[HCCN] Len Weinglass presente!

[Judith Robbins]

[A sad and great loss. Leonard Weinglass, indomitable civil rights  
lawyer, see brief bio below. Ricardo Alarcon is President of Cuba's  
National Assembly. -- JR]


For Lenny
By Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada

On the afternoon of March 23rd, the same day he would have turned 78  
years of age, Leonard Wineglass’s heart ceased to beat.

He had been a victim of a cruel illness and since January of this  
year he had entered into a critical and especially painful stage of  
health, despite this, he did not distance himself for an instant from  
his work. During the last months of life, heroically combating both  
the illness and physical pain he dedicated himself with body and soul  
to the preparation and presentation of the habeas Corpus in favor of  
Gerardo Hernandez and Antonio Guerrero, without neglecting the work  
on behalf of other comrades.

Shortly before entering the hospital where he was to undergo surgery,  
he took the final steps in the appeals process of Gerardo and Antonio  
and delegated to other colleagues what they should do while he was  
undergoing treatment. Only then did he accept the ordeal of taking  
care of himself.

He was always like that. In his youth he began working in the law  
offices of Victor Rabinowitz and Leonard Boudin, where he fought  
countless legal battles in favor of workers unions, civil liberties  
and justice in the United States. With his brilliant defense in 1968  
of the Chicago 8, Lenny began an endless and admirable career as a  
defense attorney representing Jane Fonda, Daniel Ellsberg and the  
Pentagon Papers, Angela Davis, Mumia Abu Jamal, Amy Carter, Kathy  
Boudin and many more to include the Cuban Five and more recently  
collaborating with the defense team of Julian Assange, the founder of  
WikiLeaks. The history of the struggles of the American people can  
not be written without mentioning on every page, the name Leonard  
Weinglass.

Now and always we shall owe him our homage and gratitude.

Losing Lenny is a great blow to Gerardo, Ramon, Antonio, Fernando and  
René. He had been their best and most relentless defender, he  
dedicated all of his energies and his talent to their cause, and for  
them he fought to the end in the midsts of pain and agony, to his  
last breath.

The struggle for the freedom of the Cuban Five must continue, now  
under even harder circumstances, without Lenny. We must all multiply  
our commitment until our brothers are free. We must do so without  
intermission or rest. It is the least we can promise this resolute,  
self sacrificial and lucid man, who will for ever be our beloved  
comrade Leonard Weinglass.

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org



Civil Rights Career

Weinglass has championed a number of liberal and radical causes. An  
expert in civil rights legislation, he served as co-chairman of the  
international committee of the National Lawyers Guild.

Along with attorney William Kunstler, Weinglass represented the  
Chicago 7 in their 1968 trial. He also participated in the defense of  
Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo, who were charged with leaking the  
Pentagon Papers and whose trial ended in a dismissal of all charges.  
In 1970, he represented and won the acquittal of Angela Davis who was  
charged with participation in the abduction and murder of a local  
judge. Other prominent clients included Kathy Boudin, a member of the  
Weather Underground charged with felony murder for her participation  
in an armed robbery; anti-war activist Ron Kaufman; Bill and Emily  
Harris (kidnappers of Patty Hearst); Jimi Simmons; and Skyhorse and  
Mohawk. He was for several years the lead defense attorney for Mumia  
Abu-Jamal. In 1995, he authored a book about Abu-Jamal's case  
entitled Race for Justice: Mumia Abu Jamal's Fight Against the Death  
Penalty.

In 1972, Weinglass took on the defense of John Sinclair, Chairman of  
the White Panther Party in Detroit, Michigan. The case became United  
States v. U.S. District Court, 407 U.S. 297 (1972) on appeal to the  
United States Supreme Court, a landmark decision prohibiting the  
government's use of electronic survelliance without a warrant.

Weinglass was the lead appellate attorney for the Cuban Five from  
2002 until his death in 2011.[1]

Leonard Weinglass traveled to Cuba (1968)[citation needed] and to  
Hanoi (1972).[citation needed] In 2010 he worked with the defense  
team for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Weinglass has worked with  
former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Weinglass was photographed by Richard Avedon and appears in the book  
The Sixties by Richard Avedon and Doon Arbus

Up until the end of his life at the age of 78, Weinglass continued to  
take on cases. He saw no reason to stop - "the typical call I get is  
the one that starts by saying 'You are the fifth attorney we've  
called'. Then I get interested".[1]




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