Editors note: Uhuru News urges all of our readers to sign the petition calling for the “compassionate release” of Lynne Stewart.
Lynne Stewart, a lawyer who has for decades staunchly defended national liberation activists and political prisoners, is herself now a political prisoner for doing so.
Below is an appeal from Lynne Stewart's spouse Ralph Poynter and family. Ralph Poynter will speak at the upcoming International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) International Convention, March 23-24 in St. Petersburg, FL.
Lynne Stewart has devoted her life to the oppressed – a constant advocate for the countless many deprived in the United States of their freedom and their rights.
Unjustly charged and convicted for the "crime" of providing her client with a fearless defense, the prosecution of Lynne Stewart is an assault upon the basic freedoms of us all.
After 8 years of post-conviction freedom, her bail was revoked arbitrarily and her imprisonment ordered, precluding surgery she had scheduled in a major New York hospital.
The sinister meaning of the relentless persecution of Lynne Stewart is unmistakably clear. Given her age and precarious health, the ten-year sentence she is now serving is a virtual death sentence.
Since her imprisonment in the Federal Prison in Carswell, Texas her urgent need for surgery was delayed 18 months – so long, that the operating physician pronounced the condition as “the worst he had seen.”
Now, breast cancer, which had been in remission prior to her imprisonment, has appeared in her lymph nodes, on her shoulder, in her bones and her lungs – and has reached Stage Four.
Her daughter, Dr. Zenobia Brown, has sounded the alarm: “Under the best of circumstances, Lynne would be in a battle of the most serious consequences with dangerous odds. With cancer and cancer treatment, the complications can be as debilitating and as dangerous as the cancer itself.”
In her current setting, where trips to physicians involve attempting to walk with 10 pounds of shackles on her wrists and ankles, with connecting chains, Lynne Stewart has lacked ready access to physicians and specialists under conditions compatible with medical success.
It can take weeks to see a medical provider in prison conditions. It can take weeks to report physical changes and learn the results of treatment; and when held in the hospital, Lynne has been shackled wrist and ankle to the bed.
This medieval “shackling” has vanishingly little to do with any appropriate prison control. She is obviously not an escape risk.
We demand abolition of this practice for all prisoners, let alone those facing surgery and the urgent necessity of care and recovery.
It amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, violative of human rights.
There is immediate remedy available for Lynne Stewart. Under the 1984 Sentencing Act, after a prisoner request, the Bureau of Prisons can file a motion with the Court to reduce sentences "for extraordinary and compelling reasons." Life threatening illness is foremost among these and Lynne Stewart meets every rational and humane criterion for compassionate release.
To misconstrue the gravamen of this compassionate release by conditioning such upon being at death's door – released, if at all, solely to die – is a cruel mockery converting a prison sentence, wholly undeserved, into a death sentence.
The New York Times, in an editorial (2/12), has excoriated the Bureau of Prisons for their restrictive crippling of this program. In a 20-year period, the Bureau released a scant 492 persons – an average of 24 a year out of a population that exceeds 220,000.
We cry out against the bureaucratic murder of Lynne Stewart.
We demand Lynne Stewart's immediate release to receive urgent medical care in a supportive environment indispensable to the prospect of her survival and call upon the Bureau of Prisons to act immediately.
If Lynne's original sentence of 28 months had not been unreasonably, punitively increased to 10 years, she would be home now, where her medical care would be by her choice and where those who love her best would care for her. Her isolation from this loving care would end.
Prevent this cruelty to Lynne Stewart whose lifelong commitment to justice is now a struggle for her life. Free Lynne Stewart Now! Call for Lynne Stewart's "Compassionate Release" NOW!
Please also write to Lynne with expressions of concern and wishes for strength and health, at:
Lynne Stewart #53504-054
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
PO Box 27137
Ft. Worth, TX 76127
For more information and latest updates, go to LynneStewart.org
Sign the petition HERE for the Compassionate Release of Lynne Stewart
(see petition text below)
Sample Petition Text:
To: President Obama, Attorney General Holden, Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Samuels, and the Warden of Carswell federal prison
cc: Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Congressional leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban, and members of the media
I urge you to take action for the immediate compassionate release of Lynne Stewart.
Internationally known human rights attorney Lynne Stewart was unjustly charged and convicted for the "crime" of providing her client with a fearless defense. The prosecution of Lynne Stewart is an assault upon the basic freedoms of us all.
After 8 years of post-conviction freedom, her bail was revoked arbitrarily and her imprisonment ordered, precluding surgery she had scheduled in a major New York hospital.
Since her imprisonment in the Federal Prison in Carswell, Texas her urgently needed surgery was delayed for 18 months – so long that the operating physician pronounced the condition as "the worst he had seen."
Now breast cancer, which had been in remission prior to her imprisonment, has appeared in her lymph nodes, on her shoulder, in her bones and her lungs – and has reached Stage Four.
There is an immediate remedy available for Lynne Stewart. Under the 1984 Sentencing Act, after a prisoner request, the Bureau of Prisons can file a motion with the Court to reduce sentences "for extraordinary and compelling reasons." Life threatening illness is foremost among these and Lynne Stewart meets every rational and humane criterion for Compassionate Release.
At Federal Prison in Carswell, Texas, where trips to physicians involve attempting to walk with 10 pounds of shackles on her wrists and ankles, 72 year-old Lynne Stewart has lacked ready access to physicians and specialists under conditions compatible with medical success. When held in the hospital, Lynne has been shackled wrist and ankle to the bed.
I cry out against the bureaucratic murder of Lynne Stewart.
I urge you to take action and call upon the Bureau of Prisons to act immediately for Lynne Stewart's Compassionate Release to receive urgent medical attention.
Sincerely,
(Your signature will be appended here based on the contact information you enter in the form above)
