It is always interesting to see how different reporters
interpret the same event (which they all witnessed together)!
The following newspapers are among those who gave mention to
FADP's action as part of their broader coverage of the special
session. The Stewart News Ran a photograph (see image of
newspaper). The Palm Beach Post ran a stand alone story (see image
of newspaper), and Reuters ran a stand alone story on its national
wire service. Click on the links below to see the specific story.
All information is reproduced here without permission:
Palm Beach Post
Reuters
(We have edited the following stories to provide only the part
relevant to our action)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (AP) - Web
Story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (AP) - Printed Story
Gainesville
Sun
Orlando Sentinel
Tallahassee Democrat
Tampa Tribune (full
article)
Jupiter man pitching way to save money ejected from state
Capitol By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau Wednesday,
November 28, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- Even facing a $1.3 billion budget shortfall,
lawmakers are not interested in the potential savings offered from
abolishing the death penalty, a Jupiter activist found Tuesday.
Abe Bonowitz rose from his seat in an open visitors' gallery,
shouted at House Speaker Tom Feeney and waved a sign that read,
"Florida can't afford the death penalty! Save $51
million!"
The figure was taken from a January 2000 analysis by The Palm
Beach Post of the annual costs to administer Florida's death
penalty above and beyond what it would cost to punish all
first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole.
Sergeant at Arms Earnie Sumner escorted Bonowitz quietly from
the gallery. A Capitol Police sergeant later issued Bonowitz a
standard trespass warning that bars him from the Capitol until the
special session adjourns at midnight, Dec. 6.
His picture was distributed to security checkpoints at all
Capitol entrances. "He was very polite; he apologized,"
Sumner said.
Feeney, a death penalty supporter, later joked with reporters
that he will consider any idea to save money: "It's the most
attractive argument I've heard."
[ABE'S COMMENT: I did NOT apologize, nor would I. What I said,
in response to Sumner telling us we would be ejected, was
"OK!"]
[ABE'S COMMENT: We really appreciate this article, and the fact
that it went national gave inspiration to other abolitionists to
recognize the validity of making strong arguments on the fiscal
irresponsibility of the death penalty. However, this article is
misleading with regard to what was happening at the time of our
action. It is reported that we interrupted other death penalty
opponents during a legislative hearing. We would *never* interrupt
people on our side of the issue! In fact, we were the only death
penalty opponents (activists) in the room when we interrupted
House Speaker Feeney during a full meeting of the entire Florida
House of Representatives.]
Save money by halting executions, Florida urged
By Michael Peltier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov 27 (Reuters) - After years of
unsuccessful attempts to scrap Florida's death penalty by
appealing to voters' hearts, opponents of capital punishment
turned their focus on Tuesday to voters' pocketbooks.
Putting killers to death is even more expensive than locking
them up for life without parole, death penalty opponents told
lawmakers during a Florida House of Representatives hearing on
ways to cut $1.3 billion from the budget of the cash-strapped
state.
Dropping the death penalty would save Florida taxpayers $51
million a year without letting convicted murderers off the hook,
members of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said.
They based the figure on the hours spent by state-appointed
attorneys dealing with death sentences, more than half of which
have been overturned by appellate courts. Florida leads the nation
in the number of death row cases reversed.
"If the death penalty were run like a business, we would
shut it down," group director Abe Bonowitz said. "It's
not cost effective. In fact, it is a drain on funds and has no
positive benefit to anybody."
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."
While the death penalty opponents testified to lawmakers,
Bonowitz briefly disrupted the hearing by brandishing a sign that
read "Florida Can't Afford the Death Penalty," and
shouting his opposition from the House gallery.
Lawmakers reacted by taking a scheduled recess and House
security officers warned Bonowitz to avoid future outbursts.
Polls show Florida voters overwhelmingly support capital
punishment for murderers. Florida switched its method of execution
from electrocution to lethal injection last year after a series of
gory executions in the electric chair.
In one case, the condemned man's head caught fire, prompting
concerns that using the electric chair could violate the U.S.
constitutional prohibition of "cruel and unusual
punishment."
The group's critique came a week after Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
signed death warrants for three murderers, one of whom has been on
death row since 1972.
14:01 11-27-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by
framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for
any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in
reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
(We have edited the following story
to provide only the part relevant to our action. The following
appeared on the Sun-Sentinel web site shortly after the action.)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-1127specialsession.story
Legislators back for second try at budget cuts
Associated Press
November 27, 2001, 11:57 AM EST
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers returned to the Capitol
Tuesday, intent on cutting the state budget by $1 billion to try
to cover a shortfall created by a slumping economy and
terrorism-induced fear of travel.
It's the second time the Legislature has met in special session
on the problem. The first attempt last month failed when the House
and Senate couldn't agree on a plan.
[...edit...]
Near the end of the morning House session, anti-death penalty
protesters stood up in the public gallery overlooking the House,
and held up a sign saying Florida could save money by ending
executions.
Abe Bonowitz shouted at lawmakers from the gallery as ushers
tried to take the banner, because signs are prohibited in the
gallery. The House was adjourning for the morning anyway as the
disturbance happened. Copyright © 2001, South Florida
Sun-Sentinel
(We have edited the following story
to provide only the part relevant to our action. The following
appeared toward the end of the front page story in the printed
edition of the newspaper)
[...edit...]
As tightly as the script is written, leaders cannot control
every page.
At the House's opening session on Tuesday, a protester yelled
from the open visitors' gallery above. Abe Bonowitz, director of
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, waived a banner
aloft: "Florida can't afford the death penalty."
"They're cutting education. They're cutting health care...
