuses of the Espionage Act were shortly after it was passed, during the Red Scare during Woodrow Wilson’s administration. Many Jews were caught up in it.