American attorney and civil rights activist (1919–1995)
William Kunstler
Born
William Moses Kunstler
(1919-07-07)July 7, 1919
New York City, U.S.
Died
September 4, 1995(1995-09-04) (aged 76)
New York City, U.S.
Education
Yale University (BA) Columbia University (LLB)
Occupation(s)
Attorney, civil rights activist
Spouses
Lotte Kunstler
Margaret Ratner
Children
4, including Emily
William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven.[1] Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the "leading gathering place for radical lawyers in the country."[2]
Kunstler's defense of the Chicago Seven from 1969 to 1970 led The New York Times to label him "the country's most controversial and, perhaps, its best-known lawyer".[2] Kunstler is also well known for defending members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Catonsville Nine, Black Panther Party, Weather Underground Organization, the Attica Prison rioters, Meir Kahane assassin El Sayyid Nosair, and the American Indian Movement.[2] He also won a de facto segregation case regarding the District of Columbia's public schools and "disinterred, singlehandedly" the concept of federal criminal removal jurisdiction in the 1960s.[2] Kunstler refused to defend right-wing groups, such as the Minutemen, on the grounds that "I only defend those whose goals I share. I'm not a lawyer for hire. I only defend those I love."[2]
He was a polarizing figure; many on the right wished to see him disbarred, while many on the left admired him as a "symbol of a certain kind of radical lawyer."[2] Even some other civil rights lawyers regarded Kunstler as a "publicity hound and a hit-and-run lawyer" who "brings cases on Page 1 and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund wins them on Page 68."[2] Legal writer Sidney Zion quipped that Kunstler was "one of the few lawyers in town who knows how to talk to the press. His stories always check out and he's not afraid to talk to you, and he's got credibility—although you've got to ask sometimes, 'Bill, is it really true?'"[2]
^Rea, Steven (December 11, 2009). "Onetime counterculture hero reexamined by his daughters". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
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William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler...
working on de-incarceration. While in college, Kuby interned with WilliamKunstler, a senior lawyer with 20 years' experience, notable for many of his...
organized by Progressive International in New York City. After her husband WilliamKunstler died, a dispute started with his former law partner, Ronald L. Kuby...
the daughter of lawyer WilliamKunstler, famous for his historic civil rights and anti-war cases and Margaret Ratner Kunstler, prominent New York human...
Hoffman sentenced all eight defendants and both of their lawyers (WilliamKunstler and Leonard Weinglass) to lengthy jail terms for contempt of court...
John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale. The defense attorneys were WilliamKunstler, Leonard Weinglass of the Center for Constitutional Rights, as well...
separated from the others. The Chicago Seven defense attorneys were WilliamKunstler and Leonard Weinglass of the Center for Constitutional Rights. The...
rulings, contempt citations, sentences and photographs. Introduction by WilliamKunstler and foreword by Leonard Weinglass. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company...
congressman from New York; attorney Herman Badillo; civil rights lawyer WilliamKunstler; Clarence Jones, publisher of the Amsterdam News in New York and former...
defendants, Judge Hoffman convicted all the defendants—and their attorneys WilliamKunstler and Leonard Weinglass—on a total of 159 counts of criminal contempt...
rulings, contempt citations, sentences and photographs. Introduction by WilliamKunstler and foreword by Leonard Weinglass. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company...
prosecutors, while all the defendants except Seale are represented by WilliamKunstler and Leonard Weinglass. Judge Julius Hoffman shows significant prejudice...
York, in the United States. It was founded in 1966 by Arthur Kinoy, WilliamKunstler and others particularly to support activists in the implementation...
the Phantom of the Park as Abner Devereaux 1980 Attica (TV Movie) as WilliamKunstler 1980 The First Deadly Sin as Captain Broughton 1981 Soggy Bottom, U...
assistant Middlesex County prosecutor (directing the case for the state), WilliamKunstler (the chief of Shakur's defense staff) moved immediately for a mistrial...
"far-out Socialist Labor Party hippie bohemian freak who hung out with William Burroughs". She was "a highly cultured eccentric" who earned a living by...
James Roebuck. That night, Yippie Jerry Rubin and civil-rights lawyer WilliamKunstler spoke to an audience of 8,000 at University Hall, a basketball arena...
figures, including Marlon Brando, Johnny Cash, Angela Davis, Jane Fonda, WilliamKunstler, and Tom Wicker. After DOJ prohibited the media from the site, press...
Hayden Abbie Hoffman Jerry Rubin Bobby Seale Lee Weiner Lawyers/Judge WilliamKunstler (defense lawyer) Leonard Weinglass Julius Hoffman (judge) Tom Foran...
"because of their race, color or national origin." On March 1, 1994, WilliamKunstler and Ron Kuby, law partners known for representing unpopular clients...
career with the Royal Shakespeare Company acting in numerous productions of William Shakespeare's work such as The Tempest (1982), A Midsummer Night's Dream...
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