Editing Michael Lerner (rabbi) (section)

===Student activism===
While at Berkeley, Lerner became a leader in the Berkeley student movement and the [[Free Speech Movement]],<ref>{{cite book |title= Jews of Oakland and Berkeley|last=Isaac |first=Frederick |date= July 15, 2009 |publisher= [[Arcadia Publishing]] |isbn= 9780738570334 |page=100 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RvOadZJHGj4C&q=%22Michael+Lerner%22&pg=PA100}}</ref> chair of the Free Student Union,<ref>{{cite book |title=Reflections on the University of California: from the Free Speech Movement to the global university |last=Smelser |first=Neil |year=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520260962 |page=41}}</ref> and chair from 1966 to 1968 of the Berkeley chapter of the [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS).<ref>{{cite book |title=Whose FBI? |last=Wright |first=Richard |year=1974 |publisher=Open Court |isbn=978-0-87548-148-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/whosefbi0000wrig/page/177 177] |url=https://archive.org/details/whosefbi0000wrig/page/177 |url-access=registration}}</ref> After teaching [[Jurisprudence|philosophy of law]] at [[San Francisco State University]],<ref>Not to be confused with the actor Michael Lerner who taught literature at the same school, San Francisco State.</ref><ref>Bio in ''Social Praxis'', Volumes 2–3, Mouton, 1974</ref> he took a job as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the [[University of Washington]] and taught ethics, [[Social philosophy|social]] and [[political philosophy]], philosophy of literature and culture, and introduction to philosophy.

Distressed over the disintegration of SDS in 1969, Lerner sought to re-organize New Left cadres formerly associated with SDS in a new organization called the [[Seattle Liberation Front]] (SLF) on January 19, 1970.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.historylink.org/File/2131 | title=Seattle Liberation Front}}</ref> While SLF did not publicly endorse violence as a political tactic, SLF members including [[Roger Lippman]], [[Michael Justesen]], and [[Susan Stern]] were also members of the [[Weather Underground]], which had bombing attacks as a central part of its political strategy. After the "Day After" demonstration SLF had called on February 17, 1970 (to protest the verdicts in the [[Chicago Seven]] trial) turned violent, Lerner and others were arrested and charged with [[riot#United States|inciting a riot]].

Lerner and his co-defendants became known as the "Seattle Seven". During their trial, [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI Director]] [[J. Edgar Hoover]] issued a public statement (repeated on radio and television) that described Lerner as "one of the most dangerous criminals in America", even though he had never engaged in any act of violence. Federal agents testifying at the trial later admitted to having played a major role instigating the violence and ensuing riot.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/05/seattle_seven_vietnam_proteste.php |title='Seattle Seven' Vietnam Protester Michael Lerner's New War - in Israel and at Home |author=Rick Anderson |date=May 4, 2010 |newspaper=Seattle Weekly |access-date=January 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327053912/http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/05/seattle_seven_vietnam_proteste.php |archive-date=March 27, 2012}}</ref>

The trial culminated in a courtroom brawl (during which Lerner was the only defendant to remain seated), and the presiding judge sent the defendants to jail on [[contempt of court]] charges.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/451/451.F2d.372.26889.html |title=451.F2d.372.26889 |author=George H. Boldt United States District Judge |date=November 18, 1971 |work=451 F .2d 372USA, Appellee vs. Charles Clark Marshall, III et al, Appellants, No. 26889 |publisher=United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit |access-date=January 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325093716/http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/451/451.F2d.372.26889.html |archive-date=March 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://radsearem.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/november-6-1970-the-seattle-seven/ |title=November 6, 1970: The Seattle Seven |author=Jeff Stevens |date= November 6, 2010|publisher=Radical Seattle Remembers |access-date=January 4, 2011}}</ref> Lerner was transported to [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island|Terminal Island Federal Penitentiary]] in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles, California|San Pedro, California]], where he served several months before the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals]] overturned his conviction for contempt of court and ordered him released. The main charges relating to the riot were subsequently dropped by the federal government.

Meanwhile, the [[Washington State Legislature]] had passed a law, commonly referred to as the "Lerner Act", that prohibited the University of Washington from hiring anyone "who might engage in illegal political activity", and Lerner's contract was not renewed. (The law was later overturned by the [[Washington Supreme Court]]).

During this period Lerner met several times with boxer [[Muhammad Ali]], who was also active in the anti-war movement, at anti-war meetings organized by Lerner.<ref name="East Bay Times 2016-06-16">{{cite news|last1=Drummond|first1=Tammerlin|title=Muhammad Ali memorial: Berkeley rabbi will speak at service, per sports legend's wish|url=http://www.eastbaytimes.com/my-town/ci_29993237/berkeley-rabbi-grants-ali-death-wish-speak-at|date=June 8, 2016}}</ref> Lerner recounts that Ali was the first practicing [[Muslim]] he had ever met.<ref name="East Bay Times 2016-06-16" /> The two never met or spoke again after this period though in 1995 Lerner received a letter from Ali expressing appreciation for the book Lerner co-authored with [[Cornel West]], ''Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin''.<ref name="East Bay Times 2016-06-16" /> Muhammad Ali included an invitation to Lerner to speak at Ali's memorial, to represent progressive Jewish faith, which took place in 2016.<ref name="East Bay Times 2016-06-16" /> Lerner also learned from Ali's lawyer that Ali had been a "big fan" of the rabbi's work and that Ali was really sorry that he had not made more contact with Lerner over the past two decades. Ali and his wife had intended to do so many times and just hadn't followed through.<ref name="East Bay Times 2016-06-16" />