The issue is not whether she deserved to be punished for a breach of the law. She has already been disbarred and sentenced to prison time. The issue is whether she deserves to die in jail for actions that resulted in not the slightest harm to anyone. Plus, the government was taping conversations between an attorney and a client. Intended or not, the effect will surely be to make attorneys think twice before taking on the representation of any Guantanamo detainee. The Feds have gone after criminal defense attorneys for many, many years. It didn't begin with the War on Terrorism. It began with the War on Organized Crime and continued with the War on Drugs. It amounts to a War on the Constitution.
You're right: Clinton-appointed, Sonya Sotomayor-endorsing former Yale Law dean Guido Calabresi and Clinton-appointed, Ricci v. Destefano-serving, press-defending Robert Sack are obviously conservative activists hellbent on subverting our first amendment rights. And smuggling a message from a terrorist organization into a lockdown facility to be read by the convicted head of said terrorist organization, then helping to convey a message back to said terrorist organization that "permission is given to fight, because they are wronged ... and verily God is most powerful for their aid", after signing statements acknowledging restrictions (put in place under Clinton) against conveying communications designed to prevent exactly this sort of message, then lying about it, under oath, should absolutely be protected first amendment speech. This is just like what Hitler did, that one time.
@Astigmatism: Yeah, I'm all "power to the people," and as a lawyer myself, don't like the thought of lawyers being sent to jail for specious reasons. But she blatantly violated government restrictions on her representation and then lied about it. Any lawyer that has ever represented anyone in federal court, criminal or civil, knows you do not fuck with the feds like that. She wasn't naive; she was stupid.
It is incredible for anyone to suggest that she is "naive." She is a longtime activist and attorney; she knows what she can and cannot do. She was allowed to meet with this client specifically conditioned on not passing messages to anyone, including media (uh, ya think maybe the point of giving it to the media was to get it to those who'd be waiting to hear?). The message in question was an exhortation to his followers to resume terrorist operations. She was the conduit for direction from a leader to his troops.
Her sentencing was delayed for over a year (back in 2005!) due to her illness and the need for treatment of it, so your comment with respect to that is purely disingenuous.
Ok, ok. Let's be real here. She didn't exactly pass on her client's "thoughts" on the cease fire, she relayed to a reporter that he was withdrawing his support, a bit different and it indicated his political position. Also, the real issue here is that they felt she lied under oath. The Federal Government is not tolerant of one thing..being lied to (see Martha Stewart). She lied or played dumb about not knowing the restrictions on contact..I have to call some BS on this. Why she would think it is okay to speak with reports about an ongoing case like this in the first place is beyond me.
@econdave: From a 2007 NYTimes article: Her main regret was having been unaware that the government was secretly taping her conversations with Mr. Rahman, she said.
That's only slightly less stupid than saying her main regret was getting caught.
I really thought that this Stewart business would be dropped once Bush was out of office.
Maybe the JD is thinking that they would be better off with Stewart in jail rather than allowing her to open a big ol' can of lititgation whoop-ass on them for trampling on everyone's civil rights for short of 8 years.
She is a pain in the ass, but certainly not one to abet terrorists.
Last I looked, we had full diplomatic relations with Italy and in fact are their allies -- so how do you justify Anericans violating their laws? The slippery slope problems of what the CIA operatives did in this case are enormous, and the appartent slurs on Italian "law" and its intelligence organization -- with no citation whatsoever -- seems like a lazy "all Italians are mafiosi" argument. #italy
btw... Leon Panetta would agree with you wholeheartedly.
(And if Mr. Panetta was a friend o' the mob, he would probably agree with you even more.)
I get a very Michael D. Brown vibe from this fellow. Maybe it's his interest in ocean water and affinity for seahorses?
"Panetta has long been an advocate for the health of the world's oceans. As a member of Congress from California’s 16th District, he wrote numerous successful acts of Congress to protect the California coast, including legislation creating the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[19][20][21] In 2003, Panetta was named chairman and commissioner of the Pew Oceans Commission, which in 2005 combined with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to establish the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. Panetta now co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative with Admiral James D. Watkins, U.S. Navy (Ret.).[22] Panetta continues to pursue his commitment to ocean and marine life issues, serving as a resource for legislators and the media, advocating for ocean reform on behalf of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative as well as other ocean organizations, including the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation[23] and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.[24]
In 2006 he was part of the Iraq Study Group, also known as the Baker Commission"
11/19/09
11/18/09
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11/18/09
Her sentencing was delayed for over a year (back in 2005!) due to her illness and the need for treatment of it, so your comment with respect to that is purely disingenuous.
11/19/09
Now I feel like an idiot for promoting a comment above. I should stay out of controversial threads where I haven't closely followed the story.
11/18/09
11/18/09
For some reason, Stewart thought she was above the law. She has no one but herself to blame.
11/18/09
That's only slightly less stupid than saying her main regret was getting caught.
[www.nytimes.com]
11/18/09
11/18/09
Maybe the JD is thinking that they would be better off with Stewart in jail rather than allowing her to open a big ol' can of lititgation whoop-ass on them for trampling on everyone's civil rights for short of 8 years.
She is a pain in the ass, but certainly not one to abet terrorists.
11/11/09
11/11/09
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11/10/09
11/05/09
11/04/09
BTW, if he was interrogated in Italy, it would have just been slapping each other. #italy
11/04/09
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11/04/09
Make that: "Hear, hear!"
[unbecominglevity.blogharbor.com]
(I lost editing privileges?) #italy
11/04/09
btw... Leon Panetta would agree with you wholeheartedly.
(And if Mr. Panetta was a friend o' the mob, he would probably agree with you even more.)
I get a very Michael D. Brown vibe from this fellow. Maybe it's his interest in ocean water and affinity for seahorses?
"Panetta has long been an advocate for the health of the world's oceans. As a member of Congress from California’s 16th District, he wrote numerous successful acts of Congress to protect the California coast, including legislation creating the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[19][20][21] In 2003, Panetta was named chairman and commissioner of the Pew Oceans Commission, which in 2005 combined with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to establish the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. Panetta now co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative with Admiral James D. Watkins, U.S. Navy (Ret.).[22] Panetta continues to pursue his commitment to ocean and marine life issues, serving as a resource for legislators and the media, advocating for ocean reform on behalf of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative as well as other ocean organizations, including the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation[23] and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.[24]
In 2006 he was part of the Iraq Study Group, also known as the Baker Commission"
[en.wikipedia.org] #italy