Ron Kuby

From Philosopedia

Kuby, Ronald Lawrence (31 July 1956 - )

Kuby, a lawyer, graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University (1983) and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1984.

Known for his work with controversial lawyer William M. Kunstler, upon Kuntstler's death Kuby continued pleading the cases for unpopular clients, including those accused of being part of a "Muslim conspiracy" who were rounded up illegally, he claimed, by authorities . He has been on the advisory board of a police misconduct task force and in 2005 was named Best Radio Talk Show Hose by the New York State Broadcasters Association. In 1998, he was the recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Award, given by The New York Bar Association.

He does not deny that it is easy for the young to be led astray by religion or idealogy, telling MSNBC on 12 December 2001,

• When I was a young man, at an earlier time in this country's history, I was a member of a paramilitary, right-wing religious group called the Jewish Defense League. I emigrated to Israel, but happily I realized that the Zionist dream that I had embraced was in fact a nightmare for the Palestinian people. Equally happily, I took seriously the admonition "Make love, not war." But a number of people I was with in the Jewish Defense League became terrorists. Had things gone a little bit differently, I too could have ended up in a similar position, involved in something way over my head in another country.

Kuby's life experiences include having been expelled from junior high school for having published an underground newspaper. Saying he is a Marxist, but not a member of any Communist Party, he is an atheist who on the air while making sarcastic comments about organized religions frequently exclaims, "Thank God I'm an atheist!"

Since 1986, Kuby has been in a long term relationship with his "beloved Marilyn." They have one daughter. On January 24, 2006, the 20th anniversary of their first date, Ron Kuby married the "beloved Marilyn."