Lynne Stewart;  defender of the people

Lynne Stewart, has had one passion in her life--the law.  She is a criminal defense attorney by training, who has defended the poor, and the unpopular, at times for little or no money in return, because she believes in the principles framed by the Constitution.  Some of her clients have included radicals and lately, Arabs and Muslims who were accused of the first World Trade Center bombings in 1995.  Now Lynne is on trial herself, literally maybe for her life.  She has been accused of supporting terrorism, because she has vehemently defended her clients' constitutional rights.  The case for the prosecution has relied on using Ms. Stewart's own words taken from newspaper articles, quotations taken out of context, as well as a list of books and newspaper clippings that were found at her office and residence, as evidence establishing her guilt.  The case for the prosecution is partly constituted by a reading list, which seeks to meet out a 30 year prison sentence. Although the judge has already thrown out the most serious accusations, Ms. Stewart still faces some serious charges.

According to a Lynne Stewart Defense Committee ‘press release’, “the indictment alleges that Lynne helped Abdel Rahman, one of her clients, send messages to his followers in Egypt. She is accused of violating a gag order, by communicating her client’s political views in a press release.” Lynne Stewart says in her defense that these allegations are untrue and “criminalize conduct protected by the First Amendment.” Lynne Stewart’s attorney Michael Tigar says of the case;

“This case has at least three fundamental faults. First it is an attack on the first amendment rights of free speech, free press and petition. Second this case is an attack on the effective assistance of counsel. Third, the ‘evidence’ in this case was gathered by wholesale invasion of private conversations, private attorney-client meetings, and private faxes, letters and e-mails. I have never seen such an abusive use of governmental power.”

Her court case is being heard, at the 40 Foley Square Federal courthouse in Manhattan, in the same courtroom where the Rosenbergs were tried for conspiracy to commit espionage nearly fifty years ago. The trial which began on May 17, 2004, will resume on August 16^th. Lynne Stewart supporters maintain a web site www.lynnestewart.org which details the case and provides daily updates.

V.S.

Posted  August 13, 2004

URL:  www.thecitizenfsr.org                     SM 2000-2004