Excerpts, minor edit by Carolyn Bennett
Among the bravest and truest among us, rights attorney Lynne Stewart wrote this from prison as she approached her 72nd year.
“…In order that my Prison Readers shouldn’t think that I have mellowed,
I must say that if Amy [Goodman of Democracy Now] is to be trusted, the Wall
Street occupation looks like it has some legs — whether those legs are
reformist or radical, we will see.”
A month earlier Lynne Stewart reflected on universal rights and the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, abuse of
power and human rights advocacy.
 |
| Bill of Rights U.S. |
“… The Bill delineates the ways that Government may not encroach on our
ability to operate freely. It is a prohibition on the Government limiting free
speech, religion, the right to bear arms, and the right to free assembly. It
delineates the rights within the legal system.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees fundamental human
entitlements—freedom from hunger, freedom from fear, freedom to choose, freedom
to live in an environment that doesn’t kill us, and our children.
 |
| Eleanor Roosevelt Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
“We obviously fight for more than the political guarantee to be free of
government interference—it is to be able to live an open and generous and
contributing life toward the betterment of people on the entire planet.
“…Advocating for human rights must always delineate that our struggle
is not one of ‘self interest.’ It is a fight for all of us.
“This raises the always-troubling question of the recognition that for
some this may mean sacrificing their entitlements (i.e. skin privilege, class
privilege) to better others’ lives. Nobody wants to give up what they feel that
they have achieved legitimately, ‘within the system.’
“But without the recognition that one has benefited unfairly by the
unwritten ‘code’ that has favored certain groups over others, change cannot
occur.”
Lynne Stewart continues her birthday message considering resistance movements.
“I don’t think we can look forward to parading out the Banksters and
Goldman Sachs to face ‘Peoples Justice’ just yet but there seems to be a spark
and that gladdens my Heart.
“I will be 72 on the 8th — the day of the Heroic Guerilla, the day they
killed Che — [and] I still hold strongly to my beliefs, my love of the
people and that there will be redemption from the nightmare with which we are
all struggling.
“I wish you all a Happy Birthday. Struggle ON!”
Love Lynne
Notes
Write Lynne!
LYNNE STEWART
53504-054
FMC CARSWELL
FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
P.O. BOX 27137
FORT WORTH, TX 76127
Contact Information: at 1lawyerleft at gmail.com
53504-054
FMC CARSWELL
FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
P.O. BOX 27137
FORT WORTH, TX 76127
Contact Information: at 1lawyerleft at gmail.com
http://lynnestewart.org/
Human Rights Coalition Interview with Lynne Stewart
September 5, 2011, Interview with Lynne Stewart by Patricia Vickers,
Human Rights Coalition
http://lynnestewart.org/2011/09/05/human-rights-coalition-interview-with-lynne-stewart/#more-289
Further excerpt: Lynne Stewart
“There are two aspects to my ‘situation’ …
 |
| Lynne Stewart |
“First, I was prosecuted for doing what I believe is the duty and work
of an attorney—to represent the client zealously and conscientiously. In the
case of the original trial (1995) of the blind Sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, of Egypt,
we wanted to keep his name alive so that we could eventually try to negotiate a
return for him even if it meant jail in Egypt. In that spirit I made a press
release public, and to Reuters, expressing his point of view on a unilateral
cease fire then in effect in Egypt. I believed that this was part of salvaging
him from the torture of his solitary confinement and also that it was part of
the work I had sworn to do. I was tried and found guilty for materially aiding ‘terrorism.’
“After I received a sentence of two-and-one-half-years, as opposed to
the 30 years the government wanted, on appeal, the Second Circuit Court sent
the case back for the Judge to give me more time. Without much ado, he
sentenced me then to ten years, partially based upon statements I made after
the sentencing and before I surrendered in November 2009. That sentencing is
currently on appeal and will be argued in the fall in New York City.”
http://hrcoalition.com/
Lynne Irene Stewart b. October 8, 1939 now in prison is an attorney who
represented poor and often unpopular defendants.
In 2005, a U.S. court convicted Lynne Stewart on charges of
conspiracy and providing material support to
‘terrorists’ and sentenced her to 28 months in prison. The felony conviction 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 meant government revocation of Stewart’s license to
practice law.
On July 15, 2010, the court re-sentenced Lynne Stewart to 10 years in
prison; current location FMC Carswell, Fort Worth, Texas. Edited from Wikipedia
entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Stewart_Trial
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire
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