On Sunday, August 2, the documentary William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe will feature at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley as part of the Jewish Film Festival. The late civil rights attorney William Kunstler was one of the most famous and controversial lawyers of the 20th century. He represented civil rights and anti-war activists, as well as accused terrorists and murderers. In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore their father’s life, from middle-class family man, to movement lawyer.

Among those represented by Kunstler were the Chicago 7, who faced jail for protesting the Vietnam war; the American Indian Movement during the heroic struggle of Wounded Knee; inmates who took over Attica prison; Joey Johnson, who is also interviewed in the film, for whom the Supreme Court upheld the act of flag burning as protected speech under the First Amendment; and Adam Abdul-Hakeem (Larry Davis), who won the first and only acquittal on self-defense of a person who shot at and wounded police officers.

In another famous case, Kunstler defended Yusef Salaam, a 14-year-old kid who was accused of participating in a near fatal gang rape. The media, captivated by the case, ran headlines calling the accused “monsters.” Kunstler argued that it was racism and a biased legal system that tried and latter convicted Salaam. Six and a half years into his sentence, Salaam and another four black teenagers convicted of that crime were exonerated by DNA evidence. Read more

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