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<font size=3>Note from RnB - Bob Lederer<br><br>
Thanks to Jeff Mackler,</font><font face="Georgia" size=3> West Coast
Director of the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee,</font> for this quick
and thorough account.<br><br>
One small caveat, however: I clearly heard the judge say (twice) that he
"recommended" (not "ordered") that Lynne be housed at
the Danbury, CT federal prison (about 3 hours from New York City), so she
would be close to her family. My understanding, which could be incorrect,
is that federal judges do not have the authority to dictate what prison
the person convicted must be sent to -- that decision is up to the Bureau
of Prisons of the U.S. Justice Department.<br><br>
Also I heard the judge order (I believe in this case it was an order)
that Lynne be given 60 more days at Metropolitan Correctional Center in
Manhattan to work on any appeal she may choose to file, before being
transferred to her ultimate prison destination.<br><br>
Finally, I remember that after the judge announced his decision to
sentence Lynne to 10 years, but before he formally pronounced the
sentence, he asked her if she wanted to say anything. She replied,
"I'm stunned," said that this was far different from the life
trajectory she had anticipated, and then added what Jeff reports:
that she felt bad that she "had let down" her supporters. Of
course it's really this repressive, unjust system that brutally let down
Lynne and lovers of justice everywhere.<br><br>
************************************<br>
<font face="Georgia" size=4><b>Lynne Stewart sentenced to ten years in
prison<br>
</b></font><font face="Georgia" size=3> <br>
BY JEFF MACKLER<br>
(Jeff Mackler is the West Coast Director of the Lynne Stewart Defense
Committee.)<br><br>
The full force of the U.S. criminal "justice" system came down
on innocent political prisoner, 30-year veteran human rights attorney and
radical political activist Lynne Stewart today, July 15, 2010.<br><br>
In an obviously pre-prepared one hour and twenty minute technical tour de
force designed to give legitimacy to a reactionary ruling Federal
District Court John Koeltl, who in 2005 sentenced Stewart to 28 months in
prison following her frame-up trial and jury conviction on four counts of
"conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism," re-sentenced Stewart to
120 months or ten years. Stewart will serve her sentence in Danbury,
Connecticut's minimum security prison.<br><br>
The jam-packed New York Federal District Court chamber observers where
Koeltl held forth let our a gasp of pain and anguish as Lynne's family
and friends were stunned - tears flowing down the stricken and somber
faces of many. A magnificent Stewart, ever the political fighter and
organizer was able to say to her supporters that she felt badly because
she "had let them down," a reference to the massive outpouring
of solidarity and defiance that was the prime characteristic of Lynne's
long fight for freedom.<br><br>
Judge Koeltl was ordered to revisit his relatively short sentence when it
was overturned by a two-judge majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit. Judges Robert D. Sack and Guido Calabresi ruled that
Koeltl's sentence was flawed because he had declined to determine whether
Stewart committed perjury when she testified at her trial that she
believed that she was effectively operating under a "bubble"
protecting her from prosecution when she issued a press release on behalf
of her also framed-up client, the blind Sheik Omar Abdel Rachman. Rachman
was falsely charged with conspiracy to damage New York state
buildings.<br><br>
Dissenting Judge John M. Walker, who called Stewart's sentence,
"breathtakingly low" in view of Stewart's "extraordinarily
severe criminal conduct" deemed the Second Circuit's majority
opinion "substantively unreasonable." Walker essentially sought
to impose or demand a 30-year sentence.<br><br>
The three-judge panel on Dec. 20, 2009 followed its initial ruling
with even tougher language demanding that Koeltl revisit his treatment of
the "terrorism enhancement" aspects of the law. A cowardly
Koeltl, who didn't need this argument to dramatically increase Stewart's
sentence, asserted that he had already taken it under consideration in
his original deliberations.<br><br>
Government prosecutors, who in 2005 sought a 30-year sentence, had
submitted a 155-page memorandum arguing in support of a 15-30 year
sentence. Their arguments demonstrated how twisted logic coupled with
vindictive and lying government officials routinely turn the victim into
the criminal.<br><br>
Stewart's attorneys countered with a detailed brief recounting the facts
of the case and demonstrating that Stewart's actions in defense of her
client were well within the realm of past practice and accepted
procedures. They argued that Koeltl properly exercised his discretion in
determining that, while the terrorism enhancement provisions of the
"law" had to be taken into consideration, the 30-year-prison
term associated with it was "dramatically unreasonable, overstated
the seriousness" of Stewart's conduct and had already been factored
into Koeltl's decision.<br><br>
Stewart's attorney's also argued convincingly in their brief that the
Special Administrative Measure (SAM) that Stewart was convicted of
violating by releasing a statement from her client to the media was well
within the established practice of Stewart's experienced and mentoring
co-counsels- former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and past American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee president Abdeen Jabarra. Both had
issued similar statements to the press with no government reprisal. Clark
was an observer in Koeltl's courtroom.<br><br>
As worst in such matters, government officials refuse defense attorneys
visiting rights with their clients until an agreement on a contested
interpretation of a SAM is reached. Indeed, in Stewart's case when the
matter was brought to then Attorney General Janet Reno, the government
declined to prosecute or otherwise take any action against
Stewart.<br><br>
But Koeltl, who had essentially accepted this view in his original
sentence, reversed himself entirely and proceeded in his erudite-sounding
new rendition of the law to repeatedly charge Stewart with multiple acts
of perjury regarding her statements on the SAM during her trial.
