Talk:Leonard Weinglass

Anti-Communist ideological bile
The original version of this article was a piece of anti-Communist ideological bile. If a Wikipedia editor is reading this I STRONGLY recommend that every article written by the author of this one should be checked for accuracy.

THere are inaccuracies, unsubstantiated statements and distortions throughout this article. I've also visited some Wiki links within this article & recognize that the same author wrote articles about these linked individuals which also suffer from the same partisan slant.

I should add that I've edited out the most egregious portions to make the article more balanced. To see an example of this author unedited, visit the Kathy BOudin WIki article. Richard 08:44, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Reply: Nothing in the piece I edited about Leo Weinglass is unsubstantiated, inaccurate, or distorted. If Kath Boudin is 'suffering' from finally being washed with a little caustic truth, all the better. It's the least she can do for her role in making orphans out of nine children - the children whose fathers were slain during the lethal Brinks robbery she helped plan and execute. Communists, their supporters, and other subversives complain whenever someone turns on the lights and they run for cover. It is heartening to know, however, that they took the bait...the critic himself, who should make an investment in a spellcheck program, is not specific to his charges. The article can stand alone and it is reproduced below in its entirety. The beauty of Wikipedia is in its openness, something a communist hates. THe greatest deceivers and murderers in the world have been and remain communist governments and those individuals who peddle the totalitarian jack-boot in the name of social justice. They achieve power and rule only at the business end of a gun barrel, the point of a bayonet, and a one-way ride to the gulag. The only 'peace' Leo's clients ever stood for is the peace of the cell, the shackle, and the grave. Keep reading. For Wikipedia readers there is good news: there will be more. John 28 December 2005. Thank you, Wikipedia...

Leonard I. Weinglass is a U.S. lawyer and civil rights activist.

Leonard Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958. he served as a Captain, Judge Advocate, United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar in the states of New Jersey, New York and  Connecticut.

He taught criminal trial advocacy at the University of Southern California Law School from 1974 to 1976, and at the People's College of Law, in Los Angeles, California from 1974 to 1975.

Leonard Weinglass is the attorney for convicted murderer, terrorist, and bank robber, Kathy Boudin. He was a partner in the same firm as Leonard Boudin, Kathy Boudin's father, and William Kuntsler. Kuntsler and Weinglass represented the ‘Chicago 7’ in their 1968 trial.

Leonard Boudin’s uncle, Louis Boudonovitch Boudin, a Russian Jew, helped found the Communist Party USA and the League for Industrial Democracy - precursor to SDS - Students for a Democratic Society, Kathy Boudin’s entrée into the world of subversion, terrorism, and murder. When Kathy Boudin finally got caught after more than a decade as a fugitive from justice, Leonard Boudin secured his law partner, Leonard Weinglass, to defend her.

During the years Kathy Boudin and the Weathermen robbed and bombed America and killed American civilians, and while other Americans were in these same years fighting for their own lives and for freedom in Vietnam, Leonard Weinglass traveled to Cuba (1968) and to Hanoi (1972). He later served as “adviser” to the Communist Regime in Hanoi.

Attorney Weinglass represented such communist idols as revolutionary Angela Davis and terrorist bomber Ron Kaufman, Jane Fonda, Bill and Emily Harris - kidnappers of Patty Hearst, and Armenian, Mexican, and Chinese bombers who exploded devices inside the U.S.

Weinglass has close ties to former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who in 2005 represented Saddam Hussein in his trial for genocide. Cuba and Hanoi were clients of Weinglass, who has developed a peculiar expertise in defending anti-American terrorists, foreign governments hostile to America, and foreign nationals accused of terrorist activity in the US.

Weinglass, Boudin, and Kuntsler have been characterized as, lawyers who 'explode the law instead of buildings and people,’ radical lawyers was who, in their own words, will ‘facilitate the coming anti-capitalist revolution by weakening the law’s ability to function effectively against law-breaking radicals in a "legal struggle" that coincides alongside illegal, militant revolutionary activity.[full quote from: Notes on the National Lawyer’s Guild: “Prominent Guild member and Rutgers University School of Law Professor Arthur Kinoy argued that the role of the radical lawyer was to facilitate the coming anti-capitalist revolution by weakening the law’s ability to function effectively against law-breaking radicals.[4] Future Guild President Paul Harris quoted Lenin in an attempt to make the point that a successful revolution required a "legal struggle" that coincided alongside illegal, militant revolutionary activity. [5] And Doris Brin Walker, the President of the Guild from 1970-71 (who would remark at a dinner held in her honor in 1981 that "It is this commitment [to “the struggle”] which makes me so proud to be a member of the Communist Party"[6]), and argued that "bourgeois democratic rights" had value as a means of insulating the coming "Second American Revolution " from government inhibition.” [7] (from: NLG: The Legal Fifth Column, by By Jesse Rigsby]

Their clients have attacked American institutions, killed Americans, assassinated American police officers, subverted American values, perverted American courts, and exploded lethal bombs in public places and thumbed their noses at the American people with disclaimers and protestation for prosecuting them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.3.194.92 (talk • contribs)

The fact that the anonymous person above calls me a Communist because I edited blatantly partisan material from his/her original article is an excellent indication of his propagandistic proclivities. Richard 10:10, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Let's head off an edit war before it begins...
Looks as if this one's going to be a bit contentious... maybe we should start out by laying out the facts with some appropriate citations (WP:CITE)? I think if we describe Weinglass's actions as dispassionately and as well-referencedly as possible, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a version all of us can be happy with.

For now I've reverted to the previous version of the page, which looks to be a more neutrally-phrased presentation, but I'm looking over it now for individual remarks that should be restored. I'd certainly agree that the ref to Kathy Boudin's great-uncle and his ethnicity seems to have little bearing on Weinglass's life; the final description of Weinglass's clients strikes me as needlessly inflammatory, too. As for the individual cases he's covered (Davis, Fonda, etc.), instead of trying to summarize them one way or the other, can we find the specific crimes each was charged with? That's probably the fairest way to sum it up, and the most relevant to Weinglass. I'd like to see a reference for Weinglass's work in Cuba as well--I don't doubt it, I just want to make sure we summarize it as well as possible.

I've also pulled this sentence from the article, pending citation:
 * Weinglass, Boudin, and Kuntsler have been characterized as lawyers who 'explode the law instead of buildings and people.' While their clients are accused of crimes in support of revolutionary struggle, these lawyers believe in using the law both to protect their clients and to advance the cause of social justice within the U.S.

Both of these things are probably true, but I'd like to see a citation on that characterization instead of slipping it in via passive voice, and some kind of direct statement from Weinglass or one of his partners (surely something like this must exist in interviews).

So how's all that sound? Fair?

Remember, we may disagree today, but we're all here for the same reason; I've no doubt we can put together a factual summary that covers everybody's position on Weinglass. Spread the Wikilove... --Dvyost 05:44, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

---

Who wrote this article? The John Birch Society? It's a character assasination piece, not an encyclopedia article.

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 23:06, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Did he work on Saddam's trial?
The article is somewhat unclear. Did he work on Saddam's trial? If not, the Saddam's trial bit seems irrelevant. It's fine to mention he worked with Ramsey Clark but it's a bit dumb and reeks of POV-pushing to say Ramsey Clark worked on Saddam's trial Nil Einne (talk) 15:25, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Hanoi adviser? Not according to the Guardian
From today's Guardian: "Weinglass's Wikipedia biography has apparently been written by a malign rightwinger. It suggests, falsely, that he was an adviser to the Hanoi government. "I think it's hilarious," he says. "I can't imagine anyone believing it as an honest source."" Link here (there's more there if anyone wants to expand the article). So I am removing the Hanoi comment. Telsa (talk) 09:31, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Leonard Weinglass. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051222222732/http://www.refuseandresist.org/mumia/1995/weinglasscv.html to http://www.refuseandresist.org/mumia/1995/weinglasscv.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070311045313/http://www.americas.org/item_24943 to http://www.americas.org/item_24943

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 14:18, 30 November 2017 (UTC)

Hometown
He may have been born in Belleville but grew up in Kearny. 2600:1004:B23F:937E:0:35:67B2:5C01 (talk) 12:57, 22 June 2023 (UTC)