If you make a mistake as a prosecutor, your mistakes go home, whereas if you make a mistake defending, they go to jail.
Lynne StewartYou make yourself available to the movement. At that point, for example, battered wives were not on the top of anybody's list. It was, "What did you do to provoke him? Why would he do that to you?" Stuff like that. I called the hotline, and I said I was available to help get orders of protection. I would help do whatever needed to be done, serve their papers. Many times, they'd go to court, get their papers, and then be afraid to serve them on the guy. So that was one source of income. But I took anything that came across my doorstep.
Lynne StewartYou're working not for the corporate interest, not for the government interest, not for your own self-interest. You have a higher calling.
Lynne StewartThe prosecution makes all the important decisions: what's charged, how much is charged, whether you can get a decent offer. Every defendant becomes an informant today.
Lynne StewartBeing a lawyer, first of all, think creatively. Think, "How can we deal with this particular case in a way we haven't dealt with similar ones in the past?" Second, don't be afraid of the people who are willing to defend your client. I find too many lawyers say, "Keep that defense committee away from me!" If it weren't for my defense committee, I'd be sitting in federal prison in Texas today. And the press! You've got to learn to handle the press because god knows the government does all the time.
Lynne Stewart