Defending activists who broadcast their actions- Mark Goldstone

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Criminal defense usually includes keeping the burden with the prosecution to attempt to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That approach can be turned upside down with activists who broadcast their actions loudly and clearly. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first faced that situation when teaming with Ramsey Clark to defend four Plowshares activists who hammered on warplanes outfitted to fire depleted uranium missiles. The four defendants' openness about their actions made winning the destruction of property count a challenge to win at their jury trial, while pretrial, Jon still convinced the trial judge to dismiss the sabotage and sabotage conspiracy counts.
Early in his criminal defense career, Jon Katz heard Gerald Lefcourt tell about how his client Abby Hoffman sought for Lefcourt to keep him out of jail so that he could pursue his activism. Jon wondered if he had missed the boat for defending activists until he was asked to defend the Plowshares. Ramsey Clark told Jon that the opportunities to defend activists are many, at least when doing so pro bono. When Jon asked about a lawyer(s) to turn to for suggestions for defending activists, Mark Goldstone's name immediately came up. Mark was delighted when he received a court appointment for an activist protesting in the Capitol against Ronald Reagan's policies in supporting anti-communist combatants in Nicaragua, and was even more delighted when the lawyers for the 130 other defendants withdrew their representation, leaving those defendants with Mark.
When Jon met Mark, Mark led the demonstrations committee of the local National Lawyers Guild, which Jon Katz first joined because of its work for criminal defendants and immigrants, and its stand for racial justice and gender equality, but left several years later when the group became too doctrinaire, and even issued a call to support Muntadhar al-Zaid -- who in 2008 threw his shoes at George W. Bush in Iraq -- and called to donate shoes for needy people, with not a peep against violence that was part of the shoe throwing.
Over the decades, Mark has become a go-to lawyer for political activists -- including supporting their First Amendment free expression rights -- and for judges seeking criminal defense lawyers for appointments for such defense. Mark is a devoted, principled and caring person and attorney. Jon has great respect for him.

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