[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: [usgp-dx] GREEN RELEASE Stewart verdict threatens lawyers, say Greens

Thu Feb 17 01:13:04 PST 2005

>
>GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
>http://www.gp.org
>
>For Immediate Release:
>Wednesday, February 16, 2005
>
>Contacts:
>Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
>cell 202-487-0693, mclarty at greens.org
>Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
>nallen at acadia.net
>
>
>GREENS: STEWART VERDICT INTIMIDATES LAWYERS,
>UNDERMINES THE 6TH AMENDMENT
>
>The Bush Administration, say Greens, is
>exploiting the 9/11 attacks to undermine
>constitutional protections and freedoms, access
>to information, and the rule of law:
>
>
>WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called
>the February 10 verdict in the Lynne Stewart
>trial a devastating blow to due process and the
>right to legal representation and a deliberate
>threat to lawyers who seek to represent unpopular
>clients.  Greens see the verdict as part of the
>dramatic erosion of constitutional law under the
>Bush Administration.
>
>"The Stewart verdict will intimidate any lawyer
>who represents a client who is critical of U.S.
>government policies and actions," said Gloria
>Mattera, co-chair of the Green Party of New York
>State.  "The basis of our legal system is
>vigorous and effective defense for anyone accused
>of a crime -- including those charged with
>terrorism -- and limitations on the power of
>prosecutors and other law enforcement officials.
>It's clear that Osama bin Laden was used to
>prejudice the jury against a lawyer who worked
>for a controversial client."
>
>As the National Lawyers Guild has noted, former
>Attorney General John Ashcroft's "November 2003
>federal superceding indictment [was] a continued
>attempt to undermine the attorney-client
>privilege by essentially reinstating the same
>charges that Judge John Koeltl dismissed as
>unconstitutionally vague four months earlier."
>
>Greens note that the key evidence used against
>Ms. Stewart was based on surveillance of
>attorney-client conversations in May 2000 based
>on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
>warrant.  FISA, enacted under the 1996
>Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act,
>allows prosecutors to override the
>confidentiality of attorney-client
>communications, thus weakening the 6th
>Amendment's guarantee of the right to
>representation by an attorney.  In the Stewart
>case, FISA was used to keep Ms. Stewart's client,
>Sheik Abdel Rahman, effectively incommunicado.
>
>"We urge the court to overturn the Stewart
>verdict when it is appealed, and we encourage all
>Americans who care about constitutional rights to
>participate in the National Lawyers Guild's
>'National Day of Outrage' in response to the
>verdict," added Nan Garrett, Georgia Green and
>former criminal defense attorney.  (More on the
>National Day of Outrage:
><http://www.nlg.org/news/statements/DayOfOutrageLynne.htm>)
>
>Greens urge all Americans to recognize that the
>Bush Administration and its supporters are using
>the 9/11 attacks to undermine freedoms, access to
>information, and the rule of law, citing recent
>developments:
>
>-- The CIA's 'extraordinary rendition' program,
>which sends prisoners to countries like Syria and
>Egypt that allow torture to extract information;
>justifications by U.S. officials (including
>former White House counsel and current Attorney
>General Alberto Gonzales) for the use of torture
>and other constitutional violations; detention of
>citizens without charges and without recourse to
>courts, lawyers, or family members.
>
>-- Creation of an intelligence service under the
>authority of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
>and therefore unaccountable to Congress; a purge
>in the CIA ranks meant to eliminate officials
>critical of Bush policy, turning the CIA from an
>intelligence-gathering agency into a policy arm
>of the administration.
>
>-- The USA Patriot Act, especially provisions
>targeting organizations declared 'terrorist' by
>the Attorney General for expressing unpopular
>ideas, allowing political repression based on an
>Attorney General's arbitrary judgement and bias.
>
>-- Harassment and silencing of academics who
>publish unpopular opinions or teach controversial
>subjects, some of whom have been forced out of
>their jobs, most recently Ward Churchill
>(University of Colorado) and M. Shahid Alam
>(Northeastern University).
>
>-- Complaints from U.S. scientists that Bush
>officials are pressuring them to alter scientific
>findings to conform with the administration's
>political and ideological goals, including a
>recent claim from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
>scientists that they were directed to alter
>findings to reduce environmental protections for
>plants and animals.
>
>
>MORE INFORMATION
>
>The Green Party of the United States
>http://www.gp.org
>1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
>Washington, DC 20009.
>202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
>Fax 202-319-7193
>
>National Lawyers Guild
>http://www.nlg.org/news/statements/LynneStewart0205.htm
>
>Indypendent legal columnist Ann Schneider
>analyzes the Lynne Stewart case
>New York City Independent Media Center, February
>11, 2005
>http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/141334/index.php#
>
>Justice for Lynne Stewart
>http://www.lynnestewart.org/
>
>2004 Cobb/LaMarche Campaign: News on the recount
>efforts http://www.votecobb.org
>
>
>~ END ~
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand