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With the Florida Legislature meeting for a second special session to
reduce the budget by more than $1 Billion, Floridians for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty seized on the opportunity to highlight the fiscal
angle of our arguments that the death penalty is a bad public policy. We
developed a press release (see <http://www.fadp.org/pressrel12.html>)
and, through various e-mail alert lists, we urged Floridians to contact
their individual legislators on this issue.
Given the fact that the Florida Legislature is controlled by
politicians who love to use the death penalty as the political tool
which it is, we knew that they would pay little if any attention to
phone calls, faxes and e-mails. We also knew from experience that
precious little time is given to "the people" who attend
legislative hearings to testify on various matters - particularly when
those people oppose the viewpoint of the politicians in charge. If we wanted to be
heard by the politicians, we had to get in their face.
Conceptualized over Thanksgiving weekend, it was difficult give any
of our activists a lot of notice for this action. We knew we needed
people who might consider stepping beyond the normally accepted bounds
of behavior in the Florida Legislature, and there is not a general
consensus among the various parts of the anti-death penalty movement on
the efficacy of doing that. We approached only eight potential
participants, and three were available.
At 9pm on November 26th, SueZann Bosler arrived in Jupiter at the home office of
FADP.
Switching cars, She and FADP director Abe Bonowitz drove to Gainesville,
stopping at Kinkos to use their blueprint copier to enlarge our sign to
banner size before arriving at the home of Amy Jo Smith at 2:20am. By
6:30 am we were on the road again towards Tallahassee, stopping for
fuel, food, and to get cash to have on hand in case we needed to post
bail. We were parked outside the capitol just before 9am, which was the
scheduled time for the Florida House of Representatives to begin its
general session.
We had no idea how tight security would be in the wake of the
September 11 terrorist attacks. We had no idea if the State Security
Apparatus was aware that we were coming, because we don't know who is
the source of all those clicking sounds on the FADP telephone lines.
(Must be the FBI - there they go, not sharing information again!!!) It
seems safe to say that if they knew we were coming, they made no attempt
to stop us. Because Abe had disrupted Governor Jeb! in the past, just to
be safe Amy Jo and SueZann used a different doorway. Security was
nothing more than going through security at an airport, and the guards
did not take notice of the content of our papers. We carried press
releases, and each of us had a 4x6 foot banner made of paper and folded
to the size of standard copy paper. We each wore business attire, but
with an abolitionist button on our lapels.
We made our way to the House Gallery and easily found front row seats
along the side of the chamber, opposite from the press room and the area
where the TV cameras were set up. Up until this point, SueZann was
unsure if she was ready to risk arrest. She decided instead to act as
our support, media and photography person. She handed back her cash and
her banner, and waited for me to give her a list of people to call if we
ended up needing legal assistance, as well as a list of media contacts, before
taking a position in the gallery on the opposite side of the chamber. We
were ready.
... And House Speaker Tom Feeney called a 20 minute recess. Perfect. We
used the time to distribute press releases to the media, and Abe clued
several reporters in that they should position themselves appropriately
if they wanted to "see the news." Feeney called the House back
to order and invited several legislators to introduce guests in the
Gallery. We decided it was time to introduce ourselves, and unfolded our
banner just as Speaker Feeney was announcing another, longer recess.
"MR. SPEAKER," Abe yelled out. "We are here to say
that you can get 5% of your budget cut by abolishing the death
penalty!"
Everyone looked up to see us standing there with our banner reading:
Florida Can't Afford
the Death Penalty
Save $51,000,000+
ANNUALLY!
© 2001 Tampa Tribune
Feeney banged his gavel and called for order. Abe ignored him, and
the gallery guard who was tapping him on the shoulder and saying
"You have to leave - you can't say that here!" Abe carried on
for a minute or so, calling out again "You can get 5% of your
budget cut by abolishing the death penalty! Preserve Education! Preserve
Health Care! Preserve Social Services! Preserve Juvenile Justice!
Prevention, not punishment!" The speaker called a recess, all the
politicians scampered off the floor, and the activists in the gallery
stopped shouting and began to fold up their banner - surprised that they
had not been tackled.
