Lynne Stewart has cancer. Ask Eric Holder to free her from prison.

[Eric J in MN]

Lynne Stewart was sent to prison during the Bush administration.

She was an attorney for a man accused of terrorism. Her crime was explaining the position of her client to a newspaper reporter.

She's still in prison and now dying of cancer.

“I need to ask once again for your assistance in forcing the Bureau of Prisons to grant my Compassionate Release. They have been stonewalling since August and my life expectancy, as per my cancer doctor, is down to 12 months. They know that I am fully qualified and that over 40,000 people have signed on to force them to do the right thing, which is to let me go home to my family and to receive advanced care in New York City.

“Yet they refuse to act. While this is entirely within the range of their politics and their cruelty to hold political prisoners until we have days to live before releasing us – witness Herman Wallace of Angola and Marilyn Buck – we are fighting not to permit this and call for a BIG push.”

Lynne Stewart, FMC Carswell

Take Action between now and the New Year. Telephone and send emails or other messages to Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr. and Attorney General Eric Holder.

CHARLES E. SAMUELS, Jr., Director Federal Bureau of Prisons
[phone] or 3062; info [at] bop.gov

ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER, U.S. Department of Justice
[phone]; AskDOJ [at] usdoj.gov

Contact U.S. Embassies and Consulates in nations throughout the world

LET US CREATE A TIDAL WAVE OF EFFORT INTERNATIONALLY. Together, we can prevent the bureaucratic murder of Lynne Stewart.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/12/09/18747531.php

[hack89]

1. If not for commiting perjury under oath, she would be free right now

her original sentence in 2006 was for 28 months.


Stewart "acknowledged ... that she knowingly violated prison rules and was careless, overemotional and politically naive in her representation of a terrorist client."

That being said, I think she should be allowed to die at home.

[msanthrope]

2. Perjury at trial is one of the most serious offenses an attorney can

commit. That said, she should be allowed to die at home.

[hack89]

5. I agree that she should be released to die at home. nt

[msanthrope]

8. Given her very public comments and fundraising, she won't be released unless it is

to a hospice facility.

You know...Greenwald was investigated for SAMs violations regarding Matt Hale. He stopped practicing. You know was the AUSA?

Patrick Fitzgerald.

[moriah]

42. Hospice facilities rarely have beds available for lengthy periods.

They're primarily designed for the last week or so of the patient's life, when the family can no longer take care of them.

My father was homeless and spent the last month of his life in a hospice facility, and he was the longest-term patient they had.

[msanthrope]

44. Hospices vary widely--I've had relatives in for 6-9 months. Depends on the hospice. nt

[moriah]

56. This was Lower Cape Fear Hospice in NC. They were really good to him.

The staff said they got very attached to him because he was there longer than most of their patients -- the vast majority of their hospice service is in-home hospice where a nurse comes to the home.

I don't see why it couldn't work that way, with electronic monitoring. The prison doesn't want to pay for her treatment.

[Eric J in MN]

3. No, the judge said he lengthened the sentence for "lack of remorse."

====
Lynne F. Stewart, the lawyer convicted in 2005 of helping an extremist cleric pass messages from prison to his terrorist followers, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, compared with a 28-month term imposed earlier.

...Judge John Koeltl, in Manhattan, who handed down the stiffer sentence today, said today he didn’t view his original sentence as “trivial.” He said Stewart’s statements in a television interview after the appeals court ruled -- that she would “do it again” and “not do anything differently” -- indicated she didn’t consider the prison term severe enough.

...Koeltl, who presided over the ninth-month trial, said the comments “indicate a lack of remorse for conduct that was illegal and potentially lethal.”
====

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-15/lawyer-lynne-stewart-sentenced-to-10-years-for-aiding-imprisoned-terrorist.html

[hack89]

4. That was one reason - perjury was another

In ordering Judge Koeltl to sentence Ms. Stewart, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit asked him to weigh, among other things, the prosecution’s contentions that Ms. Stewart committed perjury when she testified at her trial and had abused her position as a lawyer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/nyregion/16stewart.html

[msanthrope]

6. Her perjury at trial and her public comments indicate a lack of remorse. This was poor

decision-making on her part.

[HappyMe]

9. I'm kind of wondering what the hell was she thinking?

This is a pretty serious thing for an attorney to have done.

I don't know if she should be released.

