William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the "leading gathering place for radical lawyers in the country."
Kunstler's defense of the Chicago Seven from 1969 to 1970 led The New York Times to label him "the country's most controversial and, perhaps, its best-known lawyer". Kunstler is also well known for defending members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Catonsville Nine, Black Panther Party, Weather Underground Organization, the Attica Prison rioters, Meir Kahane assassin El Sayyid Nosair, and the American Indian Movement. He also won a de facto segregation case regarding the District of Columbia's public schools and "disinterred, singlehandedly" the concept of federal criminal removal jurisdiction in the 1960s. Kunstler refused to defend right-wing groups, such as the Minutemen, on the grounds that "I only defend those whose goals I share. I'm not a lawyer for hire. I only defend those I love."
He was a polarizing figure; many on the right wished to see him disbarred, while many on the left admired him as a "symbol of a certain kind of radical lawyer." Even some other civil rights lawyers regarded Kunstler as a "publicity hound and a hit-and-run lawyer" who "brings cases on Page 1 and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund wins them on Page 68." Legal writer Sidney Zion quipped that Kunstler was "one of the few lawyers in town who knows how to talk to the press. His stories always check out and he's not afraid to talk to you, and he's got credibility—although you've got to ask sometimes, 'Bill, is it really true?'"
Early life Kunstler was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Frances Mandelbaum and Monroe Bradford Kunstler, a physician. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School.Langum, David J. "William M. Kunstler: the most hated lawyer in America", p. 25. New York University Press, 1999. . "Kunstler attended DeWitt Clinton High School at its annex on West End Avenue." After high school, he attended Yale University, where he majored in French and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. He then went on to attend Columbia Law School from which he graduated in 1948. While at Yale, Kunstler was an avid poet and represented Yale in the Glascock Prize competition at Mount Holyoke College.
Rejected twice by the United States Navy, Kunstler served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the Pacific theater. He volunteered for cryptography and served in New Guinea.Langum, David J. William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America, pp. 43, NYU Press, 2002 He rose to the rank of major and received the Bronze Star. While in the army, he was noted for his theatrical portrayals in the Fort Monmouth Dramatic Association.Brooks Atkinson. 1941, December 21. "Acting on the Camp Grounds". The New York Times. p. X1.
After his discharge from the Army, Kuntsler hoped to become a writer. However, he ultimately attended law school, probably at the encouragement of his younger brother, who hoped they would go into practice together. His classmates at Columbia included Constance Baker Motley, Roy Cohn, and his future law partner Arthur Kinoy. In 1948, he was admitted to the bar in New York and began practicing law. Kunstler went through R.H. Macy's executive training program in the late 1940s and practiced family and small-business law in the 1950s, before entering civil-rights litigation in the 1960s. He was an associate professor of law at New York Law School (1950–1951).
Kunstler won honorable mention for the National Legal Aid Association's press award in 1957 for his series of radio broadcasts on WNEW, The Law on Trial.Warren Weaver. 1957. "Public Defender in State Opposed". The New York Times. p. 53. At WNEW, Kunstler also conducted interviews on controversial topics, such as the Alger Hiss case, on a program called Counterpoint.Jack Gould. July 15, 1957. "TV-Radio: 2 New Comics". The New York Times. p. 41.
Civil rights career Rise to prominence (1957–1964)
Kunstler began to garner sustained media attention in 1957, when he unsuccessfully defended the journalist William Worthy. A correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-American, Worthy was one of 42 Americans who had their passports seized after violating the State Department's travel ban on Communist China (after attending a Communist youth conference in Moscow).Dana Adams Schmidt. 1957, September 19. "U.S. Youths in China Will Lose Passports." The New York Times. p. 1. Kunstler refused a State Department compromise, which would have returned Worthy's passport if he agreed to cease visiting Communist countries, a condition that Worthy considered unconstitutional.The New York Times. 1957, December 30. "Reporter Rejects Passport Condition". p. 35.
Kunstler played an important role as a civil rights lawyer in the 1960s, traveling to many of the segregated battlegrounds to work to free those who had been jailed. Working on behalf of the ACLU, Kunstler defended the Freedom Riders in Mississippi in 1961.The New York Times. 1961, July 22. "New Challenges Made." p. 46. He filed for a writ of habeas corpus with Sidney Mize, a federal judge in Biloxi, and appealed to the Fifth Circuit; he also filed similar pleas in state courts. Judge Leon Hendrick in Hinds County refused Kunstler's motion to cancel the mass appearance (involving hundreds of miles of travel) of all 187 convicted riders.The New York Times. 1961, August 11. "Riders Lose Appeal." p. 45. The riders were convicted in a bench trial in Jackson and appealed to a county jury trial, where Kunstler argued that the county systematically discriminated against African-American jurors.The New York Times. 1961, August 23. "Jury List Scored in Trial of Rider". p. 31.
