(BrightPress.org) – Martin R. Stolar, a prominent civil rights lawyer known for defending war resisters and Attica prison inmates in the early 1970s, died on July 1st in Manhattan at age 81. He died in the hospital from heart failure while waiting for surgery on a broken hip.
Stolar was part of a generation of lawyers inspired by the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, choosing to focus on social justice over more lucrative careers. Franklin Siegel, a distinguished lecturer at the City University of New York School of Law, noted Stolar’s dedication to defending the needy and advancing social movements.
Even as others’ fervor waned, Stolar’s commitment to social justice grew stronger. Just weeks before his death, he was involved in organizing efforts to defend Columbia University students arrested for protesting the Israel-Hamas war. He also advised climate protesters arrested for targeting Wall Street banks over fossil fuel financing.
A text message sent during court alerted the climate activists that Stolar had died.
One of Stolar’s major achievements was a 1971 class-action lawsuit against the New York Police Department, challenging its use of informants and wiretaps to spy on lawful political activities. Jethro Eisenstein and Stolar proposed the suit, which led to the 1985 Handschu agreement. The settlement mandated that police submit to an oversight board responsible for monitoring surveillance activities.
Stolar was also involved in the 1971 trial of the Panther 21, Black Panther Party members accused of plotting to bomb police stations. The trial ended with all defendants acquitted. Stolar was part of the New York Law Commune, a radical legal office that collectively defended the Panthers.
Stolar also represented the Camden 28, a group of predominantly Roman Catholic war resisters who, in 1971, broke into a draft board office to destroy records. The defendants admitted to their actions and were acquitted in a trial viewed as a referendum on the Vietnam War. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan regarded it as one of the great trials of the 20th century.
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