Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1Z64589FP293808993
Email: jharkness@flabar.org
refused to elaborate on the excess funds, and said I was free to speculate. Is excess money in an
open account a slush fund? What ethical duty does a Florida lawyer have toward a slush fund?
Third, currently the monument stands on public property, the Ocala-Marion County Veterans
Memorial Park. I believe language on the statue, a repudiation of the outcome of the American
Civil War, and a rejection of the post-war U.S. Constitution, Thirteenth Amendment (1865),
Fourteenth Amendment (1868), and Fifteenth Amendment (1870) in effect when the statue was
erected in 1908, makes its current location on public property unlawful, even treasonous.
A number of the names on the donor list are members of The Florida Bar, including Robert A.
Stermer who donated $50 on February 10, 2010. Bob Stermer has represented my family. I asked
him about the $50 donation, he could not recall much, other than someone asked him to donate.
Stermer was born and raised in California, and in my view, is not part of the Lost Cause of the
Confederacy movement. But for Landis V Curry, J who donated $4,200 on February 10, 2010,
and more on other dates, that might raise questions. I believe Lanny Curry knows about the
inscription on the monument and its repudiation of the outcome of the American Civil War, and
its rejection of the post-war U.S. Constitution, the Thirteenth Amendment (1865), the Fourteenth
Amendment (1868), and Fifteenth Amendment (1870) in effect when the statue was first erected.
The American Bar Association and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund issued a
joint statement in July 2015 addressing the "troubling and destabilizing loss of public confidence
in the American criminal justice system."
The enclosed statement notes the "recent spate of killings of unarmed African American men
and women at the hands of white law enforcement officers." While the ABA and the Fund
believe that "the overwhelming percentage" of police, prosecutors and judges are not racist,
"explicit bias remains a real factor in our countryand criminal justice systemand implicit or
unconscious bias affects even those who may believe themselves to be fair," the statement says.
"The American criminal justice is unquestionably at a moment of crisis," the statement says.
Provide records for the names of Bar members on the donation list for the Johnny Reb
Confederate soldier statue. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Neil J. Gillespie
8092 SW 115th Loop
Ocala, Florida 34481
Telephone: 352-854-7807
Email: neilgillespie@mfi.net
Enclosures
See enclosed, Current and Historical Civil Rights Issues - Marion County, Florida. Also see
enclosed an article from the Florida History Network, May 8, 1923 - Dark stories come to light
about peonage, forced labor, whippings and death abetted by the state's justice system.
David R. Ellspermann
January 5, 2015
By UPS Ground Delivery
Mr. Neil J. Gillespie
8092 S.W. 115 th Loop
Ocala, FL 34481
Re:
SinCerelY,~ 11n()
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G g
en al Counsel
Enclosures
PAGE NUMBER:
AUDITSl
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TIME: 11: 30 :27
SELECTION CRITERIA: transact.trans._date between '20100101 00:00:00.000' and '20140930 00:00:00.000' and
ACCOUNTING PERIOD:
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Tic
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5 /10
5 /10
5 /10
5 /10
5 /10
ENC/RECV REFERENCE
PAYER/VENDOR
P00582
POOS82
P00582
P03118
P03119
P03120
P03121
P03122
P03123
P03125
P02240
P03126
P03126
P03127
P03128
P03129
P03130
P03132
P03133
P03134
P03135
P03136
P03131
P03140
P03141
P03142
