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Ohio attorney and prisoner-rights activist Alice Lynd was held in contempt of court and sentenced to jail on November 19 until she agrees to testify before a grand jury about an inmate's purported confession to her that he killed an inmate during the bloody Lucasville prison riot in 1993.
Lynd was released two hours later pending a decision by the Fourth Appellate Court on the issue.
In an emotional hearing before Scioto County Common Pleas Judge William T. Marshall in Portsmouth, Ohio, Lynd, 74, refused to testify about what an inmate she referred to only as "Mr. X" told her about the murder because it would violate attorney-client privilege.
Prosecutors argued that Lynd was not the inmate's attorney and that attorney-client privilege did not apply. Judge Marshall agreed, and sentenced Lynd to jail. He offered to stay the sentence while Lynd's attorney sought a stay from the appeals court if she agreed to testify if the appeals court upheld his ruling. Lynd said she could not, in good conscience, testify about what "Mr. X" told her without his permission under any circumstances.
Lynd then removed her jewelry, consoled her crying daughter, and was escorted to jail by deputies while carrying medication for several conditions that her attorney said could be aggravated in jail. Lynd's supporters -- including her husband and co-author of several books, Staughton Lynd, applauded to show support for Alice Lynd's stand for the principle of attorney-client privilege.
"She stood up for her rights and her clients' rights, which shows that she has more balls than 50 men," said Mike Stout of Pittsburgh, a United Steelworkers union member from Pittsburgh.
Charles McCollester, professor of labor relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, also praised Alice Lynd's courage. "She is not going to bend because of her very deep personal and religious beliefs, he said. "She is taking a stand for her conscience. The shame is on the court because Alice is trying to preserve the trust between a prisoner and a prisoner’s advocate. She is unbendable."
Lynd seemed to be just that when she was released two hours after she was jailed. "I found jail far less intimidating than I had expected," she said. "I felt centered and sure, able to maintain my composure, and able to let go of what otherwise would have been concerns about letters that would not be written, Christmas presents not made or purchased. . . . You can imagine my surprise when I heard Staughton telling someone that the court of appeals had ordered my release!"
The Lynds began investigating the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville in 1996 as they helped prepare inmate George Skatzes' petition for post-conviction review. The Lynds soon came to believe that Skatzes, who was sentenced to death for the murder of two inmates during the riot, is innocent. Staughton Lynd's book, Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising, was recently published by Temple University Press.
The Lynds have been a civil rights activists, anti-war protesters and champions of workers' rights for decades. They have written several books together, including Nonviolence in America, the story of activists, in their own words, from the colonial period to the 1960s. Staugton Lynd was director of the Mississippi Freedom Schools in the mid-'60s, during which three young civil rights workers were killed and a church used as a freedom school was burned down.
Lynd was released two hours later pending a decision by the Fourth Appellate Court on the issue.
In an emotional hearing before Scioto County Common Pleas Judge William T. Marshall in Portsmouth, Ohio, Lynd, 74, refused to testify about what an inmate she referred to only as "Mr. X" told her about the murder because it would violate attorney-client privilege.
Prosecutors argued that Lynd was not the inmate's attorney and that attorney-client privilege did not apply. Judge Marshall agreed, and sentenced Lynd to jail. He offered to stay the sentence while Lynd's attorney sought a stay from the appeals court if she agreed to testify if the appeals court upheld his ruling. Lynd said she could not, in good conscience, testify about what "Mr. X" told her without his permission under any circumstances.
Lynd then removed her jewelry, consoled her crying daughter, and was escorted to jail by deputies while carrying medication for several conditions that her attorney said could be aggravated in jail. Lynd's supporters -- including her husband and co-author of several books, Staughton Lynd, applauded to show support for Alice Lynd's stand for the principle of attorney-client privilege.
"She stood up for her rights and her clients' rights, which shows that she has more balls than 50 men," said Mike Stout of Pittsburgh, a United Steelworkers union member from Pittsburgh.
Charles McCollester, professor of labor relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, also praised Alice Lynd's courage. "She is not going to bend because of her very deep personal and religious beliefs, he said. "She is taking a stand for her conscience. The shame is on the court because Alice is trying to preserve the trust between a prisoner and a prisoner’s advocate. She is unbendable."
Lynd seemed to be just that when she was released two hours after she was jailed. "I found jail far less intimidating than I had expected," she said. "I felt centered and sure, able to maintain my composure, and able to let go of what otherwise would have been concerns about letters that would not be written, Christmas presents not made or purchased. . . . You can imagine my surprise when I heard Staughton telling someone that the court of appeals had ordered my release!"
The Lynds began investigating the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville in 1996 as they helped prepare inmate George Skatzes' petition for post-conviction review. The Lynds soon came to believe that Skatzes, who was sentenced to death for the murder of two inmates during the riot, is innocent. Staughton Lynd's book, Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising, was recently published by Temple University Press.
The Lynds have been a civil rights activists, anti-war protesters and champions of workers' rights for decades. They have written several books together, including Nonviolence in America, the story of activists, in their own words, from the colonial period to the 1960s. Staugton Lynd was director of the Mississippi Freedom Schools in the mid-'60s, during which three young civil rights workers were killed and a church used as a freedom school was burned down.