{"id":120538,"date":"2018-02-16T08:57:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T16:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=120538"},"modified":"2018-02-16T08:57:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T16:57:48","slug":"jta-this-jewish-lawyer-defends-americas-most-infamous-nazi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=120538","title":{"rendered":"JTA: This Jewish lawyer defends America\u2019s most infamous Nazi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ron Kampeas writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (JTA) \u2014 Jay Marshall Wolman, like a thousand other lawyers on Twitter, is wry, maybe a little coarse and, well, Jewish, peppering his tweets with Hebrew blessings and other Jewish references.<\/p>\n

He gets deadly serious, though, if you ask him why he is the lead attorney representing Andrew Anglin, America\u2019s most notorious Nazi.<\/p>\n

Wolman was in the headlines this week for his attempt to dismiss a lawsuit against Anglin alleging the Daily Stormer founder harassed a Jewish real estate agent in Montana. Tanya Gersh\u2019s suit claims Anglin caused her \u201cemotional distress\u201d last year when he called for a \u201ctroll storm\u201d against her and published her personal information.<\/p>\n

Wolman, according to the Missoulian, a Montana daily, argued that Anglin was living abroad at the time and therefore is out of the court\u2019s jurisdiction. (Lawyers for Gersh and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is assisting her, have been unable to find Anglin. A U.S. magistrate in Missoula has given Anglin until Friday to prove his whereabouts.)<\/p>\n

Wolman is not shy in his social media profile about being Jewish, so I asked him why he thought it was a good idea to represent Anglin, who heads an online clearinghouse of extreme anti-Semitic and racist thought.<\/p>\n

Wolman, 41, declined an interview, but wrote me the following: \u201cAs a Jewish member of the team representing Andrew Anglin, I can understand why you are interested in talking with me about why I represent him and how that relates to my identity. However, I must, politely, decline the invitation. Although I do not shy away from media inquiries, I do not tend to make myself a subject of reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, as you will, undoubtedly, be reporting on me, I would direct your attention to our reference to the Aaron Sorkin film, \u201cThe American President.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolman included a quote from that 1995 film in which the titular president says \u201cAmerica isn\u2019t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You\u2019ve gotta want it bad, \u2019cause it\u2019s gonna put up a fight. It\u2019s gonna say, \u2018You want free speech? Let\u2019s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who\u2019s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Wolman:<\/p>\n

\u201cI would spend a lifetime opposing what was said, but I will never allow anti-Semitism to derail my commitment to freedom of speech. In the words of Justice Holmes, \u2018hard cases make bad law.\u2019 Any restrictions the courts might set on the speech of a person whose speech you oppose will be undoubtedly applied, at some point down the road, to the speech of a person whose speech you support. If Andrew Anglin does not have freedom of speech, then neither does the JTA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The popular culture reference to a 1990s film was not a surprise: Wolman\u2019s Twitter feed reveals his affection for films of that decade and the 1980s (he\u2019s a fan of \u201cSay Anything,\u201d the classic 1989 John Cusack angsty teen drama). Wolman was a contestant on \u201cJeopardy\u201d in 2004 \u2014 not the best period because he was up against Ken Jennings, the quiz show\u2019s all-time champ.<\/p>\n

Wolman and his law partner, Marc Randazza, consistently cast their decision to defend Anglin in not-easy-but-someone\u2019s-gotta-do-it terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ron Kampeas writes: WASHINGTON (JTA) \u2014 Jay Marshall Wolman, like a thousand other lawyers on Twitter, is wry, maybe a little coarse and, well, Jewish, peppering his tweets with Hebrew blessings and other Jewish references. He gets deadly serious, though, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42800],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-andrew-anglin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t