In 1992 the Pinellas ACLU Chapter initiated an annual award to deserving local individuals who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the values inherent in the Bill of Rights. Two years later the prize was named the Gardner W. Beckett Jr. Civil Liberties Award, to honor the memory of one of the Chapter’s founders, whose passion for civil liberties and the principles of the Bill of Rights was inspirational and boundless.
Simply put, Gardner was a champion of freedom and civil liberties. In1970, when police broke up a St. Petersburg anti-war rally under the pretense of enforcing the city’s profanity laws – when a UF professor said “goddamn” in a speech against the Vietnam War – Gardner and the newly formed Pinellas ACLU rallied to the defense of free speech. Thus began a long history of civil liberty vigilance under the tutelage of Gardner Beckett. Twice during the ensuing decades Gardner spearheaded local cases from the streets of Pinellas County to the benches of the U.S. Supreme Court – and won both times. In both instances Gardner took what appeared to be cases of simple injustice, and used them to attack general deficiencies in the law of the land. In 1968, when the young activist Joseph Waller (today Omali Yeshitella) was arrested for tearing down a racist mural from a wall in the St. Petersburg City Hall, Gardner was able to use the case to attack the widespread misuse of municipal courts, then prevalent, which favored a nightmarish double jeopardy situation for unpopular defendants.
Not long after the Waller case, the Florida Legislature abolished the whole system of municipal courts entirely.
Again, 1986, in a case involving the unjust search of a student’s automobile by an assistant principal, Gardner used the case to attack the concept of sovereign immunity – the idea that you can’t sue the state in state court but must instead rely on the Federal courts. Gardner held that the Federal courts had become “increasingly expensive, increasingly crowded,” and the trials “increasingly long.” Gardner sought to break down those barriers. All lower courts rejected the suit. Gardner persevered until the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with him – unanimously – that the Florida Supreme Court had improperly protected cities, counties, and school boards who might otherwise be subject to suit.
Gardner was unpretentious, farsighted, eternally vigilant, and had a persistent commitment to justice, equal protection, and due process.
In addition to the presentation of this annual achievement award, the Pinellas Chapter also funds an annual $250.00 essay prize, in Gardner’s name, to a student at Stetson Law University. I bring this up – not only to let any who may be able to contribute to do so – but also to let you know that the proceeds from the raffle at the annual dinner go directly into the Beckett essay prize fund at Stetson. Help us if you can, to honor a truly great civil libertarian, as we annually honor those whose work and values reflect the life’s work of Gardner W. Beckett Jr. -- Thom Foley