21 July 2010By Jeff Mackler
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.
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. Koeltl recommended that Stewart serve her
sentence in Danbury, Connecticut's minimum security
prison. A final decision will be made by the Bureau of
Prisons.
Stewart will remain in Manhattan's Metropolitan
Correctional Center for 60 days to prepare an appeal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stewart's attorneys 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 media with
no government reprisal. Clark was an observer in
Koeltl's courtroom. When he testified in support of
Lynne during her trial one overzealous prosecutor
suggested that he too be subject to the conspiracy
charges. The more discreet team of government lawyers
quietly dropped the matter.
As worst in such matters, government officials refuse
defense attorneys client visiting rights until an
agreement on a contested interpretation of a SAM is
reached. This was the case with Stewart and her
visiting rights were eventually restored with no
punishment or further action. Indeed, when the matter
was brought to then Attorney General Janet Reno, the
government declined to prosecute or otherwise take any
action against Stewart.
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.
Koeltl took the occasion to lecture Stewart regarding
the first words she uttered in front of a bevy of
media outlets 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 her to a 30-year term,
effectively a death sentence for Lynne, aged 70, a
diabetic and recovering breast cancer victim in less
than excellent health.
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 defense was that
while she fully understood that 28 months behind bars,
separating from her "family, friends and comrades," as
she proudly stated, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Courage is a rare quality in the capitalist judiciary.
For every defiant decision made, usually driven by a
change in the political climate and pressed 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.
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!
Write to Lynne at:
Lynne Stewart 53504-054
MCC-NY 2-S
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007
For further information call Lynne's husband, Ralph
Poynter, leader of the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
718-789-0558 or 917-853-9759
Send contributions payable to:
Lynne Stewart Organization
1070 Dean Street
Brooklyn, New York, 11216
(Jeff Mackler is the West Coast Director of the
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee.)
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments