Upside Down Justice

The Stoop was a happy place to be when we read that Lynne Stewart's conviction for providing material support to terrorists was upheld by a 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel.

Do you remember Lynne Stewart? She is a self-described radical revolutionary. She worships Mao and Castro. She was the lawyer for the blind Sheikh and got caught sending messages from the Sheikh to his terrorist group in Egypt. They were the choirboys who assassinated Anwar Sadat.

Stewart was sentenced to only 28 months, which one judge on the panel described as "astonishingly low". But the good news is that the trial Court has been ordered to examine whether Stewart committed perjury in her trial and to re- sentence her to a harsher prison term if she lied under oath.

Stewart was convicted in 2005. The appeal had been pending for 4 years, and all the while Stewart was free as a bird. I occasionally would see her in the Streets of Windsor Terrace/Park Slope, in a supermarket, or on a bus and each time it was like getting hit with cold water in the face; it was a stark reminder that we as a nation still do not treat terrorism as serious as we should.

When she originally was sentenced, Stewart bragged outside the court room to her rag tag supporters that she could do 28 months standing on her head.

In an upside down world where KSM gets a civilian criminal trial and Major Hasan gives PowerPoint presentations praising suicide bombers, maybe, as part of the re- sentencing, they should make Stewart do time standing on her head.

I will be glad when she is locked up: the country will be safer, the bus will be less crowded, and the line in the supermarket will be shorter.


Conviction of Sheik’s Lawyer for Assisting Terrorism Is Upheld