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"2002 Nelson Poynter Dinner a Moving Tribute"
December 2002 Edition of the ACLU of Florida Newsletter
"My deepest gratitude to all of my ACLU friends for your kind congratulations regarding the Nelson Poynter Award. Your good work becomes more important every day! Keep it up!"
? Bennett H. Brummer
Nearly 300 ACLU members and devoted civil libertarians attended this year's ACLU Foundation of Florida Nelson Poynter Award Dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Coral Gables. The ACLU honored longtime Miami-Dade Public Defender Bennett H. Brummer with the 2002 Nelson Poynter Award.
The evening began by the hotel pool with an outdoor cocktail reception. Later, ACLU of Florida President Bill Boyd welcomed ACLU members and civil libertarians, introducing the ACLU of Florida staff, chapter and state board members and the many honored guests present. He also thanked members of the host committee for their excellent job in organizing the event ? the most successful fund-raising dinner in ACLU of Florida history.
After a video presentation about some of the ACLU's clients, Jeanne Baker, chair of the ACLU's Development Committee, introduced keynote speaker Anthony Romero. Hired as National ACLU Executive Director just weeks before the tragic events of September 11, Romero talked about the importance of balancing civil liberties in times of crisis.
Gerald T. Wetherington, Former Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and Mary Jo Francis, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge, delivered a moving tribute to Nelson Poynter Award recipient Bennett Brummer. They, along with former ACLU Miami Chapter President John de Leon, applauded Brummer's work in the juvenile justice system.
In his acceptance speech, Brummer praised the work of the ACLU and stressed the obligation that attorneys and others have in upholding the principles of the Bill of Rights.
