The Emerging Police State: Resisting Illegitimate Authority

by William M. Kunstler, Michael Ratner (Introduction)

The defiance, anger, passion and optimism of America’s "most celebrated and most detested" radical lawyer, William Kunstler, ring throughout this selection of his unpublished speeches. The consequence of Kunstler’s outspoken opposition to war, racism and political repression was an extensive FBI file, which included secretly recorded transcripts of many of his public speeches, some of which are published here. The introduction by Michael Ratner, President of the New York Center for Constitutional Rights and attorney for the Camp X-Ray prisoners from Afghanistan, points out Kunstler’s words are even more prescient today than in his time.

Genres: Politics

150 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of speeches and other public statements by one of the most staunch defenders of individual rights and liberties in this country to date. Kunstler's representation of Martin Luther King Jr., the Freedom Riders, the American Indian Movement activists, anti-Vietnam War activists, mafia members, and many many other advocates of social justice is truly staggering and inspiring.

His Kent State speeches really struck a chord with me, seeing all the parallels between anti-Vietnam War protests and anti-Zionism protests on college campuses more recently.

[Kaiser Basileus · Rating 3 out of 5]

basically decent but only a few parts worth noticing

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michelangelo’s David is a good example for all of you. This is the only representation in art of David before he kills Goliath. All the rest- Donatello’s bronze, the paintings- show him holding up the severed head of Goliath, as Goliath leads the Philistines down the hills of Galilee toward the Israelites. Michelangelo is saying, across these four centuries, that every person's life has a moment when you are thinking of doing something that will jeopardize yourself. And if you don’t do it, no one will be the wiser that you even thought of it. So, it’s easy to get out of it. And that’s what David is doing right there. He’s got the rock in the right hand, the sling over the left shoulder, and he’s saying like Prufrock, “Do I dare, do I dare?” Pg. 27, Commencement Remarks to the School of Architecture and Planning State University of New York at Buffalo, May 13, 1995.

This is a story Kunstler told often and one with which he personally identified. Controversial, and not without detractors, Kunstler was an outspoken advocate for the oppressed, the rebels and the hated. Some of his speeches (a few which survive only because the FBI secretly recorded them) and trial transcripts are included. Quick reading, a little repetitive, occasionally funny, and a good introduction to the values which propelled him. For Kunstler, the courtroom was not a place for him to defend his client against indictment; it was his forum to indict the system. He refused to balk against power. He refused to submit to the rules. He dared.