Outrageous Outrage

Today at the school, our branch of the National Lawyer’s Guild is holding a day of outrage over the recent conviction of Lynne Stewart. For those of you who don’t know, Lynne Stewart is a civil rights attorney. She was representing Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a convicted terrorist (convicted in association with the World Trade Center bombing). As a part of her representation, she was required to sign a special document called a special administrative measure, or SAM, that stated she would not pass messages from her client to third parties.

She was accused of having passed messages on to her client’s organization, The Islamic Group, and of using time with the client to allow the interpreter to take statements from Rahman to pass on, including the issuance of a fatwah against the Jews. She was convicted by a jury of her peers.

So, what’s up with the outrage? Lawyers are expected to hold themselves to a high ethical standard. Lawyers are expected to follow the law. She had agreed to abide by certain rules, and then she broke her word. She was caught, prosecuted, and convicted. Silencing an advocate is not the goal of the administration, nor the goal of the Department of Justice, who prosecuted Ms. Stewart. It can't be alleged in this case, because what she was doing was not advocating for her client. I think the goal is to punish people who break the law, and the outrage seems misplaced, to say the least.

Nor was this decision rushed. The jury took thirteen days to return a verdict – guilty.

So excuse me if I’m talking today in class, responding to questions, and asking some of my own. I’m not at all outraged that the system put in place by the Constitution seems to be working. My outrage is reserved for someone who willfully, purposefully degrades, demeans, and betrays the public's trust in attorneys, who breaks her word and breaks the law, and expects to get away with it.

See more Here, and here. And my good friend, Mellow-Drama has a good post, and has spoken with someone close to the prosecution. See that here.