In frustration that recently signed execution
warrants had been stayed,
Florida Governor Jeb! Bush ran at the mouth along
the lines of:
"For "the families of these victims, justice has
been denied," Bush said
Thursday. "It is very troubling that we do not
have a death penalty process
that puts them front and center. ... Families are
aching in pain." (Orlando
Sentinel - July 12, 2002).
Similar quotes appeared statewide. Something had
to be done.
While working with murder victim family member
SueZann Bosler on an op-ed
to be distributed to the newspapers, FADP
director Abe Bonowitz received
Jeb!'s weekly e-mail and checked his schedule.
And there it was - a special
notice about open office hours in Lake City.
"NOTICE!!! NOTICE!!! NOTICE!!!
On Tuesday, July 16, 2002, Governor Jeb Bush and
Lieutenant Governor Frank
Brogan will hold Open Office Hours in Lake City
Columbia County). The
one-on-one, 5-minute meetings with citizens will
take place at Lake City
Community College in the Medical Technology
Building beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Registration begins at 7:00 a.m. It is first
come-first serve, so get there
early!!"
FADP received that notice on Saturday night, and
mobilized on Sunday.
SueZann canceled or rescheduled two days worth of
appointments (she is a
house-calling hair dresser for abolition!) and by
five PM Monday we were on
our way North -- again in the un-air conditioned
abolition-mobile. We
picked up Andrew Mason in Orlando, crashed at Amy
Jo's house in
Gainesville, met Joe Brew at the Gainesville
Kinkos at 5:15 and were in
line at Lake City Community College by 6:20am.
Bernie Welch and Dennis Lane
soon arrived from St. Augustine and Jacksonville,
and FSU Film School
student Laura Cardona arrived with her camera --
all the way from
Atlanta. Ahead of us in line was fellow
abolitionist Sandy X, who lives in
Lake City.
Shortly after 8am, the line of Floridians waiting
to see the Governor was
allowed into the building. We were hardly
searched ("Do you have any
knives?"), and then we signed in as individuals
and were given numbers 13,
14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 before being shown into a
waiting area where coffee
and pastries were available. Reporter Lesley
Clark from the Miami Herald
found Abe and told him that we could ask to have
the reporters allowed in
to our meeting with the Governor.... Good!
We were a little worried, because we wanted to be
sure that SueZann saw the
Governor and not Lt. Gov. Brogan. The set is
that the first person in line
saw the Governor, the next person saw the Lt.
Governor, and the next person
saw whichever of the two was first available. So
there were no
guarantees. Soon, an aide came and found "Number
13," SueZann, and
escorted her to the meeting area. Another woman
came to get "Number 14,"
Abe, and escorted him in. The people with
Numbers 11 and 12 had not been
called yet, but when they were, Abe asked if he
and SueZann could see the
Governor together is the next person agreed to
see the Lt. Governor. The
Governor's aids were OK with that, so Andrew
Mason (Number15) sacrificed
his chance to talk to Jeb!, and SueZann and Abe
were soon called in to see
the Governor.
To read the Transcript of the Meeting with the
Governor, Click Here.
After the meeting with the Governor, the media
followed us out and asked
numerous questions. To see the news coverage of
this event, Click Here.
Others of our group continued in line to see the
leaders of our state
government. Laura video taped her interview with
the Governor. To read
the transcript of Laura's VERY INTERESTING
interview with the Governor,
Click Here.
Afterwards, the group gathered in the parking lot
to compare notes. To
read what the various participants thought about
the experience, and what
those not recorded talked about, Click Here.
Finally, FADP reimbursed SueZann $200 for lost
wages and spent another
$217.96 for fuel, tolls, meals for volunteers,
photocopies, documentation,
and liquids (the temperature hovered around 100
degrees almost all the way
home - without air conditioning, we got a taste
of what the prisoners live
in all the time - ugh!) Of course, this
expenditure was unanticipated but
necessary and well worth it. If you agree, please help by using your credit
card here
https://www.compar.com/donation/donateform.html, or by sending
a check or cash to:
FADP
PMB 335
2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy
Gainesville, FL 32609
