Stewart Still Claiming She was Railroaded

I really hope they find a really big book and throw it at her.

On Monday, Stewart, 67, was in court before the judge who was to decide whether she should join her former client behind bars for enabling him to communicate with his followers. Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Stewart was convicted in February 2005 of providing material support to terrorists. She had released a statement by Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who she represented at his 1995 trial and who was sentenced to life in prison for plots to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president.

In court papers, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl that Stewart's "egregious, flagrant abuse of her profession, abuse that amounted to material support to a terrorist group, deserves to be severely punished."

Stewart, whose sentencing was delayed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and underwent treatment, asked the judge for mercy.

"The government's characterization of me and what occurred is inaccurate and untrue," she wrote. "It takes unfair advantage of the climate of urgency and hysteria that followed 9/11 and that was re-lived during the trial. I did not intentionally enter into any plot or conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization."

Mixed with her trademark defiance "I am not a traitor" was a measure of contrition. After some soul searching, she wrote, she had concluded that a careless over-devotion to her clients "I am softhearted to the point of self-abnegation" was her undoing.

Give me a &$*%ing break. She knowingly violated her agreement with the court after being warned, and now it's all the fault of the post 9/11 environment. Sorry, she did break the law and aided a terrorist, thus she should go to jail.

"It's not just Lynn Stewart who is a victim, it's the Bill of Rights that's the victim," said Al Dorfman, 72, a retired lawyer who was among the Stewart supporters standing outside.

I would love to know the logic that he's holding up on that statement. You mean I can violate judicial orders and provide assistance to a terrorist, and then expect to have nothing happen. I don't see anything in the Bill of Rights that states that lawyers have the right to violate the law with impunity.

My prediction, she gets a very short term in a country club prison and then comes out as a martyr. Oh, and don't forget the book deal, always have to have one of those on the hook.


UPDATE:
Well what do you know, I got the term right.

Lynne F. Stewart, the firebrand lawyer who was charged as a terrorist for helping a client in prison on terrorism charges to communicate with his followers, was sentenced today to 28 months in federal prison, far less than the 30 years the government had sought.

Anyone want to take odds on when she gets paroled? Well that is if she actually ever goes to jail.

Of course, the Judge had to take a second to make some political commentary:

But in his remarks, the judge demonstrated that he did not believe Ms. Stewart represented the threat the government described.

There was “no evidence that any victim was in fact harmed” by her actions, the judge said. He also cited her long career as a “lawyer to the poor and the unpopular.”

“It is no exaggeration to say that Ms. Stewart performed a public service not only to the court but to the nation,” he said, adding that she did not chose her cases to become wealthy.

Ms. Stewart will be released on bail, pending an appeal that her lawyers are expected to file on her behalf.

Nice, now she's a sodding hero for defending the poor and unpopular. Gotta remember that, if you do some charity work you can perform illegal acts with nearly no sanction. Nice message judge.