Ashcroft - 1, Mouthy Lawyers - 0

Mr. Ashcroft received a victory Thursday with the conviction of Lynne Stewart. Ms. Stewart was charged with aiding a terrorist organization via her representation of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the convicted mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing.

Slate's sympathetic take is here, and a great interview here. For a view of those pleased with the conviction, try Free Republic and reformed liberal David Horowitz.

Stewart quote from the interview:

I would say that you never know what life will bring. It could be that sometime in the future, you are, for some reason, focused on by the government as being someone who is against government interest. You’re going to need someone to defend you. I think everyone wants to feel that, when they get someone they can trust, there is no intrusion from the government, that your adversary knows your moves, your innermost secrets.

Basically, I think the government has an interest in deterring lawyers from representing political people. They have an even greater interest, perhaps, in deterring lawyers from representing Moslem defendants…. But I don’t think it’s enough to say, “Oh, that’s Moslems.” Or “that’s other people.” Or “that’s black people,” or “Those were the Japanese.” You have to be able to say, “This could happen to me. This could happen to someone I love. And I want lawyers to fully represent people.”