Constitutional Law
Meet Gerry Goldstein, Lawyer for Polygamy Sect in Texas Ranch Raid
Posted Apr 11, 2008, 09:19 am CST
By Martha Neil
Known for taking challenging constitutional cases, Gerry Goldstein apparently didn't hesitate when he got a chance to defend a fringe Mormon group that advocates polygamy, concerning a controversial raid of their Texas ranch.
The gray-haired 64-year-old San Antonio lawyer wouldn't condone the alleged child abuse that led authorities to search the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints property during the past week or so, says J. Craig Jett, the president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. (Goldstein is a former president of the bar group, notes an Associated Press profile written without Goldstein's cooperation.) "But my guess is he sees it as a bigger issue of the government interfering with the exercise of religion," says Jett.
A 1968 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Goldstein also is a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
"He's a top-notch lawyer and a top-notch person," says Jimmy Allison, the San Antonio Bar Association's executive director. "Anything that's a challenge to Gerry he'll look at."
The ranch raid is detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
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