Title:         Annual Meeting, Greater Tampa ACLU, Stetson Univ. Law School, Downtown, Tampa

Date:         Tuesday April 3, 2012
Time:         5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location:         Stetson University Law School, Downtown Tampa (Web: http://www.law.Stetson.edu/; Physical Address: 1700 N. Tampa St., rooms 135 & 136, Tampa, FL 33602-2653
Street:         1700 N. Tampa St., rooms 135 & 136
City State Zip:         Tampa, FL 33602-2653
Phone:         ACLUFL_Tampa@Yahoo.com
Notes:         We invite you to attend YOUR ACLU of Florida Chapter’s Annual Meeting and Free Speech Forum. Tampa Bay will be on the world’s stage in August, when the Republican National Convention (RNC) 2012 arrives. What 1st Amendment rights will protesters, photographers and the press have, and to what degree will law enforcement respect and protect those rights? Our distinguished panelists will address these important issues. Our moderator will also take emails in advance (JDingfelder@ACLUFL.org) and written questions from the audience to use as the basis for an informative Question and Answer session.

We will provide reasonably health hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks beginning at 5PM. The Free Speech Forum will begin at 6:30PM and will focus on the rights of protestors involved in the current “Occupy” protests and during the RNC. Presenters will include:
Presenters:
1.Louis Virelli, Associate Professor of Law, Stetson Law School
2.Mickey H. Osterreicher, General Counsel, Attorney for National Press Photographers Association
3.James H. Shimberg, Jr., City Attorney of Tampa
4.Julianne Holt, Public Defender, 13th Judicial Circuit-Hillsborough
5.Ellyn Angelotti, The Poynter Institute

Moderator (including & Questions and Answers): John Dingfelder (JDingfelder@ACLUFL.org), Senior Attorney, Mid-Florida Regional Office of the ACLU of Florida.

Closing Remarks: Mike Pheneger, President, ACLU of Florida Board

Forum co-sponsors include the American Constitution Society and The Poynter Institute. After the forum at about 8:30PM members of the Greater Tampa ACLU will meet informally to further network and socialize.

There will also be a brief Chapter business meeting at 6:15 PM. Joyce Hamilton Henry, Ph.D., the Director of our ACLU Mid-Florida Regional Office and local ACLU chapter leaders will make brief presentations and be available to answer your questions.

Contact legislators with the message: Follow the standards in Amendments 5 & 6 in drawing Florida’s legislative districts.

http://www.propublica.org/article/video-the-redistricting-song

Per the details at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACLUTampa/cal, the Human Trafficking Forum at the University of Tampa will feature national ACLU speaker Mr. Chandra Bhanagar, a Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Human Rights Program as the keynote speaker (http://www.ACLU.org/human-rights/biography-chandra-bhatnagar). Mr. Chandra Bhanagar received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and an LL.M. with a focus in international human rights from Columbia Law School.

Location: Reeves Theater in the Vaughn Center at the University of Tampa, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606.

Click on the link to access our yahoo calendar of all upcoming events. You do not need to be a member of the ACLU-Tampa Chapter to view the calendar, but you will need to log-in to yahoo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACLUTampa/cal

Recent reports in the media suggest that, as a result of the upcoming GOP Convention, Tampa’s mayor and police are considering implementing surveillance cameras for increased law enforcement activities [http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/article1195245.ece].

The ACLU opposes the use of surveillance cameras and believes them to be an infringement on privacy [http://www.youarebeingwatched.us/]. Locally, too, we have long opposed their use with projects such as  the “Cameraheads” [http://www.aclufl.org/cameraheads/] that have helped bring awareness of camera usage to the community.

Costs of surveillance cameras to taxpayers in the form of installation and ongoing maintenance are prohibitive, and taxpayers cannot be asked to foot the bill for the purchase of equipment that indiscriminately infringes upon privacy.

Though security details specific to the upcoming convention have not been fully disclosed to the public, any plans that also include longterm or permanent installation of surveillance cameras shall be opposed by the ACLU.

To date, ACLU-FL Senior Attorney John Dingfelder has met several times with senior staff from the City and strenuously expressed these positions.

While the City appears to be very motivated to rent 100-200 high tech cameras by June, 2012 for the convention in August, we are optimistic that we have convinced the City not to buy the cameras and not use them for the long term.

Original City plans also included the use of drone aircraft. With pressure from us and the newspaper, the City has backed off on the use of drones.

In October, the City rejected all bids for these cameras as the initial bids were too pricey. Thus, the City is in the process of putting out a new bid package for which, in order to rent, they will have to go to City Council with the Rental Agreement.

If you would like to help uphold privacy and join us as we raise our concerns to our City Council, please contact me at the email below.  Thank you for your support of the ACLU.

Brian Becker
Vice Chairperson, Greater Tampa Chapter of the ACLU of FL
briangbecker@aol.com