Judge sentences US civil liberties lawyer Lynne Stewart to 10 years

[Hannah Bell]

In a new and vicious attack on Lynne Stewart, on July 15, Federal District Judge John G. Koeltl resentenced the disbarred civil liberties attorney to 10 years in prison on trumped-up charges of assisting terrorism. The charges arise out of her representation of a client in a terror-related case that dates back to 1995. Stewart, now 70 years old, was indicted in 2002, convicted in 2005 after a seven-month trial, and originally sentenced by Judge Koeltl in 2006 to a term of 28 months in prison. Koeltl’s sentencing statement four years ago amounted to a partial rebuke of the government, which had demanded a 30-year jail term for the attorney.

Her only crime was the violation of administrative guidelines that prohibited her from communicating between her client, Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, and the outside world, a mistake of the sort that previously would have led to nothing more than a reprimand at most. Stewart, who later confessed to naiveté and misjudgment, had during her appeal of Rahman’s conviction openly transmitted to the media a press statement from her client, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1995.

In November 2009, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction of Stewart, but went further, overturning the original sentence and ordering the lower court to reconsider the punishment. The appellate decision amounted to a virtual order for a longer sentence. At the same time, the judges also revoked Stewart’s bail and ordered her to report to prison. These unprecedented steps indicated anger at the highest levels of the state apparatus and a determination to make an example of this defendant.

Judge Koeltl apparently got the message. Speaking in the courtroom for about 45 minutes on July 15 on the facts of the case and the sentencing guidelines, he repeated his praise of Stewart’s work in representing the poor and unpopular over many decades and acknowledged having received more than 400 letters supporting her. But he ruled that she had perjured herself and shown “a lack of remorse” that meant “the original sentence was not sufficient.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/stew-j17.shtml

[Heidi]

1. This is essentially a death sentence.

:thumbsdown:

[leftstreet]

2. This is sickening

Sadly, it's not surprising

K&R

[Hannah Bell]

3. this is what happens to people who actually buck the system, as opposed to try to

improve it around the edges.

radical v liberal

[Jim Sagle]

4. Better ditch that bearded avatar and go with something that's still approved.

FDR's still OK. For now. ;)

[seattleblue]

5. This is disgusting.

[upi402]

6. Where is my country?

It's been stolen. This intimidates others I bet. Something you make a stand about today can be a death sentence in 10 years of fascist slide.