P03137
P03l37
P03137
P03137
P03143
P03144
P03145
P03146
P03125
P03148
P03149
P031S0
P03151
P03152
P03153
P03154
P03155
P01402
EXPENSES
RECEIPTS
BUDGET
.00
AYRES CLUSTER CU
AYRES CLUSTER CU
AYRES CLUSTER CU
FRED N ROBERTS
WILLIAM S PHILLI
DARIAN C FERGUSO
DON OLAUGHLIN
JAMES E THOMAS
RUSSELL R HARDIN
LANDIS V CURRY,J
ROBERT A STERMER
YOUNG J SIMMONS
YOUNG J SIMMONS
ETHELEE P ERKES
JUDITH M CHRISTO
ROXY SIMS
TRUSTEN DRAKE
DRAKE CONSTRUCTI
FOXFIRE REALTY L
CHARLES T COLLIN
JANET J CHAMPION
ALLEN S HALL
L LORENA FRAZIE
VIRGINIA MCLUCAS
SARA CONNELL ARN
FAITH COOMES
CRAIG W TURNER
CRAIG W TURNER
CRAIG W TURNER
CRAIG W TURNER
MARGARET ANN FOR
DANIEL MCCALL
OCALA MANUFACTUR
GREINERS INC
LANDIS V CURRY,J
ELAINE P KNOWLES
HENRY WINCE
ELKA MALEVER
BETH LEWIS
GARY C SIMONS
BARBARA T BROWN
C L MCLEOD
CHARLES M CULVER
ALBRIGHT,JR GEOR
ENCUMBRANCES
RECEIVABLES DESCRIPTION
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
50.00
100.00
500.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
4,200.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
25.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
250.00
100.00
40.00
40.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
600.00
1,200.00
-1,200.00
-600.00
25.00
100.00
150.00
100.00
3,120.00
25.00
4,000.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
50.00
250.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
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.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
01-21-10 MSB-TUITION
01-21-10 MSB TUITION
CONTRIBUTIONS
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATION-CONFEDERATE
DONATIONS CONFEDERATE
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELQ
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-MICHAEL DEAN
DONATION-RANDY BRIGGS
DONATION-RANDY BRIGGS
DONATION-MICHAEL DEAN
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
02-16-10 RELOC STATu~
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
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DATE: 01/05/2015
TIME: 11:30:27
PAGE NUMBER:
AUDITS 1
SELECTION CRITERIA: transact.trans_date between '20100101 00:00:00.000' and '20140930 00:00:00.000' and transact.project='CWSTATUE'
ACCOUNTING PERIOD:
4/15
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
/10
DATE
02/24/10
02/24/10
02/24/10
02/24/10
02/24/10
02/24/10
02/26/10
03/02/10
03/02/10
03/10/10
03/10/10
03/10/10
03/10/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/11/10
03/15/10
03/15/10
03/17/10
03/17/10
03/19/10
03/19/10
03/19/10
03/24/10
03/24/10
03/25/10
03/25/10
03/25/10
03/25/10
04/05/10
04/05/10
04/15/10
04/15/10
04/15/10
04/16/10
04/20/10
04/20/10
04/26/10
04/28/10
04/28/10
05/11/10
05/12/10
T/C
ENC/RECV REFERENCE
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
PAYER/VENDOR
P03156
P03157
P03158
P03159
P03160
P03161
P03125
P03162
P03163
P03159
P03164
P03165
P03166
P03168
P03169
P03170
P03171
P03172
P03173
P03125
P03174
P03175
P03178
P03179
P03180
P03181
P03182
P03183
P03184
P03125
P03185
P03186
P018S0
P03187
P03188
P03125
P03189
P03190
P03194
P03196
P03195
P03125
P03197
P03198
P03184
P03125
EXPENSES
RECEIPTS
BUDGET
GEORGE J ALBRIGH
MRS ERNEST FARME
CONSOLIDATED ELE
R MORGAN MAINE
MARTHA J RAINEY
KATHLEEN GEANES
LANDIS V CURRY,J
W T PINNER
WHITFIELD M PALM
R MORGAN MAINE
MARINE CORPS LEA
KEN HAYN
GEN EUGENE A CAR
ED & PEGGY HOWEL
MELVA ANN ALLRED
SHEILA M BROWN
PAUL P STURGIS
D H OSWALD
JAMES R COLBURN,
LANDIS V CURRY,J
JEANNE LYLES
OLIVER W MCDONAL
RAF GROUP 45 LLC
JEFFREY ASKEW
THE BOWLES FAMIL
ELDEN H LUFFMAN
CHARLES WHITEACR
MRS BOBBY A RICH
HOYALENE P THOMA
LANDIS V CURRY,J
REBECCA SCOTT
UNITED DAUGHTERS
MICHAEL PAPE & A
W E BISHOP,JR,PA
CHARLOTTE 0 POND
LANDIS V CURRY,J
WILLIAM C DUTTON
CATHERINE A PRIE
H KEITH LINSCOTT
BRENT MALEVER
SCHATT LAW FIRM
LANDIS V CURRY,J
JOHN L DINKINS
MARION HORNETS 8
HOYALENE P THOMA
LANDIS V CURRY,J
250.00
100.00
50.00
52.00
100.00
100.00
2,775.00
25.00
250.00
10.00
100.00
5.00
50.00
2.00
10.00
5.00
10.00
100.00
30.00
850.00
100.00
10.00
100.00
20.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
50.00
20.00
1,450.00
25.00
100.00
50.00
150.00
50.00
1,000.00
100.00
100.00
50.00
50.00
50.00
710.00
100.00
25.00
25.00
2,150.00
ENCUMBRANCES
RECEIVABLES DESCRIPTION
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
. 00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
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.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION -RELO STATUE
OONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
02-24-10
OONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
MR & MRS TOM DONALDSON
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-RELO
DONATION-MARIAN WILSON
03-24-10 DONATIONS
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
04-13-10 STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-STATUE RELO
DONATION-RELO STATUE
OONATION-RELO STATUE
04-23-10 RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION
05-06-10 DONATIONS
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PAGE NUMBER:
AUDITS 1
DATE: 01/05/2015
TIME: 11:30:27
SELECTION CRITERIA: transact.trans_date between '20100101 00;00;00.000' and '20140930 00:00:00.000' and transact.project='CWSTATUE'
ACCOUNTING PERIOD;
4/15
DATE
T/C
ENC/RECV REFERENCE
PAYER/VENDOR
P03125
P03186
P03202
P03203
P03204
P03125
P03210
P03210
P03210
P03125
P03125
P03215
8 /10
8 /10
9 /10
9 /10
9 /10
10/10
10/10
11/10
11/10
11/10
11/10
12/10
1 /11
1 /11
5 /11
6 /11
1 /12
1 /12
1 /13
1 /13
1 /14
1 /14
1 /15
1 /15
TOTAL
TOTAL
05/19/10 24
OS/28/10 24
06/09/10 24
06/09/10 24
06/14/10 24
07/07/10 24
07/26/10 24
08/02/10 24
08/02/10 24
08/02/10 24
08/25/10 24
09/03/10 24
09/30/10 15
09/30/10 19
02/16/11 24
03/31/11 24
09/30/11 19
09/30/11 15
09/30/12 19
09/30/12 15
09/30/13 19
09/30/13 15
09/30/14 19
09/30/14 15
CIVIL WAR STATUE
REVENUE
534101
11/10
11/10
12/10
1 /11
1 /11
1 /11
2 /11
2 /11
2 /11
3 /11
6 /11
7 /11
7 /11
7 /11
10/11
1 /12
1 /12
13/11
BUDGET
LANDIS V CURRY,J
UNITED DAUGHTERS
ADOLF A KUNZ
MARY M TOWNSEND
E F & I SERVICE
LANDIS V CURRY,J
VAN H AKIN
VAN H AXIN
VAN H AKIN
LANDIS V CURRY,J
LANDIS V CURRY,J
GINA PEEBLES
.00
NEW YEAR
P03125 LANDIS V CURRY,J
P03125 LANDIS V CURRY,J
NEW YEAR
EXPENSES
RECEIPTS
350.00
25.00
75.00
25.00
500.00
100.00
25.00
100.00
-100.00
100.00
4,528.00
50.00
33,562.00
1,025.00
200.00
34,787.00
.00
34,787.00
NEW YEAR
.00
34,787.00
NEW YEAR
.00
34,787.00
NEW YEAR
.00
.00
.00
.00
20005046 LAPERLE MEMORIAL
20005046 LAPERLE MEMORIAL
.00
207,497.00
207,497.00
23,000.00
23,000.00
20005117
20005160
20005117
20002802
20002802
20002802
20004972
20005160
20004972
001369 A
2,080.00
3,582.00
751.85
150.00
3,495.00
750.00
33,808.85
.00
001369 A & A TRUCKING &
778.15
ENCUMBRANCES
RECEIVABLES DESCRIPTION
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
. 00
.00
05-13-10 DONATIONS-RELO
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION-RELO STATUE
STATUE RELO-S GRAY
DONATION-RELO STATUE
DONATION RELO STATUE
DONATION RELO STATUE
DONATION RELO STATUE
DONATION RELO STATUTE
DONATION RELOC
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
.00 02-10-11 RELOC STATUE
.00 03-16-11
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
.00
.00
PAGE NUMBER:
DATE: 01/05/2015
TIME: 11:30:27
AUDIT51
SELECTION CRITERIA: transact.trans_date between '20100101 00:00:00.000' and '20140930 00:00:00.000' and transact.projcct='CWSTATUE'
ACCOUNTING PERIOD:
4/15
DATE
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
