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ACLU Greater Miami Chapter Elects Lida Rodriguez-Taseff As President
June 20, 2001
MIAMI ? The Greater Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida recently elected Lida Rodriguez-Taseff as president of one of the organization's most active chapters across the state.
A familiar face on Spanish-language news and television shows, Rodriguez-Taseff will officially take over on July 1, succeeding John de Leon, who took a job in Colombia after having served as chapter president for the past four years.
"She is a no-nonsense commercial litigator with a passion for human rights," said de Leon, an outspoken individual rights advocate who worked alongside Rodriguez-Taseff to help defend First Amendment and due process rights in Miami's diverse communities. "She is truly dedicated to the ACLU and the people it serves, and I know she'll bring this organization to places its never been."
As a Spanish-language spokesperson for the National ACLU, Rodriguez-Taseff had no qualms about criticizing U.S. Customs Agents on national television for their intrusive search tactics across airports nationwide. Even when Florida Governor Jeb Bush talked about charging foreigners to put their kids through schools, it was Rodriguez-Taseff who labeled it blatant discrimination on Spanish media outlets. And time after time in her native Spanish, she has debated hard-line advocates of "zero tolerance" policies on local Spanish-language radio stations, teaching immigrant parents about their kids' rights in schools.
"I've watched this organization grow over the past few years, reaching out to people of all races and nationalities, and I hope to be able to continue our efforts to defend the liberties of everyone in this state regardless of whether they're brown, black, gay or straight, American-born or foreign-born," said Rodriguez-Taseff, 33, a partner in the Miami law firm of Duane Morris & Hecksher LLP.
A native of Bogot?, Colombia, Rodriguez-Taseff was raised in Hialeah, and graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor's in economics. She received her law degree in 1992 from New York University, where she was honored with the Vanderbilt Medal for Extraordinary Contribution to the Law School, the highest honor bestowed by NYU. Prior to the June 5th election, she served as Vice-President of the Miami Chapter, which she has been a member of for the past six years. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the state ACLU affiliate, where she oversees statewide fund-raising efforts as the board's Development Chair.
Headquartered in Miami, the ACLU of Florida is a private, non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to preserving constitutional freedoms and the Bill of Rights through litigation, legislation and education. The ACLU of Florida is an affiliate of the national ACLU, which boasts a membership of 300,000 with approximately 12,500 members in Florida.
The Miami chapter is one of 12 local chapters of the ACLU in Florida. Established in 1953, it is the oldest chapter south of the Mason-Dixie line. With approximately 1600 members, it is one of most active ACLU groups in the country.
