Lynne Stewart

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Lynne F. Stewart (born October 8, 1939) is an American radical activist. As an attorney she represented controversial, radical and often unpopular defendants.

In 2005, Stewart was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists ^[1] and sentenced to 28 months in prison. Her felony conviction led to her being automatically disbarred. She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.^[2]

Contents 1 Education 2 The Abdel-Rahman case 2.1 Sentencing submissions 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Education

Stewart was educated at Hope College, American University, and graduated with a B.A. in political science from Wagner College. She received a Masters in Library Science from Pratt Institute and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

[edit] The Abdel-Rahman case

Stewart was convicted of providing material support (through a press conference and allowing access by her translator) to a terrorist conspiracy to kill persons outside of the United States^{[citation needed]} and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government when acting as counsel to Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1996 of plotting terrorist attacks against various sites in the New York City area. Specifically, she was accused, in a federal grand jury indictment, of passing Rahman's blessing for a resumption of terrorist operations to his fundamentalist Muslim terrorist cell in Egypt after cell members inquired whether they should continue to honor a ceasefire that was in place against the Egyptian government.^[3] The material support charges were dismissed in the summer of 2003, but in November 2003 Stewart was re-indicted^[4] on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism. She was convicted on these charges.

Stewart had accepted the condition that in order to be allowed to meet with Abdel Rahman in prison she would not "use [their] meetings, correspondence, or phone calls with Abdel Rahman to pass messages between third parties (including, but not limited to, the media) and Abdel Rahman".

Stewart claims that the dispute was over one communication on behalf of her client to his supporters via a Reuters article, followed by a clarification after it appeared to have been misinterpreted. The clarification said: "I [Omar Abdel-Rahman] am not withdrawing my support of the cease-fire, I am merely questioning it and I am urging you, who are on the ground there to discuss it and to include everyone in your discussions as we always have done."^[5]

The evidence^{[clarification needed]} showed that, after Stewart issued the press release, she was told that Rifai Taha, an individual convicted of terrorism in Egypt who was associated with Osama bin Laden, viewed the press release as support of Taha's desire to return the Islamic Group to violence^{[citation needed]}. Nonetheless, Stewart disseminated another press release, reaffirming Abdel Rahman's withdrawal of support for the ceasefire.^{[citation needed]}

At trial, she was represented by Michael Tigar, a famous defense attorney who also represented Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case. Supporters of Stewart alleged that the government charged her for her speech in defending the rights of her client. They believed that Stewart's efforts to release communications from her client were part of an appropriate defense method to gain public awareness and support. They also expressed alarm that wiretaps and hidden cameras authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were used by the Government to gather evidence against her, which they called a violation of attorney-client privilege. George Soros' Open Society Institute also donated $20,000 to Stewart's legal defense fund in 2002.^[6]

On February 10, 2005, following a nine-month trial and thirteen days of jury deliberations, Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists and defrauding the U.S. government. Co-defendants Mohamed Yousry (whose first name is frequently misspelled "Mohammed") and Ahmed Sattar were found guilty as charged.[1]^[7] Her conviction meant automatic disbarment, and on October 16, 2006, judge John G. Koeltl sentenced Stewart to 28 months in prison.^[8] Yousry is free on bail pending appeal but Sattar is serving his sentence at the Federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.^[9]

[edit] Sentencing submissions

In a letter to the court dated September 26, 2006, Stewart affirmed that her actions were consistent with how she had always represented her clients, but that she had failed to recognize the difference in a post-2001 America and, in hindsight, should have been more careful to avoid misinterpretation. "I inadvertently allowed those with other agendas to corrupt the most precious and inviolate basis of our profession – the attorney-client relationship."^[10] The New York Times reported Stewart "acknowledged [...] that she knowingly violated prison rules and was careless, overemotional and politically naïve in her representation of a terrorist client.".^[11]

Stewart requested that the Court exercise the considerable sentencing discretion given to judges by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Booker and impose a non-custodial sentence. The government requested that the Court impose the maximum statutory penalty, stating, "We hope that this sentence of 30 years will not only punish Stewart for her actions, but serve as a deterrent for other lawyers who believe that they are above the rules and regulations of penal institutions or otherwise try to skirt the laws of this country."

Stewart's original sentencing was to be in July 2005 but Stewart's defense team had repeatedly asked for and received numerous adjournments (delaying sentencing for over a year) due to her needing treatment for breast cancer.

In explaining his refusal to either impose the 30-year sentence proposed by the prosecution or waive jail time entirely as Stewart had requested, the judge said that during her long career of representing unpopular clients Stewart had "performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation," but that her actions in this case constituted "extraordinarily severe criminal conduct"^[12]

Stewart is free on bail pending decision of her appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (courthouse in Manhattan). Briefs from both sides have been filed. Her web site states the appeal was orally argued January 29, 2008. At the same time the court heard the Government's appeal of the sentence as too lenient.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lynne Stewart & Me article from National Review Online