William Kunstler

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William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 - September 4, 1995) is an American radical lawyer and civil rights activist, known for his unpopular political clientele. Kunstler is an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a member of the council of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and co-founder of the Law Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), "a gathering place for radical lawyers in the country."

Kunstler's defense against the Chicago Seven from 1969-1970 caused The New York Times to label him "the most controversial and perhaps the most famous lawyer". Kunstler is also famous for defending members of Catonsville Nine, Black Panther Party, Weather Underground Organization, rioters in Attica Prison, and American Indian Movement. He also won a case of de facto segregation of the District of Columbia public schools and "disinterred, alone" the concept of criminal elimination of federal jurisdiction in the 1960s. Kunstler refused to defend right-wing groups like Minutemen, arguing that: "I only defend those whom I aspire to share, I am not a lawyer to hire, I just defend those I love."

He is a polarized figure; many on the right wanted to see him fired, while many on the left admired him as "a symbol of a certain radical lawyer." Even some other civil rights lawyers regarded Kunstler as a "publicity lawyer and a hit-and-run lawyer" who "took the case on Page 1 and won it on Page 68." The legal writer Sidney Zion quipped that Kunstler is "one of the few lawyers in town who knows how to talk to the press.The story is always checked and he's not afraid to talk to you, and he's got credibility - even though you have to ask sometimes, Bill, is that really right? ' "

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The son of a doctor, Kunstler was born in New York City and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. He was educated at Yale College, graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941, and Columbia University Law School from where he graduated in 1948. While at school, Kunstler was a diligent poet and represented Yale in the Glascock Prize competition at Mount Holyoke College.

Kunstler served in the US Army during World War II at the Pacific theater, reached the rank of Major, and received the Bronze Star. While in the military, he is best known for his theatrical depictions at the Fort Monmouth Dramatic Association.

After his return from the Army he attended law school, was admitted to a bar in New York in 1948 and began practicing law. Kunstler underwent executive training program R.H. Macy in the late 1940s and practiced family and small business law in the 1950s, before entering civil litigation rights in the 1960s. He was a law professor at New York Law School (1950-1951).

Kunstler won a distinguished award for the press award of the National Legal Aid Association in 1957 for his radio broadcast series at WNEW, "The Law on Trial." At WNEW, Kunstler also conducts interviews on controversial topics, such as the Alger Hiss case, on a program called Counterpoint .

Maps William Kunstler

Civil rights career

Rise to fame (1957-1964)

Kunstler first made headlines in 1957 when he defended William Worthy, a correspondent for Baltimore Afro-American, who was one of forty-two Americans whose passports were seized after violating the travel ban of the Department of Foreign Affairs against the Communists. China (after attending the Communist youth conference in Moscow). Kunstler refused the State Department compromise that would return Worthy's passport if he agreed to stop visiting communist countries, a condition that was deemed unconstitutional.

Kunstler played an important role as a civil rights lawyer in the 1960s, traveling to many separate battlefields to work to free those imprisoned. Working on behalf of ACLU, Kunstler defended Freedom Riders in Mississippi in 1961. Kunstler filed a habeas corpus warrant with Sidney Mize, a federal judge in Biloxi, and appealed to the Fifth Circuit; he also filed a similar petition in a state court. Judge Leon Hendrick in Hinds County rejected Kunstler's movement to overturn a massive performance (involving hundreds of miles of travel) from all 187 convicted riders. His riders were punished in a bench court in Jackson and appealed to the county jury trial, where Kunstler argued that the area systematically discriminated against African-American jurors.

In 1962, Kunstler took part in an effort to integrate public parks and libraries in Albany, Georgia. Later that year, he published The Case for Courage (modeled on Profilees in President Kennedy's Courage) highlighting the efforts of other lawyers who risk their careers for controversial and similar clients. acting by civil servants. At the time of publication, Kunstler was known for his work with Freedom Riders, his book on the Caryl Chessman case, and his coverage of radio trials. Kunstler also joined a group of lawyers who criticized the application of civilian pollution laws in Alabama and spoke at a rally against HUAC.

In 1963, for the Gandhi Society in New York, Kunstler filed for the transfer of cases of more than 100 African-American demonstrators who were arrested from the Danville Corporate Court to the Charlottesville District Court, under the Era Reconstruction Act. Although the district magistrate returned the case to the city court, he dismissed the city's order against the demonstration. Thus, Judge Thomas J. Michie rejected the Department of Justice amicus curiae briefly urging the abolition to make a test case for the law. Kunstler appealed to the Fourth Circuit. That year, Kunstler also sued the public housing authority in Westchester County.

In 1964, Kunstler defended a group of four people accused of kidnapping a white couple, and managed to get the alleged weapon as evidence, as they could not be positively identified as being used. That year he also challenged Mississippi electoral law as well as racial segregation in the primary elections; he also defended three members of the Blood Brothers, a Harlem gang, who was accused of murder.

Kunstler goes to St. Augustine, Florida in 1964 during a demonstration led by Dr. Martin Luther King and Dr. Robert B. Hayling who put extra pressure on Congress to pass the 1964 Grant Civil Rights Act. Kunstler brought the first federal case under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which enabled the transfer of cases from the district courts to be appealed; the defendants were demonstrators at the 1964 New York World Exhibition.

