“William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe”: (New documentary, clip)

[EFerrari]

“William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe”: New Documentary Examines Life, Legacy of Famed Radical Attorney

A new documentary looks at a man once described as the most hated and most loved lawyer in America: the late William Kunstler. We play excerpts of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe and speak to the film’s co-directors, Kunstler’s daughters Emily and Sarah Kunstler.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/12/william_kunstler_disturbing_the_universe

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Film site:

http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com/

William Kunstler



William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 - September 4, 1995) was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients. Kunstler was a director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the co-founder of the Law Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the "leading gathering place for radical lawyers in the country".<1>

Kunstler's successful defense of the "Chicago Seven" made him the most famous and controversial lawyer in the United States.<1> Kunstler is also well-known for his frequent defense of members of the Catonsville Nine, Black Panther Party, Weather Underground Organization, the Attica Prison rioters, and the American Indian Movement.<1> He also won a de facto segregation case regard the District of Columbia's public schools and "disinterred, singlehandedly" the concept of federal removal jurisdiction in the 1960s.<1> Kunstler refused to defend right-wing groups like the Minutemen, on the grounds that: "I only defend those whose goals I share. I'm not a lawyer for hire. I only defend those I love".<1>

He was a polarizing figure: many on the right wished to see him disbarred; many of the left admired him as a "symbol of a certain kind of radical lawyer".<1> Even some other civil rights lawyers regarded Kunstler as a "publicity hound and a hit-and-run lawyer" who "brings cases on Page 1 and the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund, Inc. wins them on Page 68".<1> Legal writer Sidney Zion quipped that Kunstler was "one of the few lawyers in town who knows how to talk to the press. His stories always check out and he's not afraid to talk to you, and he's got credibility—although you've got to ask sometimes, 'Bill, is it really true?'".<1>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kunstler