On July 15, 2010, radical lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced to ten years in prison for doing her job honourably and ethically. Reactionary judges in a higher court denounced her original sentence of 28-months as too lenient.
The entire case against Stewart rests on a fabricated charge of aiding terrorism. It’s based on a press release she made 10 years ago for a convicted former client, Sheik Omar Rahman, whom she defended at a trial in 1995.
Her supporters dub the date “a day of infamy” and say she “has been buried alive.” Later that month Stewart sent an open letter. In it she said: “Last Thursday, Federal Judge John Koeltl attempted to bury me alive. Acting for the Government and Judges of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, he sentenced me at their demand to more than five times the term he originally thought ‘right and just.’ With his new sentence, of 10 years, I am buried in the prison industrial complex until I am nearly 80 years old, if I make it. But, believe me, I intend to lift the dirt off and — even if weakened and wounded — regain my voice and strength!” She concluded her open letter: “I miss many things but most of all being part of the challenge to make lasting change in my lifetime by ending the scourge of imperialism and its endless wars and exploitation for ourselves and all the peoples of the world.”
The determination of Stewart’s supporters, including the Freedom Socialist Party, to struggle for her appeal against this outrageous sentence has no limits. The imprisonment of this heroic lawyer for the poor and the persecuted is a travesty of justice.
What You Can Do
Help spread the word — pass this newsletter on to a friend.
Donate: You can contribute donations to Lynne’s defence, C/- Freedom Socialist Party, PO Box 308, Brunswick Vic 3056.
Write to Lynne Stewart #53504-054 MCC-NY 150 Park Row New York, NY 10007, U.S.A.
Keep up to date at www.lynnestewart.org/
