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</font><font size=4><b>Lynne Stewart and the Guantanamo Lawyers:
Same Fact Patterns, Same Opponent, Different Endings?<br>
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By Ralph Poynter<br>
<br><br>
In the Spring of 2002, Lynne Stewart was arrested by the FBI, at her home
in Brooklyn, for materially aiding terrorism by virtue of making a
public press release to Reuters on behalf of her client, Sheik Abdel Omar
Rahman of Egypt. This was done after she had signed a Special
Administrative Measure issued by the Bureau of Prisons not permitting her
to communicate with the media, on his behalf. <br>
<br>
In 2006, a number of attorneys appointed and working pro bono for
detainees at Guantanamo were discovered to be acting in a manner that
disobeyed a Federal Judge's protective court order. The adversary
in both cases was the United States Department of Justice.
The results in each case were very different.<br>
<br>
In March of 2010, a right wing group "Keep America Safe" led by
Lynn Cheyney, hoping to dilute Guantanamo representation and impugn the
reputations and careers of the volunteer lawyers, launched a
campaign. Initially they attacked the right of the detainees
to be represented at all. This was met with a massive denouncement
by Press, other media, Civil rights organizations ,and rightly so, as
being a threat to the Constitution and particularly the Sixth Amendment
right to counsel.<br>
<br>
A second attack on the Gitmo lawyers was made in the Wall Street Journal
of March 16. This has been totally ignored in the media and by
civil and human rights groups. This latter revelation about the
violations, by these lawyers, of the Judge's protective orders and
was revealed via litigation and the Freedom of Information Act.
These pro bono lawyers serving clients assigned to them at Gitmo used
privileged attorney client mail to send banned materials. They
carried in news report of US failures in Afghanistan and Iraq . One
lawyer drew a map of the prison. Another delivered lists to his
client of all the suspects held there. They placed on the internet a
facsimile of the badges worn by the Guards. Some lawyers "provided
news outlets with 'interviews' of their clients using questions provided
in advance by the news organizations." When a partner at one
of the large Wall Street law firms sent in multiple copies of an
Amnesty International brochure, which her client was to distribute to
other prisoners, she was relieved from her representation and barred by
the Military Commander from visiting her client.<br>
<br>
This case is significant to interpret not because of the right wing line
to punish these lawyers and manipulate their corporate clients to
stop patronizing such "wayward" firms. Instead it is
significant because, Lynne Stewart, a left wing progressive
lawyer who had dedicated her thirty year career to defending the
poor, the despised, the political prisoner and those ensnared by reason
of race, gender, ethnicity, religion , who was dealt with by the same
Department of Justice, in such a draconian fashion, confirms our deepest
suspicions that she was targeted for prosecution and punishment because
of who she is and who she represented so ably and not because of any
misdeed.<br>
<br>
Let me be very clear, I am not saying that the Gitmo lawyers acted in any
"criminal" manner. The great tradition of the defense bar is to
be able to make crucial decisions for and with the client without
interference by the adversary Government. <br>
<br>
I believe that they were acting as zealous attorneys trying to establish
rapport and trust with their clients. That said, the moment the
Department of Defense and the Department of Justice tried to remove Julia
Tarver Mason from her client, the playing field tilted. Ms Tarver
Mason was not led out of her home in handcuffs to the full glare of
publicity. There was no press conference. The Attorney
General did not go on the David Letterman show to gloat about the latest
strike in the War on Terror, the purge of the Gitmo lawyer...NO.
<br>
<br>
Instead an "armada" of corporate lawyers went to Court against
the Government. They, in the terms of the litigation trade, papered
the US District Courthouse in Washington D.C. They brought to
bear the full force of their Money and Power-- derived from the corporate
world--and in 2006 "settled" the case with the government,
restoring their clients to Guantanamo without any punishment at all, not
to say any Indictment. Lynne Stewart, without corporate connections
and coming from a working class background, was tried and convicted
for issuing, on behalf of her client, a public press release to
Reuters. There was no injury, no harm, no attacks, no deaths.
<br>
<br>
Yet that same Department of Justice that dealt so favorably and
capitulated to the Gitmo corporate lawyers, wants to sentence Lynne
Stewart to thirty (30) YEARS in prison. It is the equivalent of
asking for a death sentence since she is 70 years old.<br>
<br>
This vast disparity in treatment between Lynne and the Gitmo lawyers
reveals the deep contradictions of the system --those who derive power
from rich and potent corporations, those whose day to day work maintains
and increases that power--are treated differently. Is it because
the Corporate Power is intertwined with Government Power???<br>
<br>
Lynne Stewart deserves Justice... equal justice under law.
Her present sentence of 28 months incarceration (she is in Federal
Prison) should at least be maintained, if not made equal to the
punishment that was meted out to the Gitmo lawyers. The thirty year
sentence, assiduously pursued by DOJ under both Bush and Obama, is an
obscenity and an affront to fundamental fairness. They wanted to
make her career and dedication to individual clients, a warning, to the
defense bar that the Government can arrest any lawyer on any
pretext. The sharp contrasts between the cases of Lynne and
the Gitmo lawyers just confirm that she is getting a raw deal--one that
should be protested actively, visibly and with the full force of
our righteous resistance.<br>
<br>
Lynne Stewart will be re sentenced sometime in July, in NYC.<br>
<br>
Ralph Poynter is the Life partner of Lynne Stewart. He is presently
dedicated 24/7 to her defense, as well as other causes.<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:Ralph.Poynter@yahoo.com">Ralph.Poynter@yahoo.com</a><br>
<br>
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