#TalkRadio – December 5: Abuse of Governmental Power

SPEAKERS:

Adora Obi Nweze: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
Member of the National NAACP Board of Directors; President, Florida NAACP; past educator in Florida

Laura Rodriguez: 12:00 PM – 12:28 PM Eastern Time
Community Organizer and past member of Students for a Democratic Society; Part of a campaign dedicated to fighting for progressive change in Tampa,Florida for community control of the police by working with people and families impacted by police violence. She lost her position as a long-term substitute teacher as a result of the arrest.

Dianne Wilkerson: 12:30 PM – 12:57 PM ET
First African American Female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate and TJC Board Treasurer

INTRODUCTION:

The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled, “Abuse of Governmental Power: The Wrongheaded Prosecution of the Florida 5 and the Florida Attorney General’s Betrayal of the Voting Rights Act and the Citizens of Florida”, will be live with Radio Show Co-Hosts and Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) Co-Leaders Attorneys Barbara Arnwine, Esq. and Daryl Jones, Esq. and guests Adora Obi Nweze, Dianne Wilkerson, Lauren Rodriguez and other members of the Tampa 5.

This first half of the show will be an update to Igniting Change’s March 21st, 2023 show and will again feature Laura Rodriguez and other members of “The Tampa 5”. The following background is taken from their website page “https://www.defendthetampa5.org/about/” and also features bio’s of all the Tampa 5 members: Gia Davila, Lauren Pineiro, Laura Rodriguez, Chrisley Carpio, and Jeanie Kida. “On March 6, 2023, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a protest to fight back against DeSantis’s anti-diversity bill HB 999/SB 266 at the University of South Florida. Protesters were met with violence from the cops including being punched, kicked, and groped. Gia Davila, Laura Rodriguez, Chrisley Carpio, and Jeanie Kida were arrested, and held in the back of hot cop cars, as the police deliberated over what they could possibly charge them with. They were originally charged with 1 felony and 2-3 misdemeanors each, with a bail of around $3,000 per person. 30 days after the initial arrest Lauren Pineiro was notified via email from the University that academic and criminal charges were being filed against her, as well. A warrant was put out for her arrest, and she too had to pay a near $3,000 bail when turning herself into jail.

“Some of those arrested lost their jobs, including campus worker and AFSCME union member Chrisley Carpio, who was fired by USF despite maintaining a spotless record during her seven-year career. Others experienced threats of expulsion and talk of not being allowed to graduate, despite video evidence that clearly shows the police as the aggressors. Later, the university released a report comparing the original student protest to an active shooter situation on campus, falsely claiming that procedures for an active shooter situation had to be used in response to the student demonstration.

“After the community organized and the Tampa 5 spoke out against these false charges, they were given an unconfirmed pretrial intervention, but only if the Tampa 5 wrote apology letters to the police officers who attacked and groped them and if the police accepted it. This was considered unacceptable and rejected by the heroic young women who suffered the unprovoked attack for simply exercising their freedom of speech. In response, the state doubled the felony counts on three of the five who are now facing up to 10 years in prison for using their First Amendment right to protest.” 

You can learn more in this August 25th article and on their website https://www.defendthetampa5.org/. 

The Tampa 5 have organized three upcoming protests and days of action to coincide with different court dates, which you can view below and on their instagram https://www.instagram.com/justiceforthetampa5/: 

The second half of the show will continue our discussion on the betrayal of the attorney generals from 14 states who urged the 8th Circuit to render a decision that there is no private right of action to sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Today, Barbara, Daryl, and their guests Adora and Dianne will focus on the Florida Attorney General. The Florida State Conference of the NAACP has also filed numerous cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act  against the State of Florida, various Florida counties, and other governmental agencies for racial discrimination in voting. 

While organizations like the Heritage Foundation now celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Shelby County v. Holder, this 8th Circuit Court ruling represents another strike to the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act that is even more dangerous to the future of voting rights than Shelby v. Holder was. On the cover page of this Opinion, under Amici on behalf of Appellants (State of Arkansas), the State of Florida and the States of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are listed as supporting the position that there is no private right of action to sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965! This is a betrayal of the voting rights of people of color in Florida and the 13 other states. It is an abuse of power to use State authority and public funding to deny African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans their right to sue to enforce and secure their voting rights. Since the rendering of this nefarious decision last month, there are already efforts to expand the doctrine of this opinion to other federal circuits, including the 5th Circuit. This case has caused a national uproar with many demanding that the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act be passed ASAP to prevent further erosion of the Voting Rights Act. It is widely expected that this matter will end up in the Supreme Court of the United States where the outcome is uncertain.

QUESTIONS:

SEGMENTS ONE AND TWO

• Laura, we know this has been a tough day and thanks for coming to us after a morning pretrial in your case. But before we get to that, can you briefly refresh our audience on what happened on March 6th, 2023?
• What charges are you and the other four women facing?
• What happened this morning at the pretrial?
• Tell us what’s happening next week.
• Why do you think State Attorney Susan Lopez and prosecutor Justin Diaz are so determined to convict you on these felony charges?
• We want to observe that in Florida there is a major problem with governmental interference with prosecutors who are perceived as “too liberal”. In your opinion, is this State Attorney Susan Lopez’s attempt to placate Governor Desantis?
• Right now, what can our listeners do? How can people help? What website do people go to for more information?
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

SEGMENTS THREE AND FOUR

• Adora, tell us how many cases the NAACP of Florida has filed under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act against the State of Florida and various government entities for racial discrimination in voting?
• Adora, if the 8th Circuit’s ruling that there is no private right of action was the law of the nation, could any of these cases have been filed?
• Adora, Is it commonly known in Florida that the State of Florida filed an amicus, friend of the court brief, urging the 8th Circuit to hold that there is no private right of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act?
• In this regard Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is one of 14 attorney generals who participated as amici to deny their own citizens the right to use the Voting Rights Act to sue racial for racial discrimination in voting.
• Dianne and Adora, what do we do about this?! They are using state authority and taxpayer dollars, especially those of People of Color, to deny them the right to vote. How do we fight this?
• [Daryl and Barbara discuss the Transformative Justice Coalition’s campaign to hold these attorney generals accountable.]
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?