Text Box: to facilitate the speedy release of detainees, the misuse of curfews, and increasing the use of citations in lieu of incarceration. The civili-an review of police policies and practices is also an important element of vigilance. The coming of the Tampa Bay Regional ACLU office, now fully staffed and ably led by Rebecca Steele, has given a new hope for the preservation of our liberties. We seek every opportunity to reach out to the people of our community; to awaken within them an appreciation of our constitution and the freedoms it provides. Freedom is a constant struggle. We participate in a variety of public forums, such as Circus McGurkis, the Times Reading Festival, Banned Books Week and many other venues to acquaint citizens with current Text Box: Our Chapter has been in existence since 1968. In the years since then, we have vigor-ously defended the Bill of Rights freedoms guaranteed to all Americans in our constitution. With leadership like Ray and Margo Yazell, Irene Miller, Gardner Beckett, and Perkins Shelton, we campaigned to end Florida’s corrupt municipal courts system, and ended the practice of sending citizens to jail without benefit of attorney. When the Martin Luther King parade was threatened by a city’s demand that liability insurance be required before permits were issued, the ACLU successfully defended every citizen organization's right to use public facilities without overly burden-some financial requirements. The chapter has been instrument-al in issues of bail reform, the placement of magistrates in jails Text Box: issues and concerns that challenge their liberty. A well educated citizenry armed with an understanding of our constitution, is the only reliable safeguard against the daily tyrannies of opportunists and fear mongers who would have the people surrender their liberties for the doubtful value of strict security. As a member organization of the American Civil Liberties Union, we are committed to a staunch defense of the unique-ly American traditions of free thought, religion, speech and assembly, and the integrity of our electoral process that has lit the horizon of human possibility for over 200 years. At all levels of government, from local to national, your ACLU is ready to defend our greatest national patrimony. Jim Peterson Text Box: The Pinellas County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union Text Box: Pinellas County Chapter, The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Text Box: Return Address: Text Box: Pinellas County Chapter of the ACLU P. O. Box 12372 St. Petersburg, FL 33733 E-mail: aclu@metrodirect.net Open Board Meetings: 7:15 pm at Pinellas Park Library 52nd Street at 78th Avenue N. on the fourth Thursday of every month. Text Box:

A Celebration of Freedom

Your invitation to the annual ACLU Bill of Rights Dinner is on the other side of this page.

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Board Member, Jerry Abraham Moore enlightening the crowds at Circus McGurkis 2005
Text Box: Get a free ACLU Bumper Sticker ! Supplies are limited. Cut out this coupon today and mail it in to: ACLU of Florida Communications Department 4500 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 340 Miami, FL 33137

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