About William Kunstler

William Moses Kunstlerwas an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil Liberties Unionand the co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the “leading gathering place for radical lawyers in the country.”
Kunstler’s defense of the Chicago Seven from 1969 to 1970 led The New York Times to label him “the country’s most controversial and, perhaps, its best-known lawyer”.

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More quotes from William Kunstler

Our bodies must always be wherever that struggle and the moment we forget that, the moment we become lazy, the moment we sit back, then then the evil ones do their ordained tasks to us.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

When we talk about justice in America we’re really talking about justice brought about by the people, not by judges who are tools of the establishment or prosecutors who are are equally tools of the establishment or the wardens or the police officers.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

Four years earlier I had been selected, with Kay Boyle, the writer, and a number of others, to go to Cambodia and come back and prove that there were no sanctuaries in that country.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

So May 4th in the labor movement has always been an important date.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

May 4th is a particularly memorable day in American history because 84 years to the day before May 4, 1970, there was another demonstration at the Haymarket Square in Chicago.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

But he said Blanket Hill should be a national monument. And so we came out of his chambers feeling, though while we had lost to the powers of darkness, we had at least shown one Federal Judge what the right path would have been.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

On the unofficial level it was a glorious moment in our national life because young people decided that this had to stop, that they could no longer stand the shedding of blood in this tragic adventure in Southeast Asia.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

This is New York, and there’s no law against being annoying.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

We have become the charnel house of the Western World.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

Once the troops move into Cambodia, the colleges and universities of this country were on the verge of civil war. Many closed down. The students were up in arms. And it looked very much like there were going to be real problems in this country.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

A dog is like a liberal. He wants to please everybody. A cat really doesn’t need to know that everybody loves him.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

At first blush, it seems that the young people who were shot down in the parking lot at the base of Blanket Hill gave up their lives for a dream that died with them.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)

But on the other hand government takes away a certain amount of liberty and in some countries it takes away all of liberty. And it will, everywhere, if people who fight government do not fight government any longer.

William Kunstler

American lawyer and civil rights activist (1919-1995)