Rest in power to the freedom fighter and activist Lynne Irene Stewart (October 8, 1939 – March 7, 2017). Stewart was a defense attorney who was known for representing the poor and powerless. Along with William Kunstler, Stewart represented Larry Davis, who had been charged with the attempted murder of nine NYPD officers during a shootout, as well as the murder of four Bronx drug dealers. Stewart and Kunstler secured Davis an acquittal on the more serious murder and attempted murder charges, but Davis was found guilty on a lesser felony weapon possession charge.
“Everyone thinks Kunstler beat the case. Lynne Stewart beat the case.”
-Larry Davis
Stewart was disbarred and convicted of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.
Lynne was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists in 2005, and sentenced to 28 months in prison. She was re-sentenced on July 15, 2010, to 10 years in prison in light of her perjury at trial. She served her sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas and is considered a political prisoner in the community.
Stewart was released from prison on December 31, 2013 on a compassionate release order because of her terminal breast cancer diagnosis. She suffered a major stroke, the latest complication from the cancer that spread throughout her body and invaded her brain. She died at age 77. The family has set up a page for donations here for those who would like to support.
-Infinite Wiz (@InfiniteWiz)
