PR CONDEMNS FEDERAL INDICTMENT OF LYNNE STEWART.

[Matthew X]

The National Lawyers Guild condemns yesterday's federal indictment of New 
York attorney Lynne Stewart and the impact on attorney-client privilege 
that it will have.
The Sixth Amendment of the U.S Constitution protects attorney-client 
privilege, without which there can be no effective assistance of counsel. 
"Stewart is a veteran criminal defense attorney who often represents both 
controversial causes and unpopular clients. The government seems to be 
singling her out as poster child for its campaign to justify the 
unconstitutional monitoring of conversations between lawyers and inmates. 
This is clearly designed to have a chilling effect on lawyers zealously 
representing their clients," said Bruce Nestor, President of the National 
Lawyers Guild.
For three years the New York FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been 
investigating Stewart, an attorney for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who has 
been serving a life plus 65-year sentence. This fall the government 
announced a new rule that purports to allow the Bureau of Prisons to 
monitor conversations between lawyers and inmates deemed threats of 
committing future acts of violence or terrorism. In October the National 
Lawyers Guild submitted comments opposing the new rule although the Bureau 
of Prisons is enforcing the rule even prior to the usual "notice and 
comment" democratic input process. "In addition to undermining the 
principle of attorney-client privilege, John Ashcroft's recent actions, 
including yesterday's indictment, may have a chilling effect on lawyers who 
want to represent politically active clients but are afraid of being 
singled out by the government for surveillance," said Nestor.
Stewart and three others were charged yesterday with providing material 
support to terrorists. Last December, Ashcroft said, "to those who scare 
peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: your 
tactics only aid terrorists." Ashcroft appears to have expanded this now to 
include legal advocacy. The Guild is launching a campaign of legal 
organizations around the country to join in opposing this indictment and 
its attack upon attorney-client privilege.
http://www.nlg.org/
The State will pay dearly for this.There wont be any 'truth and rec' 
commissions.