Radical Activists Lawyer Guilty

Stewart was found guilty, and then continued to say her violation of the law was the right thing to do.

"I would do it again -- it's the way a lawyer is supposed to behave," Stewart told a scrum of reporters, television cameramen and dozens of chanting supporters. "When you put Osama bin Laden in a courtroom and ask the jury to ignore it, you're asking a lot," she said, noting that prosecutors had played a tape of the terrorist leader vowing to "spill blood" unless Stewart's jailed client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, was released.

"I know I committed no crime," she said.

Ummm, I though violating court orders was a crime.

But prosecutors said Stewart did not simply push the envelope -- she consciously broke the law by informing Islamic guerrillas in Egypt five years ago that Rahman no longer favored a cease-fire with the Egyptian government.

And

Stewart and her co-defendants were accused of scheming to obtain Rahman's release. She was found guilty of trying to cover up secret conversations between Rahman and his followers and violating federal regulations by publicly announcing in 2000 that the cleric had withdrawn his support for a cease-fire between the Egyptian government and the Islamic Group -- a fundamentalist organization that carried out terrorist attacks on tourists and police officers.

Essentially, Stewart was accused of conspiring to provide personnel to the terrorists by making Rahman and his words available. Rahman, imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in Colorado, is prohibited from contacting his followers.

This seems to be turning into a defense of violation of the law when pushing your or your clients political agenda. Get this article's statement on the subject.

Activist attorney and radio talk show personality Ron Kuby, who once represented Stewart's client Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, said the verdict will intimidate attorneys handling unpopular political clients.

"It makes it that much more easier for the government to intimidate activist lawyers," Kuby said. "The threat of 20 years incarceration is a terrible deterrent against zealous advocacy."

Kuby, who, along with the late William Kunstler, has represented his share of political clients, said he would continue to help unpopular litigants. But he said other lawyers, faced with criticism from the media, their families and other attorneys, might choose not to push a client's cause vociferously.

"It reflects the tenor of the times," said Jonathan Marks, who is representing Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad in a terrorism-related case in federal court in Brooklyn.

Marks said the Stewart verdict illustrates the tremendous prejudice faced by people linked to Islamic fundamentalism.

Well, yes , the finding should restrain activitist lawyers from "breaking the law." convenient how this is all about prejudice against Islam and not about the fact that this lawyer clearly violated standing court orders and federal law. Not to mention that it is intimidation of the government toward activist lawyers. I could have sworn that by being a lawyer you were supposed to be practicing the law that is written down, not making up what you think it should be.

This article has the shocked response of some Stewart supporters. I especially like this one.

The guilty verdicts shocked her supporters. "I'm leaving the country," an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Matthew Strugar, said.

BYE, Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
And this one.

"What a mess," a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, Michael Letwin, said. "This is a chilling blow to public dissent, public dissent against the government, and the attorney-client privilege."

"Chilling Blow to Public Dissent" or just ensuring that lawyers follow the law like all the rest of us. As for the attorney-client privilege, that doesn't include an allowance to aiding and abetting terrorists. By this lawyers remark you'd be able to bomb the judges house and defend yourself as performing under attorney-client privilege.

This case has been going on for a long time and I'm very happy with the result. Now let's hope they throw the book at her and disbar her.


UPDATE: New Sisyphus posts a good commentary on this Here.