William Kunstler

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William Kunstler, around 1989

William Moses Kunstler (born July 7, 1919 in New York , † September 4, 1995 in Manhattan , New York ) was the best-known civil rights attorney in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s . He was a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

Personality and known clients

Kunstler's clients included a. Martin Luther King , Larry Davis, Malcolm X , Phillip and Daniel Berrigan , Abbie Hoffman , H. Rap ​​Brown, Stokely Carmichael , Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Filiberto Ojeda Ríos , Leonard Peltier , Bobby Seale , Angela Davis , the Freedom Riders , Assata Shakur and the Chicago Seven . He represented those accused of a prison revolt in Attica and the American Indian Movement . Kunstler was a very polarizing personality - he described himself as a "philosophical anarchist". While it met with rejection and outrage from conservatives, it enjoyed great recognition from left-wing liberals. He was happy to be photographed on the way to the court hearing with his right fist raised (this is how the cover of his autobiography “ My Life as a Radical Lawyer ”, published in 1994, shows him ), while on the left the thick trial files: “My vision of America is idealistic like ours Constitution ”. The New York Times called him " the most hated and most loved lawyer in America ". Kunstler also defended maligned members of society such as rapists and murderers, but refused to represent right-wing groups such as the anti-communist Minutemen . He justified this with the words: “ I only defend those whose goals I share. I'm not a lawyer for hire. I only defend those I love "( I only defend those whose goals I share. I am not for sale. I only defend those who I love).

Movie

  • William Kunstler. Disturbing the Universe, by Emily Kunstler / Sarah Kunstler

literature

  • William M. Kunstler (with Sheila Isenberg): My Life as a Radical Lawyer; Birch Lane Press, New York, NY, 1994. ISBN 1-55972-265-7
  • David J. Langum: William M. Kunstler: the most hated lawyer in America, New York / London 1999

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See artist obituary by Paul Nellen: "Don Quichotte", taz, Sept. 7, 1995

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Artist, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Artist, William Moses
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights attorney
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 1995
Place of death Manhattan , New York