03/12/12
09/30/12
09/30/12
09/30/13
09/30/13
09/30/14
09/30/14
/12
/13
/13
/14
/14
/15
/15
T/C
ENC/RECV REFERENCE
19
15
19
15
19
15
19
PAYER/VENDOR
BUDGET
CLOSE YR
EXPENSES
RECEIPTS
ENCUMBRANCES
RECEIVABLES DESCRIPTION
TRANSFER 13TH PERIOD BAL
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
POSTED FROM BUDGET SYSTEM
BEGINNING BALANCE
778.15
.00
NEW
34,587.00
YEAR
.00
NEW
34,587.00
YEAR
.00
TOTAL
TOTAL
NEW YEAR
OTHER CONTRACTUAL SERVICE
EXPENSE
.00
.00
34,587.00
195,935.00
195,935.00
.00
.00
TOTAL
TOTAL
TOTAL
REVENUE
EXPENSE
CIVIL WAR STATUE
.00
.00
.00
207,497.00
195,935.00
11,562.00
.00
.00
.00
TOTAL
TOTAL
REVENUE
EXPENSE
.00
.00
207,497.00
195,935.00
.00
.00
.00
11,562.00
.00
TOTAL REPORT
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FILE
as "Johnny Reb."
That came after Ocala lawyer Lanny Curry proposed a public-private partnership to
relocate the 101-year-old monument and volunteered to help raise the estimated
$25,000 needed to move it from its present location, a nook on the building's south
side fronting Northwest First Street.
To further the project, commissioners agreed to set up an account with the court
clerk's office to accept tax-exempt donations and accepted Commissioner Charlie
Stone's offer to serve as a liaison to work with Curry and other parties interested in
finding Johnny Reb a new home.
County Administrator Lee Niblock said he would prepare at least three new
locations for the board to consider at its next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 1.
Niblock indicated that the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park, a site
favored by many, is one option. Leaving the monument where it is will be offered as
another, he added. As for where else it might go, Niblock was mum, only saying the
spot would reflect the statue's "historical significance."
Johnny Reb was removed in 2007 from the front of the courthouse in downtown
Ocala in preparation for a $41-million expansion.
Other than spending a four-year stint in storage in the late 1980s when the
courthouse was last renovated, the two-story-tall, 15-ton statue has been a fixture at
the facility's entrance since being dedicated in April 1908.
The current courthouse project is expected to be completed in January.
Former county administrator Pat Howard had designated Johnny Reb's current
location as permanent and Niblock was inclined to concur unless the County
Commission directed otherwise. Curry, a U.S. Navy veteran and member of the Sons
of Confederate Veterans, appealed to the board to find a "suitable location" for the
monument.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20091118/ARTICLES/911181013/1402/NEWS?template=printpicart
Relating that his great-grandfather, Lawton Curry, was a Confederate soldier in the
Florida cavalry who had been wounded in battle, Curry said it was not "in a place of
honor and not in a proper location."
His preference is the veterans' park, at Fort King Street and Southeast 25th Avenue,
about two miles from where Johnny Reb is now situated.
Curry also said he was trying to fulfill a commitment to the late Tommy Needham, a
former county commissioner and impetus for the park.
"I promised him that I would not let the issue go away," Curry told the commission.
Curry said he felt strongly about the need to sustain the memory of the efforts of
those who fought in the Civil War.
While the monument has periodically ignited controversy as civil rights groups
complained it is an affront to blacks, the commission's reluctance to overrule
Howard's decision was primarily rooted in the cost of moving it.
Relocating the statue requires a specialized moving company that can dismantle its
three fitted parts and reassemble it.
