biography
| name: |
Kunstler, William M(oses)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1919–95)
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| biography:
| Lawyer and social activist, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Yale and Columbia, and in 1949 formed a law partnership with his brother. In the early 1960s he began to represent the Congress of Racial Equality, Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Non-Violence Co-ordinating Committee, and became known as the legal voice of ‘the Movement’ - the more radical groups opposing the Vietnam war, mistreatment of African-Americans, and other perceived flaws in US society. His clients included the Black Panthers, the Catonsville Nine, and the Roman Catholic militants Philip and Daniel Berrigan, but his most celebrated case was that of the Chicago Seven charged with inciting the violence associated with the 1968 Democratic convention. He himself ended up being sentenced to jail for contempt of court (but won on appeal). He also taught at New York University Law School, and published several popular books, including Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1961) and Deep in My Heart (1966). |
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