WHY THE CASE OF LYNNE STEWART

SHOULD MATTER TO YOU

On the morning of April 9, 2002 agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
arrived in the front yard of the Brooklyn home of outspoken attorney, Lynne Steart to
arrest her! Simultaneously, as they hand"uffed her, the FBI invaded her #anhattan offi"e
and sear"hed for almost $2 hours! %hotographs of them leaving ith &o'es of papers and
files ere idespread in the media! (!S! Attorney )ohn Ash"roft himself fle to *e
+ork, for the announ"ement of Lynne,s arrest &oth at a Federal "ourt nes "onferen"e
and later that day, ith mu"h greater "overage, on the Late *ight ith -avid Letterman
television sho!

.he indi"tment against Lynne "harges her ith providing material support for
terrorism, and violating Spe"ial Administrative #easures /SA#S0 imposed &y the (!S!
Bureau of %risons, hi"h in"luded a gag order on Sheik A&del12ahman, ho Lynne
represented in his $993 trial! .he indi"tment "ame a full to years after the last alleged
a"t! .he &asis4 A pu&li" press release5 overheard, privileged attorney1"lient intervies
and iretapped "onversations ith the interpreter and paralegal on the "ase ho are also
"harged in this indi"tment!
Lynne pleads: Emphatially N!t "#ilty$
Lynne Steart has &een a defense attorney pra"ti"ing "riminal la for 26 years!
%rior to &e"oming a layer, Lynne as tea"her in the *e +ork 7ity S"hool system as a
"hildren,s li&rarian! Lynne is the mother of 8, stepmom to four and the grandmother of 6!
Lynne , as a layer, has alays &een a vigorous defender of her "lients, ho ranged
from the many poor people "aught in the "riminal 9usti"e system &y the e"onomi"s and:or
the ar on drugs to more ell knon politi"al defendants! .hese in"lude ; -avid <il&ert,
=eather (nderground, 2i"hard =illiams of the (nited Freedom Front, Larry -avis,
a">uitted &y reason of self defense of attempted murder of *+%O,s, Sekou Odinga,
Bla"k Li&eration Army and *asser Ahmed, released after &eing imprisoned for 8 ? years
on non1e'istent se"ret eviden"e! Lynne remains "ommitted to her "lients, as their
attorney, until they are no longer in the grasp of the State! .his is the ork of a "riminal
defense attorney!
%&i!& t! Septem'e& ((
th
and the hastily enated %at&i!t At$)
Lynne Ste*a&t *!#ld ne+e& ha+e 'een indited at all,
.he "harges against Lynne Steart "ome at a time hen the Bush
Administration:Ash"roft )usti"e -epartment are using the Septem&er $$
th
atta"k as a
vehi"le to mask their atta"k on the "ivil li&erties of all Ameri"ans, and the rights
under international la of many people of the orld .hrough the @%atriot A"tA
hi"h as for"e fed to 7ongress in the late eeks of Septem&er, 200$ and passed
into la in an atmosphere of trauma and fear 1 this administration has &een a&le to
demand and &e granted &road ne poers! .he Bush agenda had &een on shaky
ground after the "ontroversial @ele"tionA and "onse>uent Supreme 7ourt
@appointmentA of Bush and his minions to the presiden"y! After Septem&er $$
th
the opportunity arose for Bush:7heney:Ash"roft to push the "ountry even further to
the right and to move to "reate a poli"e state! .he %atriot A"t implements a num&er
of domesti" @antiterrorismA measures that enhan"e government surveillan"e poers
to ena&le the FBI and other la enfor"ers to intrude upon the priva"y of anyone
and everyone in the (nited States! (nder the guise of making us feel @safeA, the
A"t sa"rifi"es values that are at the "ore of demo"ra"y and thus at the "ore of our
7onstitution! .he A"t fosters detention and deportation of non"itiBens &ased on
their politi"al a"tivities and asso"iations! =hen the Bush administration la"ks
authoriBation from 7ongress it may self1authoriBe &y e'e"utive fiat, interim rules
and dire"tives all done in se"re"y! By a signature of Ash"roft, the administration
may monitor privileged "ommuni"ations &eteen federal detainees and their
attorneys "ompletely &ypassing )udi"ial s"rutiny! .his tharts the a&ility of
"riminal defendants to re"eive the effe"tive assistan"e of "ounsel to hi"h they are
entitled under the Si'th Amendment! (nder these same interim rules and dire"tives
there are ne guidelines for domesti" intelligen"e gathering that repeal the hard1
fought1 for1 reforms of the 7hur"h 7ommittee,s $96C findings that the FBI and the
7IA had engaged in domesti" spying and disruption of laful politi"al a"tivities
/7ointelpro0! .his and other manipulations of Bush et!al! have set &a"k esta&lished
