Civil Rights Attorney Lynne Stewart Responds to Court Ruling Upholding Conviction and Ordering Her to Prison

Lynne Stewart was found guilty in 2005 of distributing press releases on behalf of her jailed client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as the blind sheikh, who is serving a life sentence on terror-related charges. Prosecutors had sought a thirty-year sentence. But Stewart was sentenced to two-and-a-half years after the judge rejected the prosecutors’ argument that she threatened national security and ruled there was no evidence her actions caused any harm.

On Tuesday, a three-judge appeals court panel ordered the trial judge to revoke Stewart’s bond and said she must begin serving her 28-month sentence. The panel rejected Stewart’s claim that she was acting only as a “zealous advocate” for her imprisoned client when she passed messages for him. The appellate ruling said “A genuinely held intent to represent a client ‘zealously’ is not necessarily inconsistent with criminal intent.”

The panel also described Stewart’s 28-month sentence as “strikingly low” and sent the case back to the trial judge to determine whether she deserved a longer prison term. The ruling said Stewart–who is 70 years old–was to surrender to U.S. Marshals immediately, but her lawyers won her an extension until at least 5 p.m. today.

Lynne Stewart joins us now from New York in a national broadcast exclusive interview.

Lynne Stewart, civil rights attorney.