Ethics

More analysis later.  Opinion here.  Here's my original post regarding Stewart.  Links to key parts of the trial.  

As you read commentary about whether her lawyering should be considered criminal conduct, please bear in mind that the crux of the case was that the criminal conduct was the non-lawyering.  The specific conduct most damning to Stewart was a prison visit when she brought her Arabic-speaking paralegal who took down a dictated letter, in Arabic, from Stewart's client, the so-called Blind Sheikh.  The letter dealt with whether a terrorist group should withdraw from a cease fire.  While the dictation happened -- in a language Stewart didn't speak -- Stewart sat at the table and worked on other legal matters.  When a guard peered through the glass window, Stewart leaned forward and pretended to be speaking to her client and the paralegal about legal matters.  I don't think that anyone can argue that occasionally pretending to be be lawyering constitutes lawyering.  

UPDATE: Interview with Lynne Stewart about the Second Circuit's affirmance.