Stone suggested the board could perhaps convince some company to offer in-kind
services to move it.
Once the cost issue is resolved, the monument should be placed in a more
prominent position, Stone offered.
"It's just not in a location where people can see it on an ongoing basis," he said.
In other action, the board learned that Marion County had received almost $2.5
million in federal stimulus funding to make the courthouse and some county offices
more energy efficient.
Roughly $727,000 of that amount will be used to install new cooling units to replace
the 50-year-old units at the courthouse's heating and air conditioning system. An
additional $303,000 will be spent to replace the facility's windows and lighting.
Another $450,000 will go for installing solar heating panels at the Marion County
Jail.
Other improvements include updating traffic signals, installing waterless urinals,
improving lighting and air conditioning at three county firehouses and replacing
windows.
"It's a huge accomplishment that will save the citizens a ton of money,"
Commissioner Stan McClain observed.
Congress passed President Barack Obama's $787-billion spending program in
February.
Copyright 2014 Ocala.com All rights reserved. Restricted use only.
There is no mention of Abraham Lincoln, et al., just the slave-owning U.S. presidents: One in
four U.S. presidents were slaveholders: 12 owned slaves at some point in their lives. Tellingly, 8
presidents owned slaves while living in the White House. Also noteworthy is Nathan Bedford
Forrest a Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War...who served as the first
Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan...Forrest was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort
Pillow. The Constitution described on the Confederate statue means the original Constitution of
1789 that permitted slavery, not the U.S. Constitution and Thirteenth Amendment (1865),
Fourteenth Amendment (1868), and Fifteenth Amendment (1870) in place when the statue was
erected in 1908.
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth...a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal... Now we are engaged in a great
civil war, testing whether that nation... can... endure...we here highly resolve...that this nation
shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln
The Military Order Of The Stars and Bars, Florida, Marion County, Marion Dragoons #164
Newsletter Winter 2013, page 8: Lord, we give thanks to you for the blessing of being able to
honor our ancestors who gave their all to protect us, defend our honor and uphold the original
intent of our Constitution. (Slavery in the United States)
Marion County Florida has a long history of lynching, described in Lethal Punishment: The End
of Lynching in Marion County, Florida by Margaret Vandiver. Chapter Five: The First Time a
Charge Like This Has Ever Been Tried in the Courts pp. 70-88. Excerpts below from page 70
and page 72 respectively:
"Between 1885 and 1930, nineteen black men were lynched
in Marion County, nine of them for sexual offenses. Marion
County lynchings were public affairs, often carried out before
hundreds of witnesses, but none of the perpetrators was
prosecuted."
"Marion County mobs sometimes left a placard or a sign
attached to the body of the victim; when Robert Larkin was
lynched in 1893, the mob left a placard reading, "Done by
300 of the best citizens of this county."
Page 73, second paragraph, "Until the middle of the 1920s, the local press took a uniformly
approving tone when reporting lynchings. When Elijah Jones was lynched for allegedly raping a
seventy-year-old white woman and attempting to assault an eleven-year-old white girl, the Ocala
Banner reported that three thousand people either participated in hanging Jones or viewed his
body after the lynching." Page 73 continued...
"The Ocala Evening Star wrote a long article on the lynching, defending it in strident terms.
According to the paper, Jones was a "bad nigger," a "filthy ruffian," a "rape fiend," and a
"degenerate young devil." Those who lynched him were not a mob but "representative citizens,
and they consider it their duty to rid their county of rapists and rattlesnakes as soon as possible."
The mob members "understood all about" a remark Jones was reported to have made, "that he
wanted white because he was tired of black. That is the inspiration of all the rape fiends, and the
only thing to meet it with is hot lead and hemp." The paper scornfully dismissed an inquiry from
the Associated Press concerning race troubles in Marion County, insisting that all was quiet and
that everyone was going about their business as usual." [fn16, Ocala Banner, February 18,
1921,5; Ocala Evening Star, February 14,1921,1.]
