Lynn Stewart II

Following up on last week's post about Lynn Stewart: The Legal Ethics Forum has a couple of great posts on the subject. First, Lynn Stewart's Betrayal argues that:

For those of us who believe that criminal defense attorneys are sometimes targeted unfairly by prosecutors, Stewart’s status as the test case deprives us of the high moral ground, makes her unusual case appear to be the paradigm case, and detracts public attention from the more urgent issues.  Stewart betrayed the criminal defense bar itself.

Author John Steele goes on to explain what he means, providing great insight into what was at stake in the Stewart trial and what might be its possible ramifications for criminal defense lawyers involved in terrorism/security-related trials. He also offers pointers to some of the key parts of the Stewart trial transcript. Now I only wish I had time to go read them. See also: A first reaction from Alaskablawg in which he says “it appears that this case is not so clear cut and there is reasonable grounds for disagreement about what this means.” For a more pointed perspective, see David Cole's article in The Nation, in which he argues that the Stewart case “case illustrates how out of hand things have gotten in the 'war on terrorism.'” The piece follows what to me looks like the obvious line—what Stewart did violated an agreement, but at worst that's a matter for professional discipline rather than criminal charges carrying possibly decades of prison time. Cole argues that proving otherwise was no easy task, but Ashcroft's DOJ was up to the task:

So how did the prosecution meet its burden? With classic McCarthy-era tactics: fearmongering and guilt by association.

Cole's conclusion is the best part:

Let me be clear: I think Stewart crossed the line from zealous advocacy to wrongful conduct. But she is no terrorist. At most she deserves a disciplinary proceeding before the bar. Sending her to prison will provide another statistic in the Justice Department's desperate effort to show results in the “war on terrorism,” but it will not make us any safer. One of the defining evils of terrorism is that it uses human beings' lives to send a political message. Has the Justice Department done any differently here?

Posted February 25, 2005 08:32 AM | law general