In the great tradition of Clarence Darrow, Charles Garry, Ernest Goodman, William Kunstler, Carol Weiss King, Arthur Kinoy, Constance Baker Motley and Michael Ratner, legendary people’s lawyer Leonard Weinglass defended the poor and disenfranchised who struggled for social justice.
Weinglass is now immortalized in “Len: A Lawyer in History,” a valuable graphic historical work by cartoonist/writer Seth Tobocman. The book features some of Weinglass’ most significant cases, analyzing them in the historical context of the political movements in which they took place.
“I want to spend my time defending people who have committed their time to progressive change. That’s the criteria,” Weinglass said. “Now, that could be people in armed struggle, people in protest politics, people in confrontational politics, people in mass organizations, people in labor.” Weinglass’ calling, editor Michael Steven Smith noted in the book’s introduction, was defending people against “the machinery of the state.”
Weinglass, a longtime member of the National Lawyers Guild, was a brilliant attorney who empowered his clients. Unlike many lawyers, he understood that the case belongs to the client, who must live with the consequences of the result. His clients had the final say about what strategy and tactics to employ. Weinglass took cases other lawyers would not, sometimes for no fee.
“[Weinglass] haana kukwezvwa kuita mari. Akakwezvwa kudzivirira kururamisira, ”akadaro Daniel Ellsberg, ane kubuda kwenyaya Pentagon Papersyakabatsira kupedza Hondo yeVietnam. “Aiona muzviitiko zvakawanda aimiririra munhu mumwe chete aipikisana nehurumende. Aive ari kudivi repasi. Aivewo akangwara mukutonga kwake vatongi, "akawedzera Ellsberg.
Aimbova muongorori wemauto uye Marine akashanda kuVietnam, Ellsberg akashanda kuRand Corp. nePentagon. Akaisa panjodzi yemakumi emakore ari mujeri kuti asunungure zvinyorwa zvinosvika zviuru zvinomwe zvepachivande kuThe New York Times nemamwe mapepanhau muna 7,000. Pentagon Papers yakaratidza kuti vatungamiri vashanu vairamba vachinyepera vanhu vekuAmerica nezveHondo yeVietnam iyo yaiuraya zviuru zvevanhu vekuAmerica nemamiriyoni eIndochinese. .
Zviito zveushingi zvaEllsberg zvakatungamira zvakananga kunyowani yeWatergate uye kusiya basa kwaMutungamiri Richard Nixon. Henry Kissinger, chipangamazano chezvekuchengetedzwa kwenyika kwaNixon, akadana Ellsberg kuti “murume ane ngozi zvikuru muAmerica” uyo “aifanira kumiswa chero zvodini.” Asi Ellsberg haina kumiswa. Akatarisana nemakore 115 mujeri nemhosva dzeusori uye kurangana, akarwisa.
Weinglass represented Ellsberg and Tony Russo, who helped Ellsberg copy the Pentagon Papers. The case was ultimately dismissed due to egregious misconduct by the Nixon administration. Ellsberg’s story was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film, “Munhu Ainyanya Kuipa muAmerica.” Edward Snowden told Ellsberg that film strengthened his resolve to release the National Security Agency documents.
Imwe yemakesi eWeinglass yakasimbiswa mubhuku raTobocman ndiyo Chicago Eight kuyedza. Tens of thousands of people protested the Vietnam War outside the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. In the face of widespread police brutality captured on television, Nixon charged eight people with the federal offense of crossing state lines to incite a riot. Weinglass and Kuntsler represented seven of the defendants. Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, denied the right to represent himself when his attorney, Charles Garry, was unable to appear, was bound and gagged by the ruthless judge Julius Hoffman.
Vanomwe vacho vaive Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner naJohn Froines. “Mutongi Hoffman akanga asingasaruri, asi murwi aitsvaka kurwa. Akatora zvinhu zvake ndokushandura dare kuita musasa une zvombo,” Tobocman akanyora. Mutongi akaramba kubvumidza mumiriri kuti adaidze nyanzvi dzemapurisa kuti dzipupure nezvekuita kwemapurisa kana kubvunza vangangove vatongi kana kushambadza kwapamberi kutongwa kwaizovakanganisa.
