The Bureau of Prisons has submitted a request to the judge in Lynne Stewart’s case, asking him to grant "compassionate release" to 74-year-old jailed civil rights attorney who is dying from stage IV breast cancer.
"This morning, the government, meaning the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of the Bureau of Prisons, filed a motion before Federal Judge John Koeltl, requesting that Lynne Stewart be re-sentenced to time served," said Bob Boyle, one of Stewart’s lawyers. "This means she would be eligible — if he signs the order — for immediate release. There is every indication that will sign the order, since he said so on the record, when we made the motion back in July to have her be released."
Boyle says he fully expects Stewart to be released in the next few days, and return to New York City where she will live with her son. He says she and her family have been told the news and are extremely relieved and grateful.
Below you can listen to Boyle’s interview about today’s developments with Democracy Now! producer Renée Feltz.
Click here to see all of our coverage of Lynne Stewart. You can also watch our recent show that looked at the many other elderly political prisoners seeking release, including Oscar Lopez Rivera and Leonard Peltier.
Stewart has served almost four years of a 10-year prison sentence for distributing press releases on behalf of her jailed client, Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian cleric known as the “blind Sheikh.” In August, Judge Koeltl rejected a request that would have allowed her to die surrounded by her loved ones, saying he could not order her release unless it was first requested by the Bureau of Prisons, which had turned down Stewart’s bid for release, saying she is not sick enough. Since then, her doctor has said she has less than 18 months to live.
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