Yesterday, a federal appeals court panel of three judges upheld the conviction of lawyer Lynne Stewart for smuggling messages from a radical leader to his followers in Egypt. And the panels also thinks a judge should consider increasing her prison time from the 28 month sentence that was already handed down. more ›

We love stories about public school teachers and sick days: There was the guy who wanted some time off to serve a jail sentence, the principal who was actually conducting an orchestra, and, our favorite, the teacher who took sick days when performing as a wrestler for the WWE. But we would never have dreamed that Lynne Stewart, the controversial lawyer who was convicted of aiding terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman while he was in prison, would even be involved in one! more ›

Yesterday's decision by a federal judge to sentence controversial lawyer Lynne Stewart to 28 months in prison for charges in helping terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman carry out his message was met by relief from Stewart supporters and overwhelming outcry from the government (which had hoped for a 30 year sentence) and many of the local papers. The Post, Daily News and the Sun all have editorials criticizing Judge Koetl's short sentence. From the Daily News:

Perhaps kindly Judge Koeltl was touched by the sight of Stewart, all her revolutionary bravado fled, blubbering that the end of her legal career "is like a sword in my side." Perhaps he was moved by the defense argument that Stewart, who is 67 and ailing, would die behind bars if a sentence of any reasonable length were imposed. more ›

Well-known radical lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced today to 28 months in prison. In February 2005, she found guilty of terror charges - she had smuggled messages from terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman to his followers in defiance of prison rules. Stewart had been pleading for leniency, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and before the sentencing, Stewart's lawyer Elizabeth Fink said, "If you send her to prison, she's going to die. It's as simple as that." The AP reported that Stewart smiled when she heard 28 month sentence; she had faced a maximum of 30 years in prison. The NY Times mentions that Judge Koetl acknowledged that there was "'no evidence that any victim was in fact harmed' by her actions" and noted her career as a "lawyer to the poor and the unpopular." Stewart will be appealing. more ›

- And some of the most gorgeous New York City photograph we've seen are from Arnold Pouteau - here are his pictures on Flickr more ›

Newsday has reactions from a number of city lawyers, most of whom believe this will make lawyers think twice about who they defend. And as to be expected, the Post brands Lynne Stewart the terror traitor.
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Some stories Gothamist has been following lately [additionally, based on a totally unofficial survey of a couple newspapers, it seems about 50% - or more - of the stories are about the convention...we suppose NYC will have to get more interesting post-convention]:
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