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"The Road Beyond Florida's 2002 Elections"
December 2002 Edition of the ACLU of Florida Newsletter
By Howard Simon
Executive Director
This newsletter highlights some of the recent work of the network of committed ACLU members throughout Florida and the small but dedicated staff of the ACLU.
I hope you will join me in thanking all those who labor on behalf of civil liberties in our state.
Though the dust has barely settled from the November elections, we can see some of the road ahead for the ACLU of Florida. It is clear that we have a lot of very difficult work to do.
We have a legislature and Governor that all too frequently will be hostile to the civil liberties values that brought us to the ACLU. This includes women's reproductive freedom, voting rights and religious freedom (which still means both the right to express one's religious preferences and the right to expect that government will stay out of religious matters ? in other words, separation of church and state).
It also means the protection of civil rights. And in this State, at this time in history, the right to be free from discrimination is a particularly pressing concern for gays, immigrants, and racial minorities.
In addition to the obstacles presented by the political leadership, it is also more and more difficult to prevail in the courts even when the law and constitutional principles are on our side. Consequently, we must work even harder to impact the court of public opinion.
We will need to craft imaginative and creative strategies that transcend party lines. We will need to select compelling test cases in order to bring injustices to public attention.
We must raise our voice about some of Florida's destructive public policies. Should Florida execute 16-year-old offenders? Should children languish in foster care when there are competent adults who can provide a suitable home, but who have been declared ineligible by the State solely because they are gay? Should tax dollars be used to inject religious faith into government programs?
These issues are about fundamental democratic values, such as the proper relationship between government and religious institutions. Perhaps the best example of this is the continuing fight over the Governor's program to divert scarce tax-dollars from the need to improve public education ? and now to meet the new constitutional mandate to reduce class size ? to support private and religious schools.
Then there is the issue of who is entitled to vote. We need to marshal our limited resources to address what I believe to be the overriding civil rights and voting rights problem in Florida ? the mass disenfranchisement of nearly 500,000 of our fellow Floridians. Why does Florida, unlike most other states, impose a lifetime ban on the right to vote ? and the ability to hold a job for which a state license is required ? for former felons who years ago were released from prison and completed all the terms of their punishment?
This is work that needs to be done, but it can only be done with your support.
Except for special requests by donors, all gifts to the ACLU Foundation are shared with our national organization, which is working hard to ensure that the fundamental principles of our democracy are not diminished as a consequence of the war on terrorism.
There has never been a more important year to make a significant gift to the ACLU. If you have already sent a gift, please consider using the envelope on Page 4 to mail a special extra gift before the end of the year.
