Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lynne Stewart. The Second Circuit refused to rehear en banc its decision relating to the sentence of attorney Lynne Stewart. The decision denying rehearing en banc in United States v. Stewart, along with the concurrences (by one by Chief Judge Jacobs and joined by Judges Wesley and Hall and one by Judge Pooler) and dissent (by Judges Cabranes and Raggi) can be found here. Even Judge Cabranes's dissent did not favor en banc review in order to shorten Lynne Stewart's sentence or even to maintain the lenient sentence imposed by the District Court. He felt that certain issues should have been addressed, but were not, by the panel. These issues included the reasonableness of Lynne Stewart's sentence, the "nature" and "seriousness" of Stewart's offense and the purported lack of harm caused by the offense. It is likely that she will be spending a longer period behind bars than was originally thought.

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