Pollard's treachery, while disgusting, didn't cost any asset his or her life, that we know of, anyway. Ames and Hansens', OTOH, did. Those were assets that fed the West valuable information on technical intelligence, orders-of-battle, warfighting plans, etc. Hansen probably betrayed double agents in the KGB and GRU.
SECNAV John Lehman wanted all of the Walkers executed, and I'm sure it took his legal advisors some time to explain that their treachery wasn't capital. He also wanted Pelton, the traitor who betrayed IVY BELLS, executed.
When someone betrays the names of assets to an enemy, who then liquidates them, that person is just as responsible for their deaths as if they had pulled the trigger themselves. Walker's treason could have had war-winning implications for the Soviets, reason enough to send him to the gallows as Lehman wanted.
Spying on allies-everyone does it, but it's not as serious as when someone betrays agents to an enemy or compromises codes. Or, in the '50s, people like Klaus Fuchs or Ted Hall. Fuchs did ten years, while Hall wasn't arrested due to the need to keep the Venona COMINT program secret. Hall's co-workers, though...they felt he should've been shot.
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Treat everyone you meet with kindness and respect, but always have a plan to kill them.
Old USMC Adage
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