University of Virginia Library

Law Weekly Backs Contempt Charges

The Virginia Law Weekly,
student newspaper of the law
school, has given editorial support
to recent contempt citations against
the defense attorneys in the trial of
the "Chicago 7."

In its lead editorial in the most
recent issue, the newspaper said,
"The conduct of the defense
attorneys in the Chicago trial
contributed materially to the
disruption of the proceedings, for
they adopted as a tactic the
exploitation of the presiding judge's
irascibility."

The editorial quoted William M.
Kuntsler, a defense attorney
sentenced to four years in jail for
contempt of court, as saying "I
have tried with all my heart
faithfully to represent my clients in
the face of what I considered
repressive and unjust conduct
toward them.

"If I have to pay the price with
my liberty for such representation,
then that is the price of my beliefs
and sensibilities," he concluded.

The editors of the newspaper
said, however, that Mr. Kuntsler
failed "to maintain the respect due
to courts of justice and judicial
officers."

The editorial also called the
procedure used by Judge Julius
Hoffman in handing down the
citation "questionable," although it
said the trend of "staging a political
show" as practiced by the
defendants is "alarming; it must be
arrested."