7onstitutional and human rights! .his "ould only have happened &ehind the "loak
of fear engendered &y 9:$$!
- am he&e n!t 'ea#se the "!+e&nment *anted t! p#t me in .ail /!& 01 yea&s
'#t 'ea#se - ha+e /!#2ht /!& 3#stie in the United States /!& 01 yea&s,$
.he apparent goals of the Bush administration through their @%atriot A"tA is to
stifle dissent and dissuade all ho struggle for freedom and self1determination! One of
the rights under atta"k is the right to "ounsel! .he many detainees, ho have &een held
nameless in a makeshift prison at <uantanamo Bay, 7u&a under unspeaka&le "onditions
of "onfinement, are la&eled @unlaful "om&atantsA! .hey are not alloed attorneys!
After 9:$$ imprisoned Ameri"an %oliti"al %risoners and #uslims ere put in
administrative detention! #any are still &eing so held for une'plained @se"urityA reasons!
.he imprisonment and denial of "ounsel to to (!S! "itiBens portrayed as someho
"onne"ted to Afghanistan shos that "learly this administration &elieves that attorneys
are part of the pro&lem and that those hose responsi&ility it is to advo"ate for the rights
of the a""used and imprisoned need to &e "ontrolled and intimidated!
Why ta&2et Lynne Ste*a&t4
By targeting and indi"ting Lynne Steart the (!S! )usti"e -epartment hopes to
make an e'ample of an attorney ith a long history of progressive politi"al &eliefs as
ell as a reputation for vigorously advo"ating on &ehalf of those hose lives have &een
entrusted to her! Der arrest is meant as a signal to the defense &ar to "ease and desist
Bealous representation of persons "riminaliBed &y the <overnment!
-t is t! hill the de/ense 'a& and /!&e thei&
!n/!&mane t! the 2!+e&nment5s t#ne
Lynne Steart is represented &y Attorney #i"hael .igar, ho has represented
among others; the 7hi"ago Eight, .he Seattle Eight, D! 2ap Bron, Angela -avis,
7esar 7haveB,s son Fernando, and Fiko #artineB! De had orked ith the Afri"an
*ational 7ongress in the anti1apartheid struggle in South Afri"a! De is a la professor at
=ashington 7ollege of La, Ameri"an (niversity in -!7! here he also tea"hes a
seminar on human rights la!
On his de/ense !/ Lynne Ste*a&t Mihael Ti2a& says:
@.his "ase is a&out Lynne Steart, her struggle and her
freedom! For me this "ase represents an opportunity to
"onfront the Bush:7heney:Ash"roft effort to destroy human
rights and s"are the "ountry into lur"hing to the right!
.his "ase is an atta"k on a gallant, "harismati" and effe"tive
fighter for 9usti"e! I am heartened &y the support of so many
layers, &ut disappointed in the failure of some to see that the
"ase affe"ted them and their lives! .he entire legal profession
ought to &e standing up and shouting a&out this "aseG!It is
"lear that this "ase has at least three fundamental faults;
First, it is an atta"k on the first amendment right of free
spee"h, free press and petition! =hen you read this
indi"tment, /see !lynnesteart!org0 you ill see that
Lynne Steart is &eing atta"ked for speaking and helping
others to speak! Already, the la under hi"h she is &eing
prose"uted has &een held un"onstitutional on this very ground
&y a 9udge in 7alifornia!
Se"ond, this "ase is an atta"k on the right to effe"tive
assistan"e of "ounsel! .he indi"tment, announ"ed in a &laBe
of pu&li"ity &y <eneral Ash"roft himself, seeks to "hill the
defense &ar! .he government,s theory ould sharply limit the
rights of layers to pra"ti"e their profession and to represent
their "lients!
.hird, the @eviden"eA in this "ase as gathered &y holesale
invasion of private "onversations, private attorney1"lient
meetings, and private fa'es, letters and e1mails! I have never
seen su"h an a&usive use of governmental poer!A
The 2!+e&nment5s inditment !/ me is
&eally an atta6 !n the pe!ple$
.he initial outpouring and "ontinuing groth of pu&li" support for Lynne Steart
is refle"tive of the nerve stru"k &y this atta"k on not only Lynne and her life,s ork &ut
on all the defenders of our rights under the 7onstitution!
.hose ho "herish freedom and 9usti"e have no "hoi"e &ut to fight this atta"k
against Lynne and against all of us! =e must defend Lynne Steart against government
atta"k!
WE WON5T ALLOW THEM TO 7URY LYNNE STEWART -N THE-R
%R-SONS,
WE W-LL NOT STAND S-LENT WH-LE THEY 7ULLDO8E THE 7-LL
OF R-"HTS9
3UST-CE FOR LYNNE STEWART -S 3UST-CE FOR US ALL
.he Lynne Steart -efense 7ommittee
83$ Broaday, .hird Floor
*e +ork, *+ $00$8
2$21C691C0$H e'tension I 2$