February 17, 2005
TECHNICALLY CRIMINALS:
Punishing Mmes. Stewart: The parallel universes of Martha and Lynne (Chisun Lee, February 15th, 2005, Village Voice)
If there's a better villainess than the corporate multimillionaire who flouts the rules to save a few bucks, it's the defense lawyer who flouts the rules by claiming a higher duty to her terrorist client. Their convictions matter differently in important ways, but Martha Stewart and Lynne Stewart illuminate just how full the extent of the law can get in the conservative 2000s. [...]No one has shown that either Stewart's actions actually harmed anyone. Although Lynne Stewart apparently admits to having technically committed the acts, it is difficult to imagine that even the government believes she really wanted to visit violence on innocent people.
Both unprecedentedly aggressive pursuits begun under Attorney General John Ashcroft seemed intended not just to punish individual wrongdoing but to send pointed messages. In both cases, prosecutors initially overreached with charges that judges would later throw out. Both women essentially got smote for being cocky. Or, depending on one's worldview—pro-capitalism or anti-authority—for doing what they believed necessary in support of a cause.
Yes, Martha Stewart's cause is enriching herself, even illegally, and Lynne Stewart's cause is defending terrorists. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 17, 2005 7:07 AM
As usual the Village Voice is clueless. Lynne Stewart already said she thought it was good that the Phillipine Islamofascists were torturing and killing. She is on record for saying that. It is just too inconvenient for the VV to admit. Besides it would upset the symmetry of Martha and Lynne both doing what they believed necessary. The difference is that the VV does not believe Lynne meant what she said she meant.
I have heard the LA Times described as bird cage liner. Ditto for the VV - except for Nat Hentoff even if I usually disagree with him. He at least has some integrity.
Posted by: dick at February 17, 2005 8:25 PMdick,
When he was writing columns in the VV calling the residents of Forest Hills who objected to busing in minority children to their neighborhood schools 'Jewish Nazis', he was sending his son to one of the tonier Manhattan day schools, Dalton. So much for Nat Hentoff's vaunted integrity.
Posted by: Bart at February 18, 2005 11:31 AM