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Attorney for the defendants

William Kunstler Courtesy of Bettman/Corbis.

William Kunstler served as the lead attorney for the defendants in the Chicago conspiracy trial and cemented his reputation as a lawyer for left-leaning celebrities. Kunstler was born in New York City and attended Yale University. He then served in the military and graduated from Columbia Law School. As a law student he wrote for various publications and read movie scripts for a major studio. In the early years of his law practice in New York, Kunstler also wrote radio scripts. He gained national attention in 1961 with the publication of a book on the controversial death penalty case of Caryl Chessman. Kunstler represented various civil rights leaders in the 1960s, and he also represented celebrity clients like the comedian Lenny Bruce. He agreed to represent Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of President Kennedy, and Kunstler later represented Jack Ruby in an appeal of Ruby’s conviction for murdering Oswald.

Although Kunstler often left the more detailed legal work of the Chicago trial to his colleague Leonard Weinglass, it was Kunstler who emphasized what he thought was the political character of the trial. He frequently linked the defendants with American Revolutionaries and historical advocates of social justice and political liberty. The trial, according to Kunstler’s opening statement, was “a classic example of the Government against the people.” “The real conspiracy in this case is the conspiracy to curtail and prevent the demonstrations against the war in Vietnam.” Kunstler was also a highly visible advocate for the defendants outside the courtroom.

At the Chicago trial, Kunstler took the lead in challenging Judge Hoffman and the government prosecutors. His confrontations with the judge resulted in Judge Hoffman issuing contempt convictions on thirty-four charges against Kunstler and imposing a jail sentence of more than four years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit dismissed nine of the charges and remanded the rest for retrial before another judge. The government dropped all but six of the charges, and at the retrial, Judge Edward Gignoux found Kunstler not guilty of four of the charges. The first of Kunstler’s contempt convictions resulted from an extended diatribe against Judge Hoffman that constituted “outrageous behavior,” according to Gignoux, and that resulted in a substantive delay in the trial. The other conviction was based on Kunstler’s refusal to obey the judge’s order not to discuss a motion in front of the jury. In both instances, Gignoux found that Kunstler’s behavior exceeded any definition of “vigorous advocacy” of the defendants’ interests. Gignoux imposed no jail sentence on Kunstler or the other defendants convicted of contempt.

In the years following the Chicago conspiracy trial, Kunstler often represented well-known radicals and notorious criminal defendants. He also appeared in movies and television, occasionally playing himself.