ACLU of Florida


Legislative Activities Current Session Glossary of Terms Contact Your Legislators In the Courts Briefs and Complaints	Home » Legislature & Courts How to Contact your Legislators and Members of Congress Members of the Florida Legislature rarely hear from their constituents on most issues. Sometimes hearing from a handful of concerned citizens will cause a senator or representative to pay attention to a particular issue and encourage him or her to vote the right way. In general, the more personal your lobbying contact is, the more effective it will be. While a personal discussion with a member of the Florida Legislature is most effective, a meeting or telephone conversation with one of his or her assistants is almost as good. A personal letter or email is much more effective than a form letter or postcard. You do not need to be an expert on the issue to call or write your state senator's or representative's office. All you need to do is communicate is that you want the member to support or oppose a particular measure. When you call a member's office, give your name and address and ask whoever takes your call to let the member of the Florida Legislature know that you favor or oppose something. It is very important that you lobby both members of the Florida Legislature who may support your views AND those who may not. Lobbying can change votes, so it is critically important that you lobby those who disagree with you. Lobbying supporters provides them with evidence of support for their position and allows them to be more active in support of that position. How to contact the Florida Legislature: Contact information for the members of the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, including email addresses and fax numbers, can be found by accessing Online Sunshine, the official web site of the Florida Legislature. How to contact the United States Congress: Contact information for the members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, including email addresses and fax numbers, can be found by accessing Congress.Org, a web site which has been designed to facilitate constituent communication with the members of Congress. Legislative Links The following is a list of handy legislative web sites: Legislative branch links Judicial branch links Executive branch links Legislative Branch Home Page of the Florida Legislature Online Sunshine provides a legislator directory, hot issues during the Regular Session, legislative committee membership, legislative calendars, bills and statutes. Judicial Branch U.S. Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court web page provides a wealth of information for the public, lawyers and the news media, including court opinions and orders, calendars and schedules, rules, news releases and general information. Supreme Court of Florida The Judicial Online Super Highway User Access System (JOSHUA) is Florida's statewide judicial information system. If provides links to many judicial branch departments and information sources, including: Legislation Affecting the Court System Administrative Home Page Family/Juvenile Courts Home Page Criminal Home Page Alternative Dispute Resolution District Courts of Appeal Supreme Court of Florida Opinions Here you will find full-text opinions since September 1995, searchable by party, month of decision and keyword. The Florida Bar This is the official web site of The Florida Bar. It contains information about the Bar and has numerous other links of assistance to lawyers. Executive Branch Executive Office of the Governor This is the web site of the Governor of the State of Florida. Attorney General Opinions The Florida Attorney General's Office has launched a web site that includes attorney general opinions, and frequently asked questions and answers.