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Lynne failed to win a sentence reduction. She claimed her First Amendment rights were violated. Second Circuit judges disagreed, saying:
"Stewart was not punished for violating a governmental restriction on speech.""The district court did not treat her speech as a violation of any law--it considered the content of that speech to be helpful in enabling the court to craft a sentence 'sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth' " elsewhere in sentencing guidelines.
"Stewart does indeed argue that she was prosecuted and punished for her political beliefs. The most obvious -- and fatal -- shortcoming in Stewart's argument in the context of this appeal is that there is not a hint in the record of any fact to support an assertion that the district court did so."
"The sentencing judge was determining the characteristics of the defendant, which were legally relevant to a determination of the appropriate sentence to impose on Stewart, through the comments she voluntarily and publicly made."
Jeff Mackler is West Coast Coordinator of the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee. On June 29, he headlined "Court Confirms Ten-Year Sentence for Lynne Stewart," saying:
Lynne's 2005 conviction was "outrageous." Her "crime" was doing the right thing. US "justice" finds that intolerable in defending clients prosecutors want to convict.
"Barring an unlikely Supreme Court reversal, she will now serve her ten-year sentence with perhaps a one-year or ten percent reduction for 'good behavior.' "
Justice Department prosecutors and hanging judges sought vengeance. They took issue with Lynne's sworn duty to represent all clients honorably. She didn't "bow to authority (or show) required deference." They rejected her three core arguments:
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