Froines and Weiner were acquitted, but the jury convicted Hayden, Hoffman, Rubin, Davis and Dellinger. Weinglass succeeded in getting the appellate court to reverse their convictions. “Bobby Seale soon beat the murder rap too,” Tobocman noted.
Weinglass’ final case was the appeal of the convictions of muCuban Five. For more than 40 years, anti-Cuba terrorist organizations based in Miami had engaged in countless terrorist activities against Cuba and anyone who advocated the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba.
Terrorist groups, including Alpha 66, Omega 7, Comandos F4, Cuban American National Foundation, Independent and Democratic Cuba, and Brothers to the Rescue, operated with impunity in the United States.
Five Cuban men—Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, René González and Fernando González—traveled from Cuba to the United States in the 1990s to gather information about terrorist plots against Cuba. The Cuban Five peacefully infiltrated these organizations. They then turned over the results of their investigation to the FBI.
But instead of working to combat terrorist plots in the United States against Cuba, the U.S. government arrested the Five and charged them with conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit murder. They were convicted in a Miami court in 2000 and sentenced to four life terms and 75 years collectively.
"Kurangana kwagara kuri mhosva inoshandiswa nemuchuchisi munyaya dzezvematongerwo enyika," Weinglass akadaro. "Panyaya yevashanu, dare reMiami rakakumbirwa kuti rione kuti pakanga paine chibvumirano chekuita husori. Hurumende haina kumbobvira yaratidza kuti husori hwakaitika. Hazvaigona kunge zvakaratidza kuti espionage yakaitika. Hapana pavashanu vakatsvaga kana kuve neruzivo rwepamusoro zvakavanzika kana zvakavanzika zvekudzivirira nyika yeUS," Weinglass akawedzera.
Dare revatongi vatatu ve11th US Circuit Court of Appeals vakabvumirana vakapidigura kutongwa kwavo muna 2005, vachitonga kuti Vashanu vacho vaisakwanisa kuwana kutongwa kwakanaka muMiami nekuda kwekupararira kwekupokana neCuba ikoko. Zvakadaro, Dunhu rechi11, rakagara en banc, rakatsigira zvitendero zvacho.
Asi, Weinglass akati, "Hazvitsananguriki kuti kutongwa kwakarebesa muUnited States panguva yakaitika, kunzwa zvapupu zvakawanda, kusanganisira vakuru vemauto vatatu vakasiya basa nemumiriri akasiya basa, pamwe nechipangamazano chemutungamiri wenyika nezvenyaya dzeCuba (zvose zvinodanwa na dziviriro) uye nyanzvi yemauto anotungamira kubva kuCuba, nguva yese iyi achifunga nezve nhoroondo inoshamisa uye inoputika yemakore makumi mana ehukama hweUS-Cuba, haana kukodzera kutariswa nevezvenhau kunze kweMiami. "
Weinglass aive kuCuba, achishanda pachiitiko ichi, paakaonekwa aine cancer. Akaramba achishandira rusununguko rweVashanu kusvika pakufa kwake muna March 2011. Vaviri veVashanu vakasunungurwa mushure mekugara mujeri kwenguva refu. Vatatu vasara vakasunungurwa sechikamu chechibvumirano chenhoroondo pakati peMutungamiriri weCuba, Raul Castro, neMutungamiriri weBarack Obama muna Zvita 2014.
On a visit to Cuba in 2015, Guerrero told me he was overwhelmed with sadness at Weinglass’ death. “He was my brother,” Guerrero said.
Weinglass’ close friend Susan Schnall said, “His personal, political and professional life combined to be an inspiration to all who knew him.” She described Weinglass as “meticulous, tireless, dedicated and brilliant when defending his clients. Even as he got older,” she added, “he got reinvigorated and refreshed after spending 16-hour days pouring through boxes and boxes of trial files on behalf of his clients.” In the spring of 2010, Weinglass wrote to her, “Having accomplished something is really all I need to work past exhaustion.”
Tobocman’s unique book is required reading for all who seek to learn about the remarkable legal career of Leonard Weinglass. It also provides a valuable history lesson of people’s struggles that will inspire a new generation of political activists as we face the daunting task of resisting Donald Trump’s dangerous, frightening, mean-spirited, downright cruel agenda.
Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former criminal defense attorney, past president of the National Lawyers Guild and deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her most recent book is “Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.”
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