Activist Attorney Lynne Stewart to Speak at Law School
Wednesday, February 28
Location: King Hall, Wilkins Moot Courtroom
Time: Noon - 1:00pm
Description:
Lynne Stewart and Jeff Mackler will discuss the present government assaults on fundamental civil liberties, from abrogation of the attorney-client rights privilege, government spying on attorneys, denial of habeas corpus, racism and the death penalty and the use of torture in violation of international law. Reference points will be the cases of Lynne Stewart and Mumia Abu-Jamal, both of whom face life in prison. The work of the Center for Constitutional Rights with regard to their law suits against the Bush Administration will also be highlighted.
Biographies:
Lynne Stewart is a New York civil rights and political prisoner attorney falsely convicted of "conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism." The charges against her stemmed from her issuance of a public press release for her client in the course of her 1995 defense of Shiek Omar Abdel Rachman, the controversial Egyptian cleric convicted of conspiracy to blow up New York monuments. Stewart was lead counsel in this case. Her co-counsel were former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Abdeen Jabarra, past president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. She is free on bail pending her appeal of her 2005 conviction. Federal prosecutors have also appealed, seeking to void the 28-month sentence imposed by Federal District Court John Koeltl and instead impose the 30-year prison term originally recommended by the U.S. Probation Department.
Jeff Mackler is the Director of the Northern California-based Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and a national coordinator Mr. Jamal's political defense. Mumia Abu-Jamal, an award-winning journalist and death row inmate for the past 25 years, is perhaps the world's most well known political prisoner. His case raises critical constitutional issues from exclusion of Black jurors to racial bias. It is presently awaiting oral arguments before the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit. The State of Pennsylvania seeks the re-imposition of the death penalty. Jamal, insisting on his innocence, seeks a new trial and freedom. Jeff Mackler is a leading opponent of the death penalty. He has written and lectured widely on the subject across the country and internationally.