We had expected to be arrested, but instead, Earnie Sumner, the House
Sergeant At Arms approached Abe, introduced himself, held out his hand
for Abe to shake, and very politely told him that he would be ejected.
Abe responded, "OK!" relieved at avoiding arrest. But the
activists were not escorted out! Instead, as they exited the gallery
they were set upon by the media, and held an impromptu press conference
for about ten minutes. There were at least ten reporters, two still
photographers, and two TV cameras.
After all the interviews were completed, they made their way out of
the building, stopping first in the rotunda to share extra press
releases with business students who had set up display tables. Then they
exited to the plaza between the old and the new Capitol building, where
Abe called other reporters to come meet us. While waiting for them, we
were approached by three police officers who very politely informed Abe,
but not Amy Jo or SueZann, that the Speaker of the House had banned him
from the legislature for the duration of the special session, and they
read a little statement about that. They also took his drivers license
information. We asked if we could remain there in the plaza and they
said that was fine, as long as we did not try to re-enter the building.
We were met by the reporters, one of whom told us that the Speaker
had commented that he admired our action and the fact that we did a
creative and effective job of connecting our issue to the budget matters
at hand. Of course, they *will not* be abolishing the death penalty any
time soon.
But the legislators heard our message! And so did millions of
Floridians who saw television reports, heard radio news reports, or read
reports in some of Florida's newspapers. We have confirmed television
coverage in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. We were covered
on Florida Public Radio. The photograph at the top of this page appeared
on the Tampa Tribune web page, and in some newspapers, including the
Stewart News, which is photographed in the photos at right. CLICK HERE
TO READ THE MEDIA COVERAGE that were able to collect. One article was
posted to the national Rueters wire service and was read around the
world.
After seeing the media responses,
FADP sent the following ACTION to
Floridians via e-mail:
Please forward to FLORIDIANS Please excuse cross-posts
Hello all!
Look for a full report on Tuesday's action at the legislature to be
posted on FADP.org soon. As a result of the action, we have another
opportunity.
House Speaker Tom Feeney was quoted by Rueters as follows:
"Republican House Speaker Tom Feeney, an ardent supporter of the
death penalty, said the group's argument may be fiscally sound but had
not changed his mind. "It's the most attractive argument for
repealing the death penalty I've heard, though I disagree with the way
in which it was put forth," Feeney said. "I wish he (Bonowitz)
would have put it into a budget amendment."
THAT sounds like an invitation if I ever heard one. Please CALL,
E-MAIL, FAX, VISIT your Florida legislators and ask them to
"Propose or support an amendment to save more than $51 million
(5% of the necessary budget cut) by abolishing the death penalty
now!"
Don't know who your legislator is? Visit <http://www.fadp.org/visitlegislator.html>.
Please Act IMMEDIATELY!
--abe
Abraham J. Bonowitz Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
800-973-6548 http://www.fadp.org
<fadp@fadp.org>
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy, Gainesville, FL 32609
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty works for
restorative justice in the form of effective alternatives to the death
penalty. It does so by # supporting and coordinating the work of
organizations and individuals # educating and energizing the general
public and state legislators # supporting the many persons affected by
capital crime and punishment # advocating specific legislative
improvements
*******
Further follow-up actions will be developed shortly.
While we did not know how this action would be viewed or if it would
even be successful, FADP is pleased with the results. Speaker Feeney's
acknowledgement that "It's the most attractive argument for
repealing the death penalty I've heard..." gives us a clarity of
future mission, and the knowledge that he would never have heard our
argument had we not acted aggressively makes it all worth it.
Thanks very much to Carolyn Gray for able assistance in drafting the
press release and banner text, Abe Bonowitz for leadership and
coordination, and most of the driving, Amy Jo Smith, for bravely risking
what could have been her first arrest, SueZann Bosler, for being our
support person, smuggler, photographer and spokesperson, Wil Van Natta,
Sheila O'Brien, Johnny Zokovitch and others for challenging questions
and forcing clarity of concept, message and mission.
Costs involved include:
26 hours of "on the road" time
900 miles on the car
$10 for
copies/banners
$75 for fuel
$45 for food
$5 for newspapers
$20 for
photography
$21.40 for Florida's Turnpike
Phone calls internet, and
other miscellaneous expenses.
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