Page 71, "The Ku Klux Klan was active in Marion County, and in one case lynched the
suspected murderers of a white man, hanging the skeleton of one of their victims from a tree near
Ocala." [fn6]
Pages 71-72, "A striking aspect of lynching in Marion County is the frequency with which mobs
took their victims from the custody of law enforcement, apparently meeting little or no
resistance. Of the fifteen cases in which I have been able to determine the circumstances of the
suspect's capture by the mob, all but two involved suspects already in the custody of law
enforcement officers."
Lethal Punishment: Chapter Five, The End of Lynching in Marion County, Florida, online see,
https://www.scribd.com/document/284372795/The-End-of-Lynching-in-Marion-County-Florida
Below is the image of Clerk David R. Ellspermann, and his Confederate Currency Archives
found on the Marion County Clerk of Court public website at this URL,
http://www.marioncountyclerk.org/index.cfm?Pg=historicaldocuments
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1923, and their reports were
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newspaper reporter of prisoners dying after repeated and daily whippings at the camps
forced the legislature to investigate. That wasn't easy because owners of the companies
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Knabb, who with his brother owned several penal camps and the Knabb Turpentine
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http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/aba_addresses_destabilizing_loss_of_public_confidence_in_criminal_justice_i
ABA
The ABA and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational fund have
issued a joint statement addressing the troubling and destabilizing loss of
public confidence in the American criminal justice system.
The statement (https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/abanews
/aba-ldf_statement.pdf) (PDF) notes the recent spate of killings of unarmed
African American men and women at the hands of white law enforcement
officers. While the ABA and the Fund believe that the overwhelming
percentage of police, prosecutors and judges are not racist, explicit bias
remains a real factor in our countryand criminal justice systemand
implicit or unconscious bias affects even those who may believe
themselves to be fair, the statement says.
Image from Shutterstock
(http://www.shutterstock.com).
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/aba_addresses_destabilizing_loss_of_public_confidence_in_criminal_justice_i
One would have to have been outside of the United States and cut off from media to
be unaware of the recent spate of killings of unarmed African American men and women at
the hands of white law enforcement officers. Several of these killings, like those of Walter
Scott in South Carolina, 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Ohio and Eric Garner in New York, have
been captured by citizen video and viewed nationwide. More recently, the in-custody
death of Freddie Gray sparked days of unrest in Baltimore, which ended only when the
officers (who were of multiple races) were charged by the local prosecutor.
Given the history of implicit and explicit racial bias and discrimination in this
country, there has long been a strained relationship between the African-American
community and law enforcement. But with video cameras and extensive news coverage
bringing images and stories of violent encounters between (mostly white) law enforcement
officers and (almost exclusively African-American and Latino) unarmed individuals into
American homes, it is not surprising that the absence of criminal charges in many of these
cases has caused so many people to doubt the ability of the criminal justice system to treat
individuals fairly, impartially and without regard to their race.
That impression is reinforced by the statistics on race in our criminal justice system.
With approximately 5 percent of the worlds population, the United States has
approximately 25 percent of the worlds jail and prison population. Some two-thirds of
those incarcerated are persons of color. While crime rates may vary by neighborhood and
class, it is difficult to believe that racial disparities in arrest, prosecution, conviction and
incarceration rates are unaffected by attitudes and biases regarding race.
And, to the extent that doubts remain, the U.S. Department of Justices recent
investigation of law enforcement practices in Ferguson, Missouri, should put them to rest.
In Ferguson, the Justice Department found that the dramatically different rates at which
African-American and white individuals in Ferguson were stopped, searched, cited,
arrested and subjected to the use of force could not be explained by chance or differences
in the rates at which African-American and white individuals violated the law. These
disparities can be explained at least in part by taking into account racial bias.
Given these realities, it is not only time for a careful look at what caused the current
crisis, but also time to initiate an affirmative effort to eradicate implied or perceived racial
bias in all of its forms from the criminal justice system.
As lawyers, we have a very special role to play. As the Preamble to the American
Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct states,
As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law, access
to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality of service
rendered by the legal profession. . . . In addition, a lawyer should further
the publics understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the
justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy
depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority.
What must we do? The answer lies in making both macro and micro changes in our
criminal justice system.
