Leonard Weinglass

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Leonard Irving Weinglass (born August 27, 1933 - March 23, 2011 in New York City ) was an American criminal and constitutional lawyer who was admitted to the bar in New Jersey , New York , Connecticut and California . Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958 and then served as a Colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961 . He taught criminal law at the University of Southern California from 1974 to 1976 and from 1974 to 1975 at the Peoples College of Law in Los Angeles .

Career

As an advocate of the American counterculture movement of the 1960s (see also the 1968 movement ), Weinglass represented a large number of liberal and radical defendants in American courts. Because of his expert knowledge of constitutional law, he was vice chairman of the international committee of the National Lawyers Guild . Together with attorney William Kunstler , Weinglass represented the Chicago 7 in their 1968 trials. He also took part in the defense of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony J. Russo , who were accused of having participated in the publication of the Pentagon Papers . All charges against the two were dropped. In 1970 he represented Angela Davis , who was charged with participating in the kidnapping and murder of a judge. In this process he obtained an acquittal.

Other well-known clients were:

  • Kathy Boudin, a member of the Weathermen charged with murder in an armed robbery (Brink's Robbery)
  • Antiwar activist Ron Kaufman
  • Bill and Emily Harris, members of the SLA
  • Jimi Simmons, a Muckleshoot Indian on charges of murder

Weinglass was for a long time the most important lawyer on Mumia Abu-Jamal's defense team . In 1995 he published a book called Race for Justice: Mumia Abu Jamal's Fight Against the Death Penalty , in which he gave his perspective on the case. In 1972 Weinglass took over the defense of John Sinclair , chairman of the White Panther Party in Detroit . The case became a United States v. US District Court, 407 US 297, before the United States Supreme Court . It represents a fundamental decision on the supervision of persons without a court order.

In 1985, Stephen Bingham was successfully represented by Weinglass. Bingham, a lawyer, was suspected of a weapon in the state prison at San Quentin to George Jackson to have smuggled, who used them in an escape attempt in which he and two other inmates and three guards killed were live. Weinglass served as the lead defense attorney in the Miami Five appeal hearing from 2002 until his death in 2011 .

Last years

Weinglass continued to work as a lawyer until he was the last year of his life. He saw no reason to stop:

"The typical call I get is the one that starts by saying 'You are the fifth attorney we've called'. Then I get interested. "
"I always pay attention when someone calls me and I hear: 'You are already the fifth lawyer we contact'"

death

Leonard Weinglass died of pancreatic cancer on March 23, 2011 at the age of 78 in New York .

Awards

  • 1974: First recipient of the Clarence Darrow Prize.
  • 1980: First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles Award for Humanitarian Merit
  • 1994: Awarded for Special Services by the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ)

literature

Leonard Weinglass: Race for justice: Mumia Abu-Jamal's fight against the death penalty . Common Courage Press, 1995, ISBN 1-56751-070-1 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/us/25weinglass.html?_r=0
  2. ^ Larry D. Hatfield: Last vestiges of radical movement will go on trial in Bingham case . In: The Day , The Day Publishing Company, Jan. 7, 1985, pp. 1, 4. Retrieved March 24, 2013. 
  3. ^ A b Interview with Duncan Campbell , The Guardian , January 9, 2007, Section G2, pages 10-13 (online: here ), title "Society has become more punitive." Retrieved March 24, 2013, in English

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Weinglass, Leonard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weinglass, Leonard Irving
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American criminal and constitutional lawyer and attorney
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1933
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 2011
Place of death New York City