Director of ACLU (1964-1972)

He was director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1964 to 1972, when he became a member of the ACLU National Council. In 1966 he founded the Center for Constitutional Rights. Kunstler also works with the National Lawyers Guild.

In 1965, Kunstler, Kunstler, and Kinoy Kunstler were asked to defend Jack Ruby by his brother Earl, but dropped the case because they "did not want to be in a situation where we had to fight to get into the case". Ruby was eventually allowed to replace his original defense team with Kunstler, who gave him a new experiment. In 1966, he also defended an arsonist who set fire to the Jewish Community Center, killing twelve people, for he was not given a lawyer before he signed the confession.

Klien lain Kunstler yang terkenal termasuk: Salvador Agron, H. Rap Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Brown, Lenny Bruce, Stokely Carmichael, Catonsville Nine, Angela Davis, Larry Davis, Gregory Lee Johnson, Martin Luther King, Gary McGivern, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Filiberto Ojeda Rios, Assata Shakur, Lemuel Smith, Morton Sobell, Wayne Williams, dan Michael X.

Chicago Seven (1969-1972)

Kunstler earned a national reputation for defending the Chicago Seven (initially Chicago Eight), in a five-month trial in 1969-1970, against conspiracy charges to incite unrest in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Under cross examination, Kunstler received key police witnesses to deny testimony earlier and admitted that he had not witnessed Jerry Rubin, but was given his name two weeks later by the FBI. Another prosecution witness, photographer Louis Salzberg, admitted under Kunstler's cross examination that he was still on the FBI's payroll.

The trial was marked by frequent clashes between Kunstler and US Attorney Thomas Foran, with Kunstler taking the opportunity to accuse the failed government of "realizing the level of anti-war sentiment". Kunstler also argued with Judge Julius Hoffman, on one occasion commented (with respect to the number of marshals of the federal): "This courtroom has the appearance of an armed camp.I will note that the Supreme Court has ruled that the emergence of an armed camp is a reversible error". During one heat exchange, Kunstler informs Hoffman that his entry in Who Who is three times longer than the judge, to which the judge replied, "I hope you get better news of death". Kunstler and co-defense counsel Leonard Weinglass were cited for contempt (the belief was subsequently aborted unanimously by the Seventh Circuit). If Hoffman's insulting beliefs have been allowed, Kunstler will be jailed for four years that have never happened before.

Progress of the court - which has many aspects of guerrilla theater - was covered in the evening news and made Kunstler the country's most famous lawyer, and a folk hero. After much stalemate, the jury freed all seven on conspiracy charges, but was sentenced to five in violation of anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The Seventh Circuit canceled all beliefs on November 21, 1972 because of Hoffman's refusal to let defense attorneys question prospective jurors about bias racial and cultural; The Justice Department did not try to return the case.

Kunstler objected to the security of the hefty trial on the grounds that it could harm the jury and Judge Fred J. Nichol agreed to reduce the action. The trial was moved to Minnesota. Two writers and three Sioux are summoned as defense witnesses, mostly focusing on historical (and later) injustice against Sioux on the part of the US government, shocking the prosecution.
In 1975, Kunstler once again defended AIM members in the murder of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, not far from the location of the Luka Luka incident. At the trial in 1976, Kunstler invited prominent government officials to testify of the existence of the Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) against Native American activists. District Judge Edward J. McManus approved Kunstler's attempts to summon the FBI director, Clarence M. Kelley.
Kunstler also defended an Native American woman who refused to send her daughter with muscular dystrophy to school. Attica (1974-1976) Attica (1974-1976)

In 1974-1975, Kunstler defended a prisoner accused of killing a guard during the Attica Prison riots. Under cross examination, Kunstler forced Corrections Officer Donald Melven to withdraw his coveted identity by John Hill, Kunstler's client, and Charles Pernasilice (defended by Richard Miller), admitting that he still retained the "mild" doubt that he admitted to investigators at the time that. accident. Kunstler focused on demonstrating that all other prosecution witnesses testified under a penalty reduction agreement and named the five inmates as defense witnesses (Miller called none), who testified that another prisoner hit the guard.

Although the warning of the King of Justice repeated itself to Kunstler for "caution, sir," Kunstler quickly became "the star of the trial, the man the jury saw attentively, and the lawyer whose voice brought the strongest." Although the prosecution was careful to avoid a personal confrontation with Kunstler, who often joked the jury with jokes, at one time Kunstler provoked a shouting match with the prosecutor's chief, allegedly to wake the jurors to sleep. The jury convicted Hill of killing and Pernasilice of the assault trial. When Kunstler protested that the defendants would risk being killed because of the judges who asked them, the King threatened to send Kunstler with them. New York Governor Hugh Carey gave devotion to Hill and other inmates in 1976, although Hill's name was not on the recommended list of pardons submitted to the governor and his request was pending.

In June, Kunstler and Barbara Handshu, representing another inmate in Attica, Mariano Gonzales, asked for a new trial on the role of FBI informant Mary Jo Cook. Assassin Shakur (1977)