Well-known for his defense of high-profile, controversial clients, including the "Chicago Seven" and University of Massachusetts at Amherst student protester Abbie Hoffman, attorney Leonard Weinglass defended his decision to represent a Cuban man sentenced to life for espionage last night at Suffolk University Law School.
Weinglass said his representation of such controversial, but no less deserving, clients embodies the belief in civil liberties he has developed during his nearly 50 years of practicing law.
"I have seen the civil rights movement achieve not all, but many of its goals," he said.
Weinglass said he decided to defend Antonio Guerrero, a Cuban man convicted of espionage against the United States in 1998, because he believes he was unfairly tried and sentenced to life in prison.
Because his client's espionage trial was conducted in Miami County, Weinglass said he was unfairly sentenced.
"A fair trial for Cubans in Miami [is] impossible," he said.
In his speech, Weinglass detailed his most infamous trials, speaking proudly about his defense of 14 UMass Amherst students -- including sixties-era protester Abbie Hoffman -- who were arrested for breaking into a proposed CIA recruitment center.
Weinglass won acquittal for the defendants by claiming they were preventing the CIA from committing war crimes, and claimed that by shedding light on the CIA's actions in the case -- which included testimony from Boston University professor emeritus Howard Zinn -- he was able to reveal the information that is too often kept from the public.
Weinglass said he had received an update earlier yesterday that the federal government had dropped its case against a group of Palestinian immigrants, whom he defended in Los Angeles and had been targeted in 1987 for allegedly supporting the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Suffolk Law School professor Michael Avery praised Weinglass for his strong convictions and willingness to represent the less-fortunate in the name of social justice.
"There are many lawyers who do a pro bono case now and then," he said. "[Weinglass] has given his entire career."
"This kind of work is the most gratifying work and the most satisfying work that one could imagine doing," Weinglass said about his pro bono work.
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