[msanthrope]

13. Some attorneys never appreciate the fact that some of their clients, are, in fact, criminals. nt

[geek tragedy]

53. she bragged she could do the original sentence while standing on her head. oops nt

[Jesus Malverde]

7. Very strange case....nt

[iandhr]

10. Didn't she say

Last edited Tue Dec 10, 2013, 01:12 PM - Edit history (1)

she could do "28 months sanding on her head" and only after that statement she got an increased sentence?

Didn't she aid and abed terrorism by passing a message from her client the blind sheik to his followers in Egypt?

And now people are whining about how she is treated? Come on.

[leftynyc]

11. I don't see anyone whining about

her sentence at all. WTF are you babbling about?

[iandhr]

15. People call her a political prisoner.

[leftynyc]

25. Just went through entire thread

and don't see one person calling her a political prisoner. Try again (or just admit you made it up).

[hfojvt]

33. it's in the OP

she calls herself a political prisoner.

[leftynyc]

45. That's not your original claim

You said this:

And now people are whining about how she is treated? Come on.

I pointed out that nobody is whining and now you're changing the subject. Why and what point are you trying (badly) to convey?

[Ranchemp.]

46. In his/her defense,

poster didn't say anyone on this thread is saying she's a political prisoner, but people have claimed she's a political prisoner.

[leftynyc]

47. And I'm looking for any evidence

showing that is true. It's just as juvenile as the pundits claiming "sources claim", or "it's being reported". In other words - total bullshit.

[Ranchemp.]

49. Here ya go.

http://blacktalkradionetwork.com/events/the-cruel-treatment-of-political-prisoner-lynne-stewart-8-00pm-es

http://justicegagged.blogspot.com/2012/09/lynne-stewart-political-prisoner.html

http://lynnestewart.org/

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Show-Love-for-LYNNE-STEWAR-by-Larry-Pinkney-Injustice_Lynne-Stewart_Political-Prisoner_Prisoners-130928-798.html

[iandhr]

51. I did not mean here. Other places.

[iandhr]

52. Right here my friend

:"Lynne Stewart is a radical human rights attorney who has devoted her life to the oppressed"

http://lynnestewart.org/about-lynne/

[leftynyc]

57. That's her website

You specifically said people were whining about her -where and when? You made the claim, have been asked several times to back it up, changed the subject and now are linking to her website. Can't you just admit you fucked up?

[iandhr]

59. Want more I can give you more

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/12/09/18747540.php

"She was imprisoned for doing the right thing. She did it honestly, admirably and courageously. "

"She did it defending some of America's most disadvantaged for 30 years. Previous articles explained.

"She's one of thousands of wrongfully incarcerated political prisoners. They're confined in US gulag hell."

[leftynyc]

61. If you think you're fooling anyone

here, you're dreaming. Your implications were that "liberals" (i.e. those who post here) were whining. That's what lead you to chase all over the internet to try and prove that somewhere, someone was bitching. It was dishonest and you don't like being called on it and frankly look like a little kid who has crumbs all over his mouth claiming he has no idea who took the cookies out of the jar. It's pathetic.

[iandhr]

65. I am liberal. I consider my self a Liz Warren type Dem.

People who support Lynn Stewart are the left wing version of the tea party. What I said was that many call her a political prisoners and I showed you examples.

[leftynyc]

69. Many?

On her website? And that's supposed to be representative of what exactly?

[iandhr]

71. I ment of the people who say she should be released.

[leftynyc]

76. So - just to sum up

In your very first post on this thread, you claimed this:

And now people are whining about how she is treated? Come on.

With no context and no link to an outside source you expect me to believe you were just commenting on what some random person ON HER WEBSITE was saying? Do I have that right? Don't bother answering - you haven't learned to stop digging yet so I'm guessing you're beyond self awareness and think you're fooling anyone. You're not.

[iandhr]

88. I am not trying to fool anyone.

Your original point was no one is calling her a political prisoner.

I and another poster have shown that to be factually wrong. You are still blabbing for some reason.

[leftynyc]

95. LOL - like I said

you're fooling nobody.

[Ranchemp.]

12. Yes to all.

However, she has been disbarred, can no longer legally practice law, she's dying of cancer, she should be released from prison to die at home with her husband at her side.
If she had just kept her pie hole shut, she would've been a free woman a while back.

I won't forgive her for her wanton transgressions, but I do have compassion for her situation.

[iandhr]

16. I would have compassion in a case like this...

... in 999 cases out of 1000. Members of my family are cancer survivors.

