Material Support of Terrorism—Sentencing

Infamous civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart, whose prosecution has blurred the line between zealous representation and assistance, has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for “aiding terrorism by helping a client, [Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman] smuggle messages to militant followers.”^[1]

Ms. Stewart, who is 67 and is recuperating from breast cancer treatment, faced up to 30 years in prison,^[2] and indeed, that was the sentence the government requested.^[3] According to federal prosecutors, her conviction was “a major victory in the war on terrorism,” because she was convicted of carrying “messages between the sheik and senior members of an Egyptian-based terrorist organization, helping spread Abdel-Rahman’s call to kill those who did not subscribe to his extremist interpretation of Islamic law.”^[4] Ms. Stewart, for her part, “denies that she acted to further any violent goals of the sheik,” and she will appeal her conviction.^[5] She does, however, acknowledge that she “violat[ed] strict prison rules, known as special administrative measures,” because she viewed them as unconstitutional; what she failed to do, however, was file a formal challenge to them, and she “completely misjudged how prosecutors viewed the sheik,” assuming that was “part of the demonized other.”^[6]

Her two co-defendants, “US postal worker Ahmed Sattar and Arabic translator Mohammed Yousry” were to be sentenced today as well.^[7] The government sought a life sentence for Mr. Sattar, but the judge imposed a 24-year sentence instead.^[8] The government is seeking a 20-year sentence for Mr. Yousry.^[9]

In sentencing Ms. Stewart, Judge John G. Koetl “demonstrated that he did not believe Ms. Stewart represented the threat the government described. There was ‘no evidence that any victim was in fact harmed’ by her actions, the judge said. He also cited her long career as a ‘lawyer to the poor and the unpopular.’ ‘It is no exaggeration to say that Ms. Stewart performed a public service not only to the court but to the nation,’ he said, adding that she did not cho[o]se her cases to become wealthy.”^[10]

Nonetheless, he noted that she was not without culpability.^[11]

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[1] US Lawyer Given 28 Months for Aiding Terrorism, Reuters, Oct. 16, 2006.
[2] Larry Neumeister, Blind Sheik’s Lawyer Gets 28 Months, AP (via Houma Courier), Oct. 16, 2006.
[3] Patricia Hurtado, Lawyer Sentenced to 28 Months for Aiding Terrorists, Bloomberg, Oct. 16, 2006.
[4] Id.
[5] Julia Preston, Lawyer is Due for Sentencing in Terror Case, NY Times, Oct. 16, 2006.
[6] Id.
[7] Radical US Lawyer Faces Terrorism Sentencing, AFP (via Yahoo!), Oct. 16, 2006.
[8] Julia Preston and Matthew Sweeney, Lawyer Gets Prison Term in Terrorism Case, NY Times, Oct. 16, 2006.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.