<br><br>
Koeltl took the occasion to lecture Stewart regarding the first words she
uttered in front of a bevy of media when she joyfully alighted from the
courthouse following the judge's original 28-month sentence. Said Stewart
at that time, "I can do 28 months standing on my head." A
few moments earlier Stewart, with nothing but a plastic bag containing a
toothbrush, toothpaste and her various medications, had stood before
Koeltl, who had been asked by the government to sentence Stewart to a 30
year term, effectively a death sentence for Lynne, aged 70, a diabetic
recovering breast cancer victim and less than excellent health.<br><br>
Koeltl dutifully followed the lead of the Second Circuit judges, who
feigned outrage that Stewart could possibly appear joyful that her life
was spared despite 28 months in prison. Koeltl insisted that Stewart's
remark was essentially contemptuous of his sentence and insufficient to
convince Stewart of the seriousness of her "crime." Lynne's
argument that while she fully understood that 28 months behind bars,
separating from her "family, friends and comrades," was a harsh
penalty, she was nevertheless "relieved" that she would not die
in prison. Koeltl needed a legal brick to throw at Lynne's head and
ignored her humanity, honesty and deep feeling of relief when she
expressed it to a crowd of two thousand friends, supporters and a good
portion of the nation's media.<br><br>
The same Judge Koeltl who stated in 2005, when he rendered the 28-month
jail term, that Lynne was "a credit to her profession and to the
nation," clearly heard the voice of institutionalized hate and
cruelty and responded in according with its unstated code. "Show no
mercy! Thou shall not dissent without grave punishment" in
capitalist America.<br><br>
Lynne was convicted in the post-911 generated climate of political
hysteria. Bush appointee, Attorney General John Ashcroft, decided to make
an example of her aimed at warning future attorneys that the mere act of
defending anyone whom the government charged with "conspiracy to aid
and abet terrorism," could trigger terrible consequences.<br><br>
On July 15 Judge Koeltl made the decision of his career. Known for his
meticulous preparation in such matters, and already having enraged the
powers that be with his "light" sentence of Stewart, he bent
full tilt to the reactionary political pressures exerted on him by the
court hierarchy. He had the option to stand tall and reaffirm his
original decision. The "law" allowed him to do so. He could
have permitted Lynne to leave prison in less than two years, recover her
health, and lead a productive life. His massively extended sentence,
unless overturned, will likely lead to Lynne's demise behind bars - a
brilliant and dedicated fighter sacrificed on the alter of an intolerant
class-biased system of repression and war.<br><br>
Courage is a rare quality in the capitalist judiciary. For every defiant
decision made, usually driven by a change in the political climate driven
forward by the rise of mass social protest movements, there are thousands
and more of political appointees that affirm the status quo, including
its punishment of all who struggle to challenge capitalist prerogatives
and power.<br><br>
Lynne Stewart stands tall among the latter. We can only hope that the
winds of change that are stirring the consciousness of millions today in
the context of an American capitalism in economic and moral crisis keeps
the movement for her freedom alive and well. The fight is not over! What
we do now remains critical. Lynne's expected appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court cannot be written off as absurd and hopeless. What we do
collectively to free her and all political prisoners and to fight for
freedom and justice on every front counts for everything!<br><br>
Write to Lynne at:<br>
Lynne Stewart 53504-054<br>
MCC-NY 2-S<br>
150 Park Row<br>
New York, NY 10007<br>
<br>
For further information call Lynne's husband, Ralph Poynter, leader of
the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee, at<br>
718-789-0558 or 917-853-9759.<br>
<br>
Send contributions payable to:<br>
<br>
Lynne Stewart Organization<br>
1070 Dean Street<br>
Brooklyn, New York, 11216<br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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