Florida ACLU - Suncoast Region Report

Text Box: It is somewhat sad to report, but we did not obtain the desired results in getting all ex-felons their deserved voting, work licenses and other civil rights restored through our Florida state legislature action. Actually, the bills backing Rights Restoration never made it to either the House or Senate floor for discussion ( politics as usual? ) Some small gains in allowing ex-felons to obtain more work licenses were accomplished though - so we

Text Box: can be grateful for those changes. However we did not have enough resources to effectively pursue and accomplish the ballot petition initiative by gathering signatures. That two and a half year effort has been put on the back burner for now. We, ACLU and Florida Rights Restoration Committee members will persevere. We will not give up our concerted effort to persuade and inform our state legislators about this important cause before their next

~ Pinellas County Chapter, American civil liberties union ~

Text Box: Visit Pinellas ACLU on the Web to learn more! www.aclufl.org/pinellas Stay up-to-date on civil liberties issues in our area with connections to State and National news, at our updated web site.
Got a question? E-Mail us at:
aclu@metrodirect.net

Text Box: legislative session. Another good note is that the majority of the legislators we contacted (mostly through Becky Steele) this past year, were in agreement regard-less of party affiliation with the Rights Restoration agenda we offered, including Deborah Clark, our local Supervisor of Elections. Civil decency requires we fight on to get the rights of ex-felons restored as soon as possible, and not remain one of the few back-ward states that still denies these people, who paid their dues to society, the rights of free citizens! Glenn A. Paul

Jim Peterson, Editor

Text Box: Rev. Harold Brockus said, “The end of the Pledge of Allegiance says “with liberty and justice for all.” Liberty and justice are intimately intertwined. The Bill of Rights doesn’t mean anything if you are too poor to speak out or to influence the power elite.” Thus he has spent his life working with traditional communities to hear the voices of marginalized people and to build new structures and programs that support and empower the outcasts among us. Born in Independence, Missouri, he grew up in a blue collar family. Harold was the first in his family to go to college. He won a scholarship to Yale where he majored in American Studies. While at Yale, he worked in a homeless shelter and helped organize a lecture series that brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak on campus just after the Montgomery Boycott. After Yale, Rev. Brockus worked as a street worker dealing with youth gangs in Kansas City. He lived in the community organizing activities for the youth and interceding on their behalf when they got in trouble. “My goal was to reduce violence and get them opportunities,” he says.

Text Box: ~ Gardner Beckett Award Recipient ~
Rev. Harold Brockus
A Life working for justice and liberty By Jeffrey Harper

Page:

Eternal Vigilance	2
Board Nominations	3
Jeff Harper’s World	4
Pain in Florida	5
Honoring Jean Heller	6
Your Invitation	7
History	8