Judges squabbled over what to do with 70-year-old civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart, who's been convicted on charges of helping a jailed client communicate with his followers after he plotted to bomb NYC, but faces a resentencing in April. All wanted a lower-court judge to extend her sentence, but, unusually, each issued a statement criticizing how the others had handled the case. According to the AP, Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs said the judge should start his sentence from scratch since Judge John Koeltl didn't take into account the terrorist consequences of Stewart's case, but another judge fired back.
Judge Rosemary Pooler accused Jacobs of trying to pressure the lesser judge: "Other judges may have views on the matter, but the case is not before them, and what they may say about it has as much force of law as if those views were published in a letter to the editor of their favorite local newspaper," she wrote. Then a third judge, Jose A. Cabranes, said he thought the entire appeals court (about 12 judges) should hear the case, not just one judge. "To refuse to decide issues that are squarely presented is an abdication of judicial responsibility," he said in a footnote. On April 22nd Stewart could be given up to 30 years in prison.