In 1962, Kunstler took part in efforts to integrate public parks and libraries in Albany, Georgia.Hendrick Smith. 1962, August 12. "Albany, Ga., Closes and Parks and Libraries To Balk Integration". The New York Times. p. 1. Later that year, he published The Case for Courage (modeled on President Kennedy's Profiles in Courage) highlighting the efforts of other lawyers who risked their careers for controversial clients, as well as similar acts by public servants.Alan F. Westin. 1961, October 14. "Counsel for the Defense Was on Trial Too". The New York Times. p. 283. At the time of the publication, Kunstler was already well known for his work with the Freedom Riders, his book on the Caryl Chessman case, and his radio coverage of trials. Kunstler also joined a group of lawyers criticizing the application of Alabama's civil libel laws and spoke at a rally against HUAC.Leonard E. Ryan. 1964, October 14. "Suits in Alabama Stir New Protest". The New York Times. p. 74.The New York Times. 1962, October 24. "Display Ad 61 – No Title". p. 9.
In 1963, for the Gandhi Society of New York, Kunstler filed to remove the cases of more than 100 arrested African-American demonstrators from the Danville Corporation Court to the Charlottesville District Court, under a Reconstruction Era statute.Ben A. Franklin. 1963, July 12. "Dr. King Steps Up Danville Protest". The New York Times. p. 8. Although the district judge remanded the cases to city court, he dissolved the city's injunction against demonstrations. In doing so, Judge Thomas J. Michie rejected a Justice Department amicus curiae brief urging the removal to create a test case for the statute. Kunstler appealed to the Fourth Circuit. That year, Kunstler also sued public-housing authorities in Westchester County.The New York Times. 1963, October 26. "'Westchester Suit' Scores Rent Aid". p. 41.
In 1964, Kunstler defended a group of four accused of kidnapping a white couple, and succeeded in getting the alleged weapons thrown out as evidence, as they could not be positively identified as those used.The New York Times. 1964, February 27. "State Rests Case in Kidnapping Trial". p. 20. That year, he also challenged Mississippi's unpledged elector law and racial segregation in primary elections; he also defended three members of the Blood Brothers, a Harlem gang, charged with murder.Claude Sittons. 1964, June 20. "U.S. Official Warns Mississippi-Bound Students". The New York Times. p. 12.The New York Times. 1964, July 2. "Writ Denied 3 Boys Indicted in Murder". p. 26.
Kunstler went to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1964 during the demonstrations led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Robert B. Hayling, which put added pressure on Congress to pass the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kunstler brought the first federal case under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which allowed the removal of cases from county court to be appealed; the defendants were protestors at the 1964 New York World's Fair.Alfred E. Clark. 1964, August 27. "U.S. Judge to Hear Rights Case Here". The New York Times. p. 37.
ACLU director (1964–1972)
He was a director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1964 to 1972, when he became a member of the ACLU National Council. In 1966, he co-founded the Center for Constitutional Rights. Kunstler also worked with the National Lawyers Guild.
In 1965, Kunstler's firm - Kunstler, Kunstler, and Kinoy - was asked to defend Jack Ruby by his brother Earl, but dropped the case because they "did not wish to be in a situation where we have to fight to get into the case".Alfred E. Clark. 1965, February 13. "Law Firm Here Steps Out of Ruby Case". The New York Times. p. 50.The New York Times. 1965, February 18. "Ruby Family Bid Ignored by Texas Appeals Court". p. 26. Ruby was eventually permitted to replace his original defense team with Kunstler,The New York Times. 1966, February 27. "Jack Ruby Draws and Colors to While Away Time in Jail". p. 72.Waldron, Martin. 1966, June 14. "Ruby Ruled Sane by a Texas Jury". The New York Times. p. 27. who got him a new trial.The New York Times. 1967, April 30. "Tennessee Teacher Wins Support in Evolution Case". p. 68. In 1966, he also defended an arsonist who burned down a Jewish Community Center, killing 12, because he was not provided a lawyer before he signed a confession.The New York Times. 1966, February 20. "Youth Held For Grand Jury in Yonkers Center Fire". p. 47.
Kunstler's other notable clients include: Salvador Agron, H. Rap Brown,The New York Times. 1967, August 26. "Judge Lets Brown Leave Jurisdiction to Make Speeches". p. 23.New York Times. 1967, September 17. "A Hearing is Set on Bond for Brown". p. 60.The New York Times. 1967, October 5. "Brown Asks Appeals Court to Ease Curbs on Travel". p. 30.The New York Times. 1971, March 20. "Rap Brown Case to be Reviewed". p. 23. Lenny Bruce, Stokely Carmichael, the Catonsville Nine, which included Philip and Daniel Berrigan,Sidney E. Zion. 1968, October 13. "Law". The New York Times. p. E8. Angela Davis, Larry Davis, Gregory Lee Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., Gary McGivern, Adam Clayton Powell Jr.,Homer Bigart. 1967, July 22. "Powell Remains in Island Exile". The New York Times. p. 10. Filiberto Ojeda Rios, Assata Shakur, Lemuel Smith, Morton Sobell,Sidney E. Zion. 1966, September 13. "Handwriting Expert Casts Doubt on Evidence Used Against Sobell. The New York Times. p. 31. Wayne Williams, and Michael X.
Chicago Seven (1969–1972)