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| Scorn, Icy Stares Follow Terror |
| Scorn, Icy Stares Follow Terror Suspects' Lawyers
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 13-May-2014
5:53:14 AM |
| People in the courthouse sometimes shun them. Friends, and even family, sometimes question their principles.
For the small band of lawyers who defend the most despised terror suspects - the ones accused of hatching al Qaeda plots to kill Americans around the world - this is the highly uncomfortable life they chose.
They are the true believers in the legal principle that everybody deserves representation in court, even if it means they get the same scorn and sometimes the same scrutiny as the people they represent.
Just ask Anthony Ricco, who was among a handful of respected defence lawyers summoned to the federal courthouse in Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because they might be needed for potential suspects. He recalled his mother telling him, in a temporary moment of outrage, "If you go down there to represent them, I will never speak to you again."
Such hazards are becoming more common for the few dozen defence attorneys who specialize in terrorism cases as the Justice Department pushes the use of civilian courts - most often federal court in Manhattan - to bring foreign terrorism suspects to justice.
In two of the most recent cases, a Manhattan jury convicted Osama bin Laden's son-in-law in March of conspiring to kill Americans, while an Egyptian imam is facing charges at an ongoing trial that he tried to start an al Qaeda training camp in the northwestern state of Oregon.
"It's a thankless but important job," said Karen J. Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, adding that such lawyers "have dedicated their lives to people who otherwise might not get a fair trial."
Sabrina Shroff, an assistant federal defender, won a rare, surprising victory in court recently when the government offered a plea deal that may free a client who the government once claimed planned to set up a US-based cell of terrorists capable of striking worldwide.
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