FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 29, 2010
CONTACT:
ACLU of Florida Communications Office (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org
MIAMI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has been granted permission to intervene in Michelle Spence-Jones’ lawsuit against Governor Charlie Crist on behalf of five City of Miami District 5 voters thanks to a ruling today by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Victoria Platzer. The five voters voted for the City of Miami commissioner in the recent special election held on January 12. Gov. Crist suspended Spence-Jones on January 15, 2010, after a majority of the voters in the January 12, 2010, special election cast their ballots for Spence-Jones, knowing full well that she had been suspended by the Governor in 2009 because of a felony charge arising from alleged activities that occurred years before she took office.
“Our clients are elated that today, the Court confirmed a core democratic principle: voters are entitled to participate as parties in a lawsuit when their chosen elected official’s right to take or remain in office is at stake,” said Maria Kayanan, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida.
For more information on this case and the ACLU of Florida’s Voting Rights Project, visit http://www.aclufl.org/issues/voting_rights.
About the ACLU of Florida
The ACLU of Florida is freedom's watchdog, working daily in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend individual rights and personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For additional information, visit our web site at: www.aclufl.org.
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