They're cutting things that prevent crime," Bonowitz said
later, arguing that millions spent on the death penalty should be
cut instead. "A proper businessman would shut it down."
He was gently restrained by an elderly sergeant-at-arms.
Hundreds of probation officers....
(We have edited the following stories to
provide only the part relevant to our action. The following is
from the Gainesville Sun web page edition of the story.)
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Lawmakers vow to slash fewer jobs
By GARY FINEOUT
Sun Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE - On the same day that roughly 450 probation
officers showed up to protest budget cuts, state legislators
reversed course and said they would not cut as deeply the jobs of
those responsible for watching over released convicts.
[...edit...]
Session interrupted
During the morning session of the House, legislators were
interrupted when death penalty opponents unfurled a large white
banner in the House gallery that said the state could save $51
million if lawmakers ended the death penalty.
Abe Bonowitz from Palm Beach County and Amy Jo Smith of
Gainesville held the banner up and then Bonowitz began yelling
down at legislators.
Smith, a member of Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty and a regular protestor of executions held at
Starke, maintained the death penalty ''wastes a lot of money.''
''If the death penalty was any other business, it would be shut
down,'' Smith said.
Feeney, who shouted back at Bonowitz that he was ''out of
order,'' said he was not concerned that Bonowitz and Smith had
been able to disrupt the House or that it was a security lapse.
''I don't want anyone who brings in a piece of a paper or a
banner of leaflets to have them confiscated,'' Feeney said.
(We have edited the following story to provide
only the part relevant to our action. This appeared at the end of
the story on the Orlando Sentinel web page.)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-specialsession112701.story
Legislators back for second try at budget cuts Associated Press
November 27, 2001, 11:57 AM EST
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers returned to the Capitol Tuesday,
intent on cutting the state budget by $1 billion to try to cover a
shortfall created by a slumping economy and terrorism-induced fear
of travel. [...edit...]
Near the end of the morning House session, anti-death penalty
protesters stood up in the public gallery overlooking the House,
and held up a sign saying Florida could save money by ending
executions.
Abe Bonowitz shouted at lawmakers from the gallery as ushers
tried to take the banner, because signs are prohibited in the
gallery. The House was adjourning for the morning anyway as the
disturbance happened. Copyright © 2001, Orlando Sentinel
(We have edited the following story to
provide only the part relevant to our action. This appeared toward
the end of the story on the Tallahassee Democrat web page.)
Special session off to clumsy start
[...edit...]
Adding to the circus like atmosphere, a group opposing the death
penalty raised a ruckus in the House gallery and was told to
leave. Capitol Police later issued a trespassing warning against
Abe Bonowitz, head of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty, and circulated his photo among officers at the Capitol
entrance.
(We have edited the other stories to provide only
the part relevant to our action, however in this article, our
action was the lead! We are posting the full article. Note the
ominous final sentence! This appeared on the Tampa tribune web
page.)
Nov 28, 2001
Tallahassee 2-Step Begins
By MIKE SALINERO and JOE FOLLICK
The Tampa Tribune
TALLAHASSEE - As legislators convened Tuesday to address the
state's budget crisis they were greeted by hundreds of
blue-shirted probation officers and one grandstanding death
penalty opponent.
The probation officers are fighting to protect their jobs from
the budget ax. Abe Bonowitz of Gainesville disrupted a House session
with a banner and a harangue about ending capital punishment, a
move he says could save the state $51 million a year.
Though unconventional in its delivery, Bonowitz's message did
jibe with the purpose of the special session, the second one
called by Gov. Jeb Bush this fall. The Legislature has to plug a
$1.3 billion shortfall caused by the recession and a decline in
tourism related to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The probation officers' message played well with legislators,
who vowed Tuesday to maintain the officers' jobs this year while
cutting the department's funding.
``Cutting our jobs jeopardizes [the fight against] crime in our
communities,'' said probation officer Terry Hicks of Tampa.
``We're the people behind the scenes.''
A Senate appropriations subcommittee wants to cut $900,000 from
probation, but no jobs would be sacrificed this fiscal year, which
ends June 30. Next year, however, 409 probation positions are
slated for removal. Senators hope the cuts can be handled by
attrition.
Legislative leaders promised this special session would not
degenerate into the name-calling and posturing of the unsuccessful
session held in October. Last month, frustrated lawmakers adopted
$800 million in cuts, then jettisoned their work, deciding to
return to try to do better.
``I don't think it will be the same spectacle as we had last
time,'' said Sen. Ginny Brown- Waite, R-Spring Hill.
Senate leaders are now prepared to reduce state spending by
about $1 billion to address the shortfall. Brown-Waite said the
Senate made a key concession by agreeing to tap less money from
the state's rainy day fund. The Senate earlier proposed using $300
million from the fund, a move the House opposed.
In return for the Senate's making deeper cuts, a majority of
House Republicans have told Bush they will vote to delay a cut in
the state tax on stocks and bonds. The delay will keep about $128
million flowing annually into state coffers.
The House and Senate plan to work out their differences in
precisely where to make the cuts by Saturday, and plan to adjourn
Dec. 6. Both House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, and Senate
President John McKay, R-Bradenton, say the state program cuts will
cause harm.
``There are consequences to every [cut] we've made,'' McKay
said.
Feeney agreed, saying reducing state spending ``is not a lot of
fun.''
To balance the budget as required by the state constitution,
legislative committees are already making staggering cuts. A
Senate committee recommended cutting education, which makes up
roughly 50 percent of the state's $48 billion budget, by $591
million. The Senate plan would take $27 million from Hillsborough
County Schools.
The Legislature also is looking to cut health insurance for the
poor, juvenile justice programs and drug subsidies for the
elderly.
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