William Moses Kunstler, lawyer who defended Martin Luther King, Jr., dies in New York at 76

Jet, Sept 25, 1995

William Kunstler, the lawyer who defended Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, recently died of a heart attack in New York. He was 76.

Kunstler, known for his tousled hair and raspy voice, once said, "I only defend those whose goals I share. I'm not a lawyer for hire. I only defend those I love."

His best-known case came when he defended the Chicago Seven who were tried on charges of conspiring to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Former Black Panther Party national chairman Bobby Seale was originally included but his case was separated from the others, leaving the seven. He continued as Seale's attorney.

A Columbia Law School graduate and Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Yale, Kunstler's work on civil rights cases in the early 1960s changed his view of society and the courts. He began representing "the poor, the persecuted, the radicals and the militant, the Black people, the pacifists and the political pariahs."

After spending over a year in Mississippi representing the Freedom Riders, Kunstler met Rev. Dr. King and became his "special trial counsel," a title given by King himself. The legal paladin represented King for seven years until King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, TN.

In 1967, when the House of Representatives moved to exclude Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. from the U.S. Congress, Kunstler was picked by Powell to join his legal team to represent him.

Often depicted as a showboat and publicity seeker by crities, Kunstler's clients also included: Stokely Carmichael, who popularized the "Black power" cry; Wayne Williams, the man convicted in the Atlanta child murders; and more recently, Qubilah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X accused of hiring a government informant to kill Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Kunstler is survived by his second wife Margaret L. Ratner, two daughters from his previous marriage, Karin Goldman and Jan Drazek, two daughters from his second marriage, Sarah and Emily, a sister, Mary Horn, and four grandchildren.