Chicago Seven Lawyers Cited for Contempt
Two lawyers in the Chicago trial of the Chicago Seven, William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, were cited for contempt and sentenced to prison by Judge Hoffman on this day. The contempt citations were reheard by a different judge, who upheld some of the charges but declined to send either of the lawyers to prison.
The Chicago Seven were originally the Chicago Eight, but Judge Hoffman severed Black Panther Bobby Seale’s case from the others because of Seale’s criticisms of the court and Judge Hoffman.
The Chicago Eight/Seven case was one of the most sensational criminal prosecutions in the late 1960s. The defendants were prosecuted for their actions in the protests at the 1968 Democratic Party Convention (see August 28, 1968), in violation of the new Anti-Riot Act (enacted on April 11, 1968), which made it a crime to cross state lines to incite violence. The trial was a tumultuous affair, marked by open hostility to the defendants and their lawyers by Judge Julius Hoffman.
On February 18, 1970, the Chicago Seven were acquitted of conspiracy, but five were convicted of violating the new federal Anti-Riot Act. Their convictions were subsequently overturned on appeal.
Read about the case: Jon Weiner, ed., Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Eight (2006)
Watch a documentary on the trial of the Chicago Seven (Eight): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a-sFuzmloE
Read: David J. Langum, William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America, (1999)
Watch the documentary, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (2009), produced and directed by his daughters, Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler.