John Eshleman Wahl

Last updated April 12, 2019

John Eshleman Wahl (November 16, 1933 – April 26, 2010) Civil Rights attorney; attorney for Harvey Milk.

A lawyer or attorney is a person who practices law, as an advocate, attorney, attorney at law, barrister, barrister-at-law, bar-at-law, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, counsellor, counselor at law, solicitor, chartered legal executive, or public servant preparing, interpreting and applying law, but not as a paralegal or charter executive secretary. Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services.

Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, where he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Although he was the most pro-LGBT politician in the United States at the time, politics and activism were not his early interests; he was neither open about his sexuality nor civically active until he was 40, after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

Wahl was perhaps best known as the lawyer for Harvey Milk until Milk's murder. [1] He was an important early influence on Milk, helping him focus on being heard outside the gay community. According to publisher Thomas E. Horn, as "Harvey was gearing up to run for supervisor, John was trying to keep him straight, so to speak." [2] He also represented Oliver Sipple, who had been "outed" by Milk after saving the life of President Gerald Ford, in Sipple's suit for invasion of privacy against the newspapers who outed him. [3] [4]

Oliver Wellington "Billy" Sipple was a decorated U.S. Marine and Vietnam War veteran. On September 22, 1975, he grappled with Sara Jane Moore as she fired a pistol at U.S. President Gerald Ford in San Francisco, causing her to miss. The subsequent public revelation that Sipple was gay turned the news story into a cause célèbre for LGBT rights activists, leading Sipple to unsuccessfully sue several publishers for invasion of privacy.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from August 1974 to January 1977. Before his accession to the presidency, Ford served as the 40th vice president of the United States from December 1973 to August 1974. Ford is the only person to have served as both vice president and president without being elected to either office by the United States Electoral College.

Wahl's activities as a civil rights attorney were broader than his work with Milk. In 1971, Wahl obtained a landmark ruling from the United States Supreme Court, requiring prisons to provide prisoners with legal research materials for use in Habeas Corpus petitions and appeals. [5] He also established a federal constitutional right for prisoners to have access to clergy of their choice, even when the correctional authority disapproved of the message of the church at issue. [6]

Habeas corpus is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful.

A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. All constitutional rights are expressly stipulated and written in a consolidated national constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, meaning that any other laws which are in contradiction with it are considered unconstitutional and thus regarded as invalid. Usually any constitution defines the structure, functions, powers, and limits of the national government and the individual freedoms, rights, and obligations which will be protected and enforced when needed by the national authorities.

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References

↑ Binder, Richard (May 24, 2010). "Gay Activist and Attorney for Harvey Milk Dies". National Law Journal.
↑ Laird, Cynthia (May 20, 2011). "John Wahl, attorney to Harvey Milk, dies". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
↑ Moraine, Dan (12 February 1989). "Sorrow Trailed a Veteran". Los Angeles Times.
↑ Morain, Dan (February 6, 1989). "Oliver W. Sipple Ex-Marine". Los Angeles Times.
↑ YOUNGER v. GILMORE, 404 U.S. 15 (1971)
↑ INOSENCIO v. JOHNSON, 658 F.2d 418 (1981)

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[1] Binder, Richard (May 24, 2010). "Gay Activist and Attorney for Harvey Milk Dies". National Law Journal.

[2] Laird, Cynthia (May 20, 2011). "John Wahl, attorney to Harvey Milk, dies". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

[3] Moraine, Dan (12 February 1989). "Sorrow Trailed a Veteran". Los Angeles Times.

[4] Morain, Dan (February 6, 1989). "Oliver W. Sipple Ex-Marine". Los Angeles Times.

[5] YOUNGER v. GILMORE, 404 U.S. 15 (1971)

[6] INOSENCIO v. JOHNSON, 658 F.2d 418 (1981)