Stewart’s Betrayal
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
No sooner had a jury convicted New York lawyer Lynne Stewart yesterday on charges of conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, defrauding the American government, and making false statements, than the left-wing lawyers were complaining of the chilling effect the verdict would have on the rights of accused terrorists to a vigorous legal defense. As Stewart’s own case shows, however, the problem such defendants are facing is not the lack of effective and impassioned counsel, but the lack of sympathy from jurors in cities such as New York who understand that America is in the midst of a war against an Islamist enemy prepared to use terror against our civilians.
That Stewart, 65, is a criminal was proved dramatically in federal court, and the crimes she committed are extremely serious, carrying messages that resulted in the deaths of innocent persons. She faces as many as 45 years in federal prison if her conviction is upheld on appeal. It would not be an unjust sentence. It would demonstrate that the law will deal as severely with American lawyers who aid terrorists as it does with foreigners. Attorney General Gonzales said yesterday that the convictions “send a clear, unmistakable message that this Department will pursue both those who carry out acts of terrorism and those who assist them with their murderous goals.”
One of the things to bear in mind is that lawyers are not only representatives of their clients but also officers of the court. They have obligations apart from what their clients want of them, obligations to the truth, to the system, and to their country. Stewart betrayed all of this. When Stanford Law School dis-invited her a few years back, it ran into an uproar from those complaining of free speech violations. City University of New York had her speak last year, though it claimed the event was organized by an independent group. In the light of the facts proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court, these situations emerge in a different light. Stewart belongs in prison, not on a speaker’s platform on our nation’s campuses.
