Jihadi lawyer

The new issue of the Middle East Quarterly carries an illuminating essay by Sharon Chadha on the evolution of Lynne Stewart into an advocate of radical Islam: “Lynne Stewart, jihadi lawyer.” I met up with Lynne Stewart in the fall of 2003, after her indictment but before her conviction, when I spoke on a panel at the national convention of the National Lawyers Guild in Minneapolis. I wrote about my experience in “Face to face with Lynne Stewart.” Among other things, Chadha perfectly describes an aspect of Stewart that I observed but could not understand: “Stewart appeared to enjoy being a defendant.”
Stewart has not yet been sentenced for the serious crimes of which she has been convicted. We will catch up with her again when she is sentenced.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses