Obama's Harvard mentor asks him to free Pollard

Charles Ogletree, a professor who mentored President Obama at Harvard Law School, has written a letter to the President asking him to free Jonathan Pollard.

Ogletree, who directs the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard, was Obama's professor and his wife Michelle's and the president still considers him his mentor and friend.

"I have written President Obama seeking a pardon for Jonathan Pollard," Ogletree wrote. "I hope the president grants the wishes of many who have supported a pardon for Mr. Pollard." White House and State Department officials said Wednesday that they had received Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's letter requesting clemency for Pollard and were considering the matter.

"We have received the letter and will review it," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said, declining to provide a timeframe or any further details on the review process.

Similarly, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the State Department had received the letter but refrained from commenting further.

Will Obama listen?