NY court asked to reject lawyer’s decade jail term

NY court asked to reject lawyer’s decade jail term

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal appeals judges in New York appear supportive of a judge’s decision to quadruple the prison sentence of a lawyer convicted of aiding a terrorist organization after she said she could serve the time “standing on my head.”

Judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were skeptical today of arguments made on behalf of disbarred civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart.

The judges are considering whether she was punished for speech protected by the First Amendment. Her comments came after she was sentenced in 2006 to more than two years in prison. The trial judge quadrupled her sentence to 10 years, noting her comments and concluding that she had committed perjury during trial.

The same three-judge panel in 2009 said it had “serious doubts” the original sentence was sufficient.