At the macro level, Congress and state legislatures must look at the vast array of
laws that criminalize behaviors that pose little, if any, danger to society. We have overcriminalized conduct throughout the United States and have come inappropriately to rely
on the criminal justice system to address problems of mental health and poverty. We have
adopted unnecessary zero-tolerance policies in schools that inappropriately require police
officers to take the place of teachers and principals and become behavioral judges. We
need fewer criminal laws, and fewer circumstances in which police, prosecutors and judges
are called upon to deal with social, as opposed to criminal, issues.
July 2015
We must therefore take immediate action at the micro level to begin the process of
rebuilding trust and confidence in the criminal justice system and fulfilling the promise of
equal justice.
Prosecutors play an important and vital role within the criminal justice system and
should be leaders in this effort. We have begun what we anticipate will be a series of
conversations focused on identifying ways in which prosecutors can play a more powerful
role in addressing the problem of racial bias our justice system. Our organizations arranged
an off-the-record discussion that included prosecutors and other participants in the
criminal justice system committed to equal justice. We emerged from our discussion with a
commitment to advancing the reforms listed below. We regard these reforms as necessary
investments that are essential to strengthening public confidence in the rule of law and the
legitimacy of our justice system.
1.
We need better data on the variety of interactions between law enforcement
and citizens. Earlier this year FBI Director James Comey himself a former federal
prosecutor acknowledged that gathering better and more reliable data about encounters
between the police and citizens is the first step to understanding what is really going on in
our communities and our country. Data related to violent encounters is particularly
important. As Director Comey remarked, Its ridiculous that I cant know how many
people were shot by police. Police departments should be encouraged to make and keep
reports on the racial identities of individuals stopped and frisked, arrested, ticketed or
warned for automobile and other infractions. Police departments should report incidents
in which serious or deadly force is used by officers and include the race of the officer(s) and
that of the civilian(s). This will certainly require investment of funds, but that investment
is key to a better future. We cannot understand what we cannot measure, and we cannot
change what we cannot understand.
2. Prosecutors should collect and publicly disclose more data about their work that
can enable the public to obtain a better understanding of the extent to which racial
disparities arise from the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. While this data collection
will also require investment of funds, it is essential to achieving the goal of eliminating
racial bias in the criminal justice system.
3. Prosecutors and police should seek assistance from organizations with expertise
in conducting objective analyses to identify and localize unexplained racial disparities.
These and similar organizations can provide evidence-based analyses and propose
protocols to address any identified racial disparities.
3
July 2015
4. Prosecutors offices, defense counsel and judges should seek expert assistance to
implement training on implicit bias for their employees. An understanding of the science of
implicit bias will pave the way for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges to
address it in their individual work. There should also be post-training evaluations to
determine the effectiveness of the training.
5. Prosecutors offices must move quickly, aggressively, unequivocally and yet
deliberately to address misconduct that reflects explicit racial bias. We must make clear
that such conduct is fundamentally incompatible with our shared values and that it has an
outsized impact on the publics perception of the fairness of the system.
6. Prosecutors offices and law enforcement agencies should make efforts to hire and
retain lawyers and officers who live in and reflect the communities they serve. Prosecutors
and police should be encouraged to engage with the community by participating in
community forums, civic group meetings and neighborhood events. Prosecutors offices
should build relationships with African-American and minority communities to improve
their understanding about how and why these communities may view events differently
from prosecutors.
7. There should be a dialogue among all the stakeholders in each jurisdiction about
race and how it affects criminal justice decision-making. In 2004, the ABA Justice Kennedy
Commission recommended the formation of Racial Justice Task Forces which would
consist of representatives of the judiciary, law enforcement and prosecutors, defenders and
defense counsel, probation and parole officers and community organizations to examine
the racial impact that policing priorities and prosecutorial and judicial decisions might
produce and whether alternative approaches that do not produce racial disparities might
be implemented without compromising public safety. There is little cost associated with
the assembly of such task forces, and they can develop solutions that could be applicable to
a variety of jurisdictions provided that the various stakeholders are willing to do the hard
work of talking honestly and candidly about race.
8. As surprising as it might seem, many people do not understand what prosecutors
do. Hence, prosecutors offices, with the help of local and state bar associations, should
seek out opportunities to explain their function and the kinds of decisions they are
routinely called upon to make. Local and state bar associations and other community
organizations should help to educate the public that the decision not to prosecute is often
as important as the decision to prosecute; that prosecutors today should not to be judged
solely by conviction rates but, instead, by the fairness and judgment reflected in their
decisions and by their success in making communities safer for all their members; and that
some of the most innovative alternatives to traditional prosecution and punishment like
diversion and re-entry programs, drug and veteran courts and drug treatment have been
instigated, developed and supported by prosecutors.
9. To ensure accountability, the public should have access to evidence explaining
why grand juries issued no true bills and why prosecutors declined to prosecute police
4
July 2015
officers involved in fatal shootings of unarmed civilians. The release of grand jury
evidence, as in Ferguson, is one way to promote the needed accountability.
10. Accountability can also be promoted by greater use of body and vehicle cameras
to create an actual record of police-citizen encounters. With the proliferation of powerful
firearms in our communities, law enforcement departments reasonably seek equipment
that enable them to protect themselves and their communities when called upon to
confront armed and dangerous individuals seeking to engage in criminal or terrorist acts.
However, while it is appropriate to arm our police and train them in the use of ever-more
powerful weapons, it is equally important to train our law enforcement officers in
techniques designed to de-escalate tense situations, make accurate judgments about when
use of force is essential and properly determine the appropriate amount of force required
in each situation.
11. We must recognize that not every lawyer has the judgment and personal
qualities to be a successful prosecutor, administer justice and be willing to acknowledge
the possibility of implicit bias. Prosecutors who routinely engage in conduct or make
decisions that call into question the fairness or integrity of their offices should be removed
from office if they cannot be trained to meet the high standards expected of public officers.
At the same time, the terms prosecutorial misconduct and police misconduct should be
used with greater care. Even the best prosecutors will make mistakes, much like the best
defense lawyers and judges do. There is good reason to limit the characterization of
misconduct to intentional acts that violate legal or ethical rules.
12. Prosecutors, judges and defense counsel must pay more attention to the
collateral consequences of convictions. In many jurisdictions, after an individual is
convicted of an offense and completes his or her sentence (by serving time, paying a fine or
completing probation or parole), the individual nevertheless faces a life sentence of
disqualification and deprivation of educational, employment, housing and other
opportunities. This runs counter to the interests we all share in rehabilitation of the
offender and positive re-integration into and engagement with the communities in which
they live. In many cases, prosecutions can be structured to limit some of the most
pernicious of these consequences, provided that the lawyers and the courts take the time
and care to examine alternative disposition options. Prosecutors, judges and defense
counsel should join together to urge legislatures and administrative agencies to reconsider
the laws and regulations that impose these collateral consequences and determine whether
they can be modified to provide more opportunities for former offenders without
compromising public safety.
The American criminal justice is unquestionably at a moment of crisis. But there
are many steps we, as members of the bar, can and should take quickly to begin to turn the
ship of justice around and ensure that the system delivers the blind justice that it promises.
If we commit ourselves to confronting and eliminating the racial biases that now exist, we
can restore the much-needed public confidence in our criminal justice system. As Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once exhorted in accepting the Liberty Medal Award in
5
July 2015
1992, America can do better. Indeed, America has no choice but to do better.
Both the American Bar Association and the Legal Defense Fund will continue to
convene meetings with prosecutors and other law enforcement groups to support the
reforms we have identified. We also will work to support and advance a robust dialogue
among prosecutors and leaders in the profession about how best to eliminate racial bias
from our justice system.
William C. Hubbard,
President, American Bar Association
Sherrilyn Ifill
President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
The following individuals participated in the discussion that led to this joint statement:
Sidney Butcher
Assistant States Attorney, Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office
John Chisholm
District Attorney, Milwaukee County
Kay Chopard Cohen
Executive Director, National District Attorneys Association
Angela Davis
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Mathias H. Heck
Prosecuting Attorney, Montgomery County, OH
Belinda Hill
First Assistant District Attorney, Harris County, TX
David F. Levi
Dean, Duke University School of Law
Myles Lynk
Professor of Law, Arizona State University College of Law
Wayne McKenzie
General Counsel, New York City Department of Probation
John Pfaff
Professor of Law, Fordham University
6
July 2015
July 2015