On July 15, a federal judge resentenced civil rights
attorney Lynne Stewart to 10 years in federal prison. The sentence is over four
times the length of her initial sentence. Her new sentence, just like her
indictment and conviction before, is an outrage. It is a great miscarriage of
justice that should be condemned by all people.
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Lynne StewartIn 2005, Stewart was convicted of
“aiding terrorism” for transmitting the contents of a press statement
by her client, the Egyptian cleric Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, in 2000. She began
serving a 28-month sentence last November, although the Court of Appeals
remanded her case back to the original trial court judge, John Koeltl,
essentially ordering him to lengthen her sentence, alleging that she had lied
during her trial.
Stewart’s initial sentence angered
federal prosecutors. Judge Koeltl handed down 28 months, although prosecutors
wanted a 30-year sentence. For this resentencing hearing, Obama administration
Justice Department prosecutors again sought 30 years in prison for Stewart.
As he resentenced her, Koeltl said
Stewart had “abused her position as a lawyer” and that her original
sentence was “not adequate.” He claimed Stewart had showed no remorse
and cited the appeals court mandate. Judge Koeltl handed down what Stewart said
could be a “death sentence.” Stewart is 70-years-old and
suffers from life-threatening medical problems.
Lynne Stewart should be set free immediately. Her imprisonment is a crime.
Her resentencing reveals the criminal
nature of the U.S. “justice” system. The system targets poor and
oppressed people, and condemns their fiercest advocates, like Stewart, to harsh
prison sentences.
The scapegoating of Stewart by the
government is part of an ongoing war against civil rights and civil liberties,
particularly targeting the Arab-American and Muslim communities. With her jailing the government’s message to all attorneys
is clear: “Do not represent Arab people and/or Muslims.”
It is no coincidence that the U.S. government recently decided to try some of
the Guantanamo defendants in New York. Stewart said that the timing of this
decision, “coming as it does on the eve of the arrival of the tortured men from
offshore prison in Guantanamo,” was intended to intimidate lawyers who would be
defending these men.
The war on civil rights and
liberties has intensified in recent months under the Obama administration. In
the last year alone, the government has seized mosques in the United States,
and implanted agent provocateurs, set up sting operations, and carried out FBI
assassinations targeting the Muslim community and its leaders in the United
States.
The same government oversees the
occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, in which millions of Arab and Muslims have
been killed.
Lynne Stewart is not a criminal.
Throughout her life, she has always spoken out for justice. She has sacrificed
and put her life on the line to defend oppressed people.
Free Lynne Stewart!
