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Lynne Stewart May Get Early Release Due to Cancer

New York civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart has the backing of medical authorities at BOP Federal Medical Center Carswell to be released from her 10 year terrorism-related sentence due to advanced cancer. Her request will now go to the BOP and federal court, hopefully for approval.

You can read her press release here. Stewart has been battling cancer since 2006.

Stewart's conviction stretched the definition of material support to a terrorist organization to new limits. Here's a transcript of an interview she and her trial lawyer Michael Tigar gave after the jury found her guilty.

Lynne's website is here. You can sign the petition to free her here. [More...]

She has a petition for writ of cert pending challenging her conviction and sentence. You can read it here. The questions presented:

Where the actions of petitioner – a criminal defense lawyer – consisted of publicly disseminating the protected speech of her incarcerated client, did her convictions for providing material support to a conspiracy violate the First Amendment and render 18 U.S.C. § 2339A unconstitutional as applied under Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder, which was decided as a facial First Amendment challenge.

Do the First Amendment and Due Process bar punishing a defendant more harshly based upon the content of her speech about matters of public concern, made outside of the courthouse, to the public and press?

Should the doctrine of “chilling effect,” whereby others are discouraged from exercising a constitutional right, be limited solely to statutes and government regulations, or does it apply to judicial decisions as well?

These are the orders she is appealing:

All of the trial transcripts and legal pleadings are available here.

All of Our coverage of her trial and appeals is accessible here.

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  • Display: Sort:
    DOJ OIG Report on Compassionate Release Program (none / 0) (#1)
    by womanwarrior on Wed May 01, 2013 at 10:13:10 PM EST
    This report was released today on problems with the BOP's implementation with the program.  The link is to a 91 page pdf.  I think people should write their Congress people urging them to support the release of Lynne Stewart and urge them to get the BOP to do what Congress intended.  

    The Report

    Can't seem to post the link (none / 0) (#2)
    by womanwarrior on Wed May 01, 2013 at 10:14:10 PM EST
    But FedCure reported it today, if you can find them.  I have tried to follow the directions, but it is not working.  Must be too late.  

    Here's a link for the report (none / 0) (#3)
    by Peter G on Wed May 01, 2013 at 10:34:34 PM EST
    but as WW warns, clicking will trigger a 91-page PDF download.  It points out, among other things, that the warden's recommendation for immediate release on compassionate grounds (which I gather is what Lynne Stewart now has) is only approved by the BOP's national office about 60% of the time, and often after intolerable (or fatal) delays.

    Parent
    Best News... (none / 0) (#4)
    by bmaz on Thu May 02, 2013 at 02:55:44 PM EST
    I have heard in a while.

    How many people died due to Stewart's actions (none / 0) (#7)
    by David in Cal on Thu May 02, 2013 at 11:14:22 PM EST
    I've been trying to find out whether the messages Stewart passed on helped lead to terrorist acts in Egypt, and, if so, how many Egyptian people were killed or injured. Does anyone know the answer?