The flip side of that coin is the fact my uncle worked in WTC Tower 2.

The act of voting in the Democratic Primary for mayor saved his life. (9/11/2001 was supposed to be the primary day) That is why I don't think this case warrants compassion

Let her go under guard to Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson, or Dana Farber for a clinical trial for aggressive cancers. She can have access to her family there. I hope they can cure her so she can serve as much of her sentence as possible.

[Ranchemp.]

18. +1000.

Agreed.

[Comrade Grumpy]

37. Wow, that's some impressive compassion you've got there:

"I hope they can cure her so she can serve as much of her sentence as possible."

[iandhr]

48. I said I would have compassion in 999 cases out of 1000.

I thought this statement was an acknowledgement that this was the one time where it wouldn't be there.

[Jenoch]

36. Where wiuld you draw the line?

Which incarcerated people dying from cancer should be released?

[Ranchemp.]

39. Those in prison for non violent offenses.

[Jenoch]

41. Isn't Stewart in for a non-violent offense?

If Bernie Madoff got cancer you would wish him to be released?

[Ranchemp.]

43. If it was terminal, then yes.

[Jenoch]

54. Bernie Madoff destroyed the lives of hundreds of people.

His own son killed himself. I seem to remember that several of Madoff's 'investors' also committed suicide. Bernie Madoff does not deserve any compassion, even if he was suffering from cancer. I don't really have much compassion for Stewart either. She can keep standing on her head for all I care.

[Ranchemp.]

55. Ok.

We'll just have to disagree on this subject.

[LanternWaste]

94. She did nothing to you, therefore, you have no cause to allow or deny forgiveness...

"I won't forgive her for her wanton transgressions..."

She did nothing to you, therefore, you have no cause to allow or deny forgiveness... forgiveness comes from victims.


"If she had just kept her pie hole shut..."
Quite the depth of compassion for the terminally ill who did you no wrong. We may presume you lack motes in your eyes, yes?

Sheesh.

[Ranchemp.]

101. Think what you want of me,

your opinion of me means squat, and I will continue to opine whether you like it or not.

[rug]

14. She was sentenced to 28 months after trial under Bush. Resentenced to 10 years under Holder.

She should be out but I don't think they'll do it.

Here's her website.

http://lynnestewart.org/

[iandhr]

17. The higher sentence probably had something to do with the statement

"I can do 28 months standing on my head"

[rug]

19. Completely justifies another 8 years in federal prison.

[iandhr]

20. You bet it does.

You aid and abed terrorism and brag that the sentence you get a trial would be easy to deal with and you end up surprised when you end up with more time .

[rug]

22. So, you think she should get 8 years for a remark and 2 years for terrorism?

Yes, I think I would take a bet with you.

[jberryhill]

28. Without addressing this situation...

It is indeed possible to obtain a longer commitment for contempt than the underlying offense.

[rug]

30. It is but there would first have to be a trial on the contempt charge.

And a separate sentencing, not a resentencing.

[jberryhill]

35. There is no "trial" for contempt

Contempt is not a criminal charge.

[rug]

68. Direct criminal contempt certainly is.

It may be a bench trial but the defendant has the opportunity to present a defense.

[iandhr]

50. No I think she deserved 10 years for terrorism the remark not withstanding.

My reaction was to the people who were shocked they increased the sentence after that statement.

[rug]

66. Then the rest of the spinning doesn't matter.

The present DoJ will not be moved.

The government appealed the sentence to their U.S. Court of Appeals. Game over.

http://ccrjustice.org/sentencing-of-lynne-stewart-michael-steven-smith

The case is a travesty.

[Ranchemp.]

21. No.

But if she'd kept her fucking pie hole shut in the first place, she would've been a free woman a while back.

The judge didn't appreciate her flippant remarks and she payed for it with a longer sentence.
Lynne Stewart is still in prison because of Lynne Stewart's mouth.

[rug]

23. She is in prison because the DoJ argued for 8 more years to a receptive judge.

[Ranchemp.]

24. Wrong.

Lynne Stewart is still in prison because Lynne Stewart showed no remorse for what she did and bragged about it.

[rug]

26. Ah, she asked for 8 more years after her appeal.

I wonder what would have happened if the DoJ didn't ask for it. I bet she would have been sorely disappointed. That would have taught her a lesson.

[Ranchemp.]

27. By not shutting her fucking pie hole,

she did indirectly ask for a longer sentence.
In the judge's own words.

Lynne F. Stewart, the lawyer convicted in 2005 of helping an extremist cleric pass messages from prison to his terrorist followers, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, compared with a 28-month term imposed earlier.

...Judge John Koeltl, in Manhattan, who handed down the stiffer sentence today, said today he didn’t view his original sentence as “trivial.” He said Stewart’s statements in a television interview after the appeals court ruled -- that she would “do it again” and “not do anything differently” -- indicated she didn’t consider the prison term severe enough.

...Koeltl, who presided over the ninth-month trial, said the comments “indicate a lack of remorse for conduct that was illegal and potentially lethal.”

====

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-15/lawyer-lynne-stewart-sentenced-to-10-years-for-aiding-imprisoned-terrorist.html

You can twist it any way you want, the fact is that if she would have just kept quiet, she would be out of prison now.

[rug]

29. You can twist it. It was the judge who gave her 8 years for a TV interview, not Lynne Stewart.

Oh, and at the DoJ's behest.

[Ranchemp.]

31. The judge gave her an xtra 8 years for her lack of remorse

so, in that context, Lynne Stewart is still in prison because of Lynne Stewart's mouth.

[rug]

32. And another judge might not have.

Why are you defending a vindictive federal judge over a 74 year old woman dying of cancer?

Is it because you actually don't like what she spent 30 years of her life doing?

[Ranchemp.]

34. I've already said that she should be released to spend the rest of her days with

her family.
I admire her for what she did for those that were railroaded by the system, but I condemn her for her subterfuge and passing on messages from a terrorist to his violent followers in Egypt. She knew what she was doing was illegal, yet she still did it and then bragged about it, and for that, I have no sympathy for her predicament.

[msanthrope]

60. Another judge might have given her the whole 30. It was the same judge on the

resentence, ordered by the appellate court to reconsider several factors that he has given her a pass on previously.

[rug]

63. Do you know who filed and prosecuted the appeal on the sentence?

Might it have been the DoJ?

[msanthrope]

64. Stewart filed the appeal, requesting non-jail time. She badly, and I mean, BADLY miscalculated. nt

[rug]

67. Try again.

The government appealed the sentence to their U.S. Court of Appeals. Game over.

http://ccrjustice.org/sentencing-of-lynne-stewart-michael-steven-smith

[msanthrope]

72. Wrong--this is Stewart's appeal from 2007, appealing the 28-months.....read # 70, too....

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/9c3b90ce-7f54-4a95-ac46-397c7ec4643c/1/doc/06-5015-cv_opn.pdf

FYI--I just gave you the court document--and gave me an article from a RADIO SHOW HOST?????

And in post #70, you can just explain to us all how the fucking hell Eric Holder was in charge of the DOJ in January of 2008.

[rug]

77. Just as soon as you answer 73.

Meanwhile feel free to read the transcript of the sentencing hearing. It's only 88 pages.

http://lynnestewart.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Transcript_071510.pdf

I'm sure you'll glow in the justice of the Government's argument and this judge's dispassionate rationale

[msanthrope]

83. You mean where the Obama Administration asked for half the sentence the Bush Administration did?

Ms. Stewart noted that. (Page 11, line 17.)

[rug]

85. "The government wanted me then, as it does now, to spend the rest of my life in prison.

They asked for 30 years. Today they ask for 15 to 30. Either way, it's a potential death sentence."

Thanks for pointing that out.

[msanthrope]

89. Yes---15 to 30 is half of what was originally asked. She got 10. Had she kept her piehole shut

and served her 28 months, she would have been out for nearly 5 years now.

[rug]

98. That wouldn't have stopped the Govt from appealing the sentence.

I'm proud of your advocacy for people shutting up.

[msanthrope]

40. Well, yes---lying at your trial generally will convince an appellate court to resentence you.

Rather, they will order your resentence. Same judge gave her both sentences--only in the latter, he was forced to address her perjury at trial.

[rug]

62. You do realize that the testimony was given before the original sentence, don't you?

It's definitely not the trial testimony. So, is it the out of court statements, the lack of remorse?

I wish you'd all get your facts straight.

[msanthrope]

70. That is precisely the point, and if you had YOUR facts straight, you might realize how foolishly you

have blamed Holder.

Now....rug. Let me give you some facts...

Ms. Stewart didn't like her 28 month sentence. So she appealed it, asking for non-jail time, during the BUSH ADMINISTRATION/

She BADLY miscalculated the 2nd Circuit, who were really, really tired of her shit. So her resentence included instructions to the original trial judge to include such factors as her perjury at trial, AND her public comments.

