I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'm working for the General Counsel at Thirteen/WNET.ORG for the summer. One sort of happy accident of my interning here is that I'm incessantly aware of what's on PBS each night. Last Tuesday, PBS aired a documentary about the "radical" lawyer William Kunstler. Througohut his long and controversial carrer, Kunstler represented the Chicago 7, the defendants in the Central Park Jogger case, innumerable civil rights leaders, accused terrorists, and others. The movie is very good. I particularly appreciated that his extremely skeptical and critical daughters were the filmmakers: it's far from an Ode to W.K. I knew very little about him before, but I'd imagine that the film will entertain/enlighten even if you have some Kunstler-scheme in your mind already. I don't want to give too much away, but what I found most shocking and interesting was that Kunstler was a run of the mill attorney with his own practice - and client base - in Westchester, before he started practicing in civil liberties etc. To see how he grew from being the town's trusted local real estate and wills/estates lawyer to a national figure with tremendous gall and principles was mesmerizing.

It's movie-length, but I think you'll enjoy it.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/disturbingtheuniverse/photo_gallery_watch.php

-- JessicaCohen - 29 Jun 2010