NAC Update - Victory In Florida
 On March 29, NAC issued a NAC Action Alert, calling for you to take
action by contacting key Florida lawmakers concerning four threatening
legislative bills.
As a direct result of your aggressive response, each of those four bills
has been derailed. Three bills were simply allowed to die in committee.
The fourth was given a committee hearing today, but only after the
threatening language had been removed from it.
Simply put, we won them all!
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NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE
UPDATE
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http://www.naturistaction.org
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Copyright 2007 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is
responsible for its content. Permission is granted for the
posting, forwarding or redistribution of this message, provided
that it is reproduced in its entirety and without alteration.
DATEÂ Â : April 23, 2007
SUBJECT: Victory in Florida
TOÂ Â Â Â : All naturists
Dear Naturist,
The Naturist Action Committee (NAC) is pleased to update you with news of
an important victory in Florida.
On March 29, NAC issued a NAC Action Alert, calling for you to take
action by contacting key Florida lawmakers concerning four threatening
legislative bills.
As a direct result of your aggressive response, each of those four bills
has been derailed. Three bills were simply allowed to die in committee.
The fourth was given a committee hearing today, but only after the
threatening language had been removed from it.
Simply put, we won them all!
BRIEF DISCUSSION
The threats to naturists came from legislative bills that sought to
modify Section 800.03 of the Florida Statutes and to increase the
penalties that are attached to that law. Section 800.03 addresses the
exposure or exhibition of sexual organs in a public place.
For more detailed discussions, please refer to the NAC Advisory of March
11, 2007, and to the NAC Action Alert of March 29, 2007. Both are
archived on the Web site of the Naturist Action Committee:
THE SPECIFIC FLORIDA LEGISLATION
The NAC Action Alert of March 29 focused on four Senate bills that had
been assigned to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Here’s a brief
description of those four bills and what happened to them today.
SENATE BILL 2058 Sponsor: Sen. Victor Crist (R-Tampa). Proposed escalated
penalties for violation of 800.03, and other language that many naturists
find threatening. This bill omitted some specific venues at which
enhanced penalties would apply, but the slightly modified language was
never enough to turn it into a good bill.
SB 2058 was referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where it
was allowed to die.
SENATE BILL 1842 Sponsor: Sen. Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres). A Senate
companion bill for HB 269. It included enhanced penalties for Section
800.03 of the Florida Statutes.
SB 1842 was referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where it
was allowed to die.
SENATE BILL 1800 Sponsor: Sen. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge). This bill
authorized warrantless arrest, specifically where “[t]here is probable
cause to believe that the person has unlawfully exhibited his or her
sexual organs in public in violation of s. 800.03.” The troubling
implications for naturists are obvious.
SB 1800 was referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where it
was allowed to die.
SENATE BILL 2544 Sponsor: Sen. Ronda Storms (R-Tampa). As introduced,
this bill greatly enhanced penalties for certain crimes. Its original
language included 800.03 in the list of crimes for which the penalty
would be increased. For example, a second offense under 800.03 would have
become a third degree felony, and a third offense would have been a
second degree felony, carrying a mandatory five years in prison. If SB
2544 were to have passed the Senate in its original form, the proposals
it contained would have become law, since its companion (HB 41) had
already passed the House.
SB 2544 was referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where it
was allowed to receive a hearing today, but only after references to
800.03 were entirely removed.
A GRATIFYING RESPONSE
In its March 29 Action Alert, the Naturist Action Committee asked Florida
residents to take action by contacting members of the Florida State
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
Your response was impressive! Immediately following NAC’s call for
action, lawmakers and their staff members began reporting a sudden and
sustained onslaught of polite and well reasoned letters, e-mails and
phone calls from those who opposed the bills.
As a direct result of your coordinated and timely contacts with Florida
lawmakers, three of the four bills (SB 1800, SB 1842 and SB 2058) were
denied hearings in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
Today, the fourth bill (SB 2544) was given a hearing conditionally. The
condition, as set forth by Criminal Justice Committee Chair Sen. Nancy
Argenziano in a communication with the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ronda Storms,
was that all references to 800.03 must be deleted from the bill. NAC
board member Morley Schloss, who has worked closely and tirelessly on
these bills, has confirmed with a spokesman for the committee and a
staffer in Sen. Storms’ office that the removal of 800.03 from the text
of SB 2544 was the direct result of YOUR grass roots contacts with
members of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
THANK YOU! The Naturist Action Committee appreciates each of you who
chose to make a difference by responding to NAC’s call for action. It
worked!
COOPERATION
The Naturist Action Committee has been working for months on these
legislative issues, alongside local Florida naturist groups and committed
Florida naturist leaders. NAC extends its appreciation to all those
groups and their leaders, but special thanks must go to South Florida
Free Beaches (SFFB), a well established and politically aware group that
has allowed NAC unrestricted access to the professional Florida
legislative lobbyist it retains. NAC has picked up a portion of the
expense for that lobbyist during the 2007 legislative session.
NAC also singles out the members of The WildFyre Society for special
commendation. Their responses came in large numbers.
The American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) and the Florida
Association for Nude Recreation (FANR) opposed many of the same bills
opposed by NAC. An exception was SB 2058, which was actually filed at
AANR’s specific request, using language supplied by AANR.
Although NAC’s successful grass roots campaign for contacting lawmakers
was a tactic they chose not to endorse, AANR and FANR did authorize their
legislative lobbyist to work against the bills behind the scenes. The
Naturist Action Committee is grateful for that help.
MORE INFORMATION
You can access additional information on the Web site of the Naturist
Action Committee.
Select “Alerts, Advisories and Updates.” Under Current Action Alerts,
you’ll find the text of this NAC Action Alert, along with links to the
complete text of each of these Florida bills, existing Florida law and
pertinent court cases.
PLEASE HELP NAC HELP NATURISTS
The Naturist Action Committee is the nonprofit volunteer political
adjunct to The Naturist Society. NAC exists to advance and protect the
rights and interests of naturists throughout North America.
The continual vigilance required to protect naturists from dangerous
legislation comes with a price tag. The Naturist Action Committee relies
entirely on your voluntary support. Please donate generously with a check
to:
NAC
PO Box 132
Oshkosh, WI 54903
Or use your credit card to make a direct donation online through NAC’s
Web site:
http://www.naturistaction.org/donate/
Thank you once again for choosing to make a difference.
Naturally,
Bob Morton
Executive Director
Naturist Action Committee
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Naturist Action Committee (NAC) - PO Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Executive Dir. Bob Morton - execdir@naturistaction.org
Board Member Morley Schloss - morleynaturist@hotmail.com
Online Rep. Dennis Kirkpatrick - naturist@sunclad.com
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