FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 10, 2010
CONTACT:
ACLU of Florida Media Office, (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Dr. Robert B. Hayling, a Florida civil rights pioneer who yesterday was honored by Governor Crist for his sacrifices during Florida’s Civil Rights Movement, today has joined the ACLU of Florida and other Floridians in calling on Governor Crist and all members of the Florida Board of Executive Clemency to demonstrate their commitment to civil rights by alleviating the current deprivation of civil rights of non-violent offenders.
Dr. Hayling sent a letter to Governor Crist and other members of the Clemency Board expressing gratitude to them for honoring Florida’s civil rights heroes. The letter went on to urge them to address the current disfranchisement crisis by adopting an executive order that automatically restores voting and other civil rights to Florida citizens with non-violent offenses.
“Dr. Hayling is a hero of the Civil Rights Movement. His has been a voice for freedom and equality for decades, and he raises that voice for civil rights today,” stated Muslima Lewis, Director of the ACLU of Florida’s Racial Justice and Voting Rights Project. “If the governor and the Clemency Board truly wish to honor the legacy of Dr. Hayling and other heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, they will heed his call for justice.”
Dr. Hayling is the most recent in a long list of figures pressuring the Executive Clemency Board to issue such an executive order is growing. In a December 3 letter, the ACLU was joined by local, state and national organizations in calling on the board to issue the order, and on December 9 several South Florida rock bands urged the Clemency Board to reform Florida’s Reconstruction-era ban on voting and other civil rights.
In his letter, Dr. Hayling thanks the board for its resolution recommending the expunging of the records of Florida Freedom Fighters from the civil rights movement. But in the words of Dr. Hayling: “There is more that only you, and this board, can do. We ask you to conclude your terms on the Clemency Board with an act that can address current deprivations of civil rights.”
Dr. Hayling’s letter supports the rising call on the members of the board to address the contemporary civil rights issue of civil rights restoration by issuing an executive order to make the state’s rights restoration process truly automatic, a promise that was made by the Board to Floridians in 2007.
“The Board alone has the power to fulfill the promise of automatic rights restoration,” continued Lewis. “We are honored to have men and women like Dr. Hayling join us in calling on the Board to grant automatic civil rights restoration to thousands of Floridians with non-violent offenses.”
A PDF copy of Dr. Hayling’s letter can be downloaded here: http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/HaylingLetterToClemencyBoard.pdf
A copy of the ACLU of Florida’s December 3rd letter is available here:
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/LetterToClemencyBoard.pdf
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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