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Home » Take Action » Become a Student Activist » Case of the Month Archives » August 1999

Plaintiffs, Defendants and Attorneys Involved in Holmes v. Bush

Plaintiffs

Ruth D. Holmes is a Florida citizen and taxpayer. She is employed as a curriculum coordinator in the Escambia County schools. She is a resident of Santa Rosa County.

Gregory and Susan Watson, on behalf of themselves and their children Sarah, Seth, and Sybil;

Rebecca Hale, on behalf of herself and her child, Jessica Dinnis;

John Rigsby, on behalf of himself and his children, Thaddeus and Porsche;

Queen E. Nelson, on behalf of herself and her grandchild, Ashley Wilson;

Samuel Watts, on behalf of himself and his children, Rondale, Reynard, and Rebecca;

(Gregory and Susan Watson, Rebecca Hale, John Rigsby, Queen E. Nelson, and Samuel Watts are all Florida citizens and taxpayers who reside in Escambia County and whose children attend public schools in Escambia County, including the two schools graded "F.")

Linda Lerner; Betsy H. Kaplan. Linda Lerner and Betsy H. Kaplan are Florida citizens and taxpayers. Lerner is a resident of Pinellas County and is a member of the Pinellas County School Board. Kaplan is a resident of Miami-Dade County and is a member of the Miami-Dade County School Board.

Florida State Conference of Branches of NAACP; Citizens' Coalition for Public Schools; Florida Congress of Parents and Teachers (Florida PTA). The Florida NAACP, the Citizens' Coalition, and the Florida PTA are organizations that are committed to the preservation and improvement of Florida's system of public education. The members of these three organizations are Florida citizens and taxpayers. The organizations bring this lawsuit on behalf of their members.

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

Robert Chanin, Andrew Roth, Alice O'Brien, Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C.

Andrew Kayton, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Inc.

Ronald Meyer, Meyer and Brooks, P.A.

Elliot Mincberg, Judith Schaeffer, People for the American Way

Pamela Cooper, Florida Teaching Profession – NEA

Michael Sussman, NAACP

Joan Peppard, Anti-Defamation League

Marc Stern, American Jewish Congress

Elizabeth Coleman, Steven Freeman, Anti-Defamation League

Steven Green, Ayesha Khan, Americans United for Separation of Church & State

Steven Shapiro, ACLU Foundation

Jeffrey Sinensky, Kara Stein, American Jewish Committee

Defendants

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, Governor of Florida and Chairman of the State Board of Education;

Tom Gallagher, Florida Commissioner of Education;

Robert F. Milligan, Florida Comptroller;

Robert A. Butterworth, Florida Attorney General;

Florida Department of Education.

Attorneys for Defendants

Carol A. Licko, General Counsel to Gov. Bush

Robert Butterworth, Florida Attorney General since 1986

Tom Warner, Solicitor General Designate

Jay Lefkowitz, the Kirkland & Ellis law firm

Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr., the current Solicitor General for Florida

Michael Olenick, General Counsel, Department of Education

Frank Jimenez and Reginald "Reg" Brown, Governor's Legal Office

Jim Peters and Louis Hubener, Attorney General's Office

Case of the Month Archives