No Jew’s freedom should come with a price tag - opinion

An open letter urges Miriam Adelson to ask President Trump to pardon Ari Teman, arguing that clemency should not depend on wealth. The piece cites legal experts who claim Teman's prosecution was flawed and raises concerns about disproportionate sentencing of Jewish defendants in federal cases.

An open letter published as an opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post calls on Dr. Miriam Adelson to urge President Donald Trump to pardon Ari Teman, a Jewish activist who founded the volunteer network JCorps and was recognized as a North American Jewish Community Hero. The letter argues that Teman's prosecution was deeply flawed, citing legal scholars such as Lawrence Lessig, Alan Dershowitz, and others who have publicly supported clemency. It highlights reports that pursuing presidential clemency can involve six-figure fees, raising concerns that justice is becoming accessible only to the wealthy. The piece also calls for an independent study into whether Jewish defendants receive disproportionately harsh federal sentences compared to non-Jews. The author, Hallel Silverman, frames the appeal within Jewish tradition of pidyon shvuyim (redeeming captives) and argues that the same urgency applied to hostages abroad should apply to those in the justice system. The letter is cosigned by several activists and community leaders.