He gave her 10 years.

You know when that appeal was heard???? It was accepted in the August 2007 term. It was heard in January, 2008. It came down in November of 2009.

NOW UNLESS PRESIDENT OBAMA AND ERIC HOLDER HAD A TIME MACHINE.....they were NOT in charge of the DOJ in January, 2008.

My suggestion is that you read the appeal decision Ms. Stewart fought so hard for--she gambled, and lost.

[rug]

73. She was resentenced in 2010. Hmmmm, who was the AUSA working for then?

And what was the Government's recommendation for the resentencing?

The Government appealed the 28 months. She appealed the 10 years. The DoJ argued against that appeal, which was denied last year.

[msanthrope]

75. NO---she appealed the 28 months, asking for non-jail time--during the Bush

Administration....
How many times do I have to give you the link to the decision?

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/9c3b90ce-7f54-4a95-ac46-397c7ec4643c/1/doc/06-5015-cv_opn.pdf

How can you blame the Obama Administration for her stupidity?????

[rug]

80. Do you know what a cross-appeal is? Read the caption.

And do you really think this is about blaming the Obama Administration?

This is a gross miscarriage of justice no matter who did it. Your attempts to say it has nothing to do with Holder or the DoJ sre specious. Read the damned transcript of the sentencing hearing.

http://lynnestewart.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Transcript_071510.pdf

[msanthrope]

84. The transcript where Stewart notes the Obama Administration asked for half the original sentence?

(Page 11, Line 17.)

And I know what a cross appeal is...Ms. Stewart filed, and the Bush Admin followed.

[rug]

87. Lol, read 85. Then read the transcript again.

[msanthrope]

91. When are you going to explain how President Obama was in office January 2008, which you claimed

upthread?

[rug]

97. That wasn't the claim. The fact, not a claim is that the resentencing was done through Holder.

[jberryhill]

74. It's the same strategy Obama used to screw up the Katrina response

You know... folks like you constantly point out, despite polls showing that people blame Obama for the botched Katrina response, that he wasn't in office at the time.

But THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT. What DID Obama do to respond to Katrina? Nothing. Which is a lot less than Bush did.

Now, you take this thing here. Same deal. Obama and Holder "NOT in charge of the DOJ in January, 2008". If they had any real leadership skills, of course, they would have taken charge at that time, and produced the correct outcome.

This constant excuse of "not having been in office" is growing tiresome for all of the failures of the Obama administration prior to January 2009. It's well past time to stop excusing them for their failure to have been in office and to have done something.

[msanthrope]

78. You're right. Obviously, 9/11 was Obama's fault. nt

[brooklynite]

79. Simple question - does every dying convict get to go home?

Or just convicts who agree with you on policy issues?

[jberryhill]

81. Que?

What does that question have to do with anything I said?

Please identify any convict whose release I have suggested, proposed, advocated, or endorsed.

[rug]

82. Who was in office on July 15, 2010 whe she was resentenced to 10 years?

[msanthrope]

86. As Ms. Stewart noted in her transcript, the same people who asked for half her original sentence....

Page 11, line 17, of the sentencing hearing you very helpfully supplied.

[rug]

90. "The government wanted me then, as it does now, to spend the rest of my life in prison."

Really, the efforts you make to defend the indefensible.

BTW, she was 71 and already diagnosed with cancer that day.

[msanthrope]

93. What is indefensible? She got 28 months and decided to appeal. Then she got 10 years. How is the

fault of ANYONE other than Lynn Stewart?

And when are you going t back up your claim upthread that President Obama was in office in January 2008?

[rug]

96. You left out the government appealed to get a harsher sentence.

You want to defend that travesty? Knock yourself out.

The issue is the sentence of July 10, 2010. When are you going to ackowledge that was done by the DoJ of Eric Holder by the office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, appointed by . . . . guess who.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

58. Your description of her crime is dishonest.

Her crimes included passing on a message withdrawing support for a ceasefire to a terrorist group, and perjuring herself at her trial.

[iandhr]

92. Ding Ding Ding

Hit the nail on the head.

[Niceguy1]

99. she should have been grateful for the original sentence

[onpatrol98]

100. Are you serious?

This lady was actually crazy enough to pass along a note withdrawing support for a ceasefire on behalf of a terrorist. And, now she's surprised she's in jail. Wow!