Yes, there have been a number of indictments focusing on the latter set of lawyers, but to merely call them "defense attorneys" is wrong. Many of them have actively assisted fraud and financial robbery of investors and the public at Enron, in Medicare scams, in tax avoidance schemes, and so on.
I'm all for them being indicted if they actively participate in illegal crimes. Being a lawyer shouldn't give you immunity when you participate in criminal activity and, worse, the attorney-client privilege shouldn't be used to hide illegal activity. Remember, decades of tobacco research that showed deliberate attempts to addict children were hidden under "work product" rules, until Florida litigation finally dragged it out into the open.
As for Lynne Stewart, she was not indicted for defending an accused terorist, but was indicted under charges of facilitating ongoing terrorist activity. The evidence may be sketchy and the eavesdropping used to collect that evidence wrong, but if she actually did what it is claimed she did -- facilitate the delivery of a message directing terrorist attacks -- there is no reason she shouldn't be indicted. But don't go from attacking bad evidence to making a broader argument that lawyers should be immune from prosecution if they facilitate illegal activity. Thank god the corporate lawyers are finally be taken down-- they are some of the worst criminals out there, since they are the masterminds of most criminal corporate activity.
Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
Michael Perelman wrote:
>Lynne Stewart
There's a good piece in the current ish of Reason (not on web) on the Justice Dept's attempts to criminalize being a defense attorney. It's not just Stewart they're after - it's an entire pattern. Of course the Stewart prosecution is politically scarier. She's not being charged under the PATRIOT Act, because her alleged offenses were committed before that law was passed. Under the PATRIOT Act, the very defense of an accused "terrorist" could itself be prosecuted as terrorism.
Doug ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk