Equal Justice For All

Target:

http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/subcommittees/constitution.cfm

Sponsored by:

We, the undersigned, honour the spirit of the founding fathers and the creation of the US Constitution, and hereby urge the introduction of a Constitutional Amendment specifically stating that ALL Americans, regardless of the state in which they reside, are guaranteed "access to the courts without sale, denial, or delay," expressly rendering unconstitutional legislation such as that passed by Florida in 2004, requiring the indigent to pay court fees.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits limitations to the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and the Florida Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to access the courts without SALE, DENIAL, or DELAY.

As state and local budgets feel the pinch of the economic crisis, public services suffer everywhere, perhaps nowhere more than in our courts. The perfect storm of foreclosures has resulted in an exponential increase in the already crushing burden of civil and criminal matters, while the supply of public defenders and legal aid services shrinks. As citizens face decreased incomes, job losses, staggering medical expenses, and potential homelessness, they find that they are required to pay increased filing fees when they seek justice through the courts. The poorest and most vulnerable among us are inevitably the most cruelly affected. Meanwhile, the overloaded legal system becomes slower and more cumbersome than ever before, with the passage of time as always on the side of the wealthy and powerful.

Add to this nationwide scenario the scandalous fact that Florida remains the only state in the union that does not waive court fees for indigent citizens. For the individual seeking an insurance payment from a powerful for-profit corporation, for the parent seeking a court-appointed attorney, for the battered woman seeking to free herself and her children from domestic violence, the paths to recovery are being systematically choked off by a system that does not care to serve its neediest clients.

It is crucial for Florida's 2004 unconstitutional legislation to be repealed (but Florida "slawmakers" are too spineless to do so). The government protects profit-driven corporations, steals from the poor, then keeps us from pursuing justice through the courts, a basic Constitutional right. Since Florida "slawmakers" will not repeal the legislation, as many of them stand to profit by it, America needs a Constitutional Amendment to prevent any state from ever again passing unconstitutional legislation. The Federal government has become lackadaisical, turning a blind eye to states' injustices, and THIS one is an embarrassment to the United States of America in the eyes of the rest of the world and exposes Florida for the corrupt state that it has sadly become.

The State of Florida must be required to extend services to the indigent in a manner that is free of fees, daunting bureaucratic red tape, and the arbitrary discretion of court clerks. Such a system of justice for sale to the highest bidder is unconscionable anywhere in a civilized country.

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We signed the "Equal Justice For All" petition!

# 312:

11:05 pm PST, Nov 5, Kelli Stowe, California

# 311:

1:46 am PDT, Sep 23, Katrin Finsterbusch, Germany

# 310:

9:25 am PDT, Sep 19, Candy LeBlanc, California

# 309:

11:22 pm PDT, Sep 18, Jason Bowman, California

# 308:

8:57 pm PDT, Sep 3, Joseph A. Mungai, Illinois

# 307:

9:29 pm PDT, Aug 29, Sarah McConnaughey, Nevada

# 306:

5:33 pm PDT, Jul 20, Alisha Nickols, California

# 305:

7:08 am PDT, Jul 6, Vicki Boguszeski, Florida

# 304:

7:35 pm PDT, Jun 21, Andrew Miles, Indiana
Florida's 2004 law charging court fees to the indigent is just another example of government robbing from the poor!

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits limiting the right to petition to government for a redress of grievances. The Florida Constitution guarantees all citizens "access to the courts without SALE, denial, or delay." Flo

# 303:

11:44 am PDT, Jun 11, Loretta Roberts, Ohio

# 302:

9:32 am PDT, Jun 2, Jennifer Therrien, Georgia

# 301:

6:16 pm PDT, May 28, Laurie Brewer, Ohio
Florida's 2004 law charging court fees to the indigent is just another example of government robbing from the poor!

# 300:

12:21 am PDT, May 25, Kathy Whitaker, Michigan

# 299:

4:19 pm PDT, May 6, Dora Kassis, Greece

# 298:

12:31 pm PDT, May 6, Madison Reed, West Virginia

# 297:

1:43 am PDT, May 6, Alfred Papillon, South Carolina

# 296:

7:17 pm PDT, May 5, Natalie Santiago, Puerto Rico

# 295:

9:45 am PDT, May 5, Brian Selden, California

# 294:

4:14 pm PDT, May 4, Christina Campbell, North Carolina

# 293:

2:45 pm PDT, May 4, Terrie Williams, Texas

# 292:

2:52 pm PDT, May 3, Carol Leonard, Tennessee

# 291:

6:30 am PDT, May 3, Charlie Hogue, Iowa

# 290:

12:39 pm PDT, May 2, Lauren Schwartz, Florida

# 289:

11:24 am PDT, May 1, Mirna Markovic, Croatia

# 288:

4:44 pm PDT, Apr 30, Gary Nicholson, Washington
Time to redress grievences when the contitutional right to redress grievences is beeing threatened. Long live the Constitution

# 287:

12:54 am PDT, Apr 30, G. Donna Gedge, Hawaii

# 286:

5:23 pm PDT, Apr 29, Name not displayed, California

# 285:

2:46 pm PDT, Apr 29, NET-HETEP TA'NESERT, Texas

# 284:

2:40 pm PDT, Apr 29, Darlene Davis, Michigan

# 283:

9:55 am PDT, Apr 29, Keith Hair, New York

# 282:

3:26 pm PDT, Apr 28, Songbird Bergstrom, North Carolina
The right to counsling this is one of our rights taken away from us right undre our noses, a lot more too WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!

# 281:

7:06 am PDT, Apr 28, Glenn Robinon, California

# 280:

4:19 pm PDT, Apr 27, Paola Castillo, Mexico

# 279:

4:10 pm PDT, Apr 26, John Kennedy, Colorado

# 278:

9:57 pm PDT, Apr 25, K.A. Hilliker, Arizona

# 277:

8:11 am PDT, Apr 25, Jennifer Hall, Tennessee

# 276:

11:05 pm PDT, Apr 24, Alan Haggard, California

# 275:

9:48 pm PDT, Apr 24, Dee C., New York

# 274:

9:45 pm PDT, Apr 24, Chrissy Newman, Australia

# 273:

9:31 pm PDT, Apr 24, CHRISTIAN RYAN, Texas

# 272:

7:52 pm PDT, Apr 24, Jim Phillips, California

# 271:

6:20 pm PDT, Apr 24, Karen Walker, California

# 270:

4:23 pm PDT, Apr 24, Liz Duane, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

# 269:

2:04 pm PDT, Apr 24, Trudi Reijnders, Netherlands

# 268:

1:26 pm PDT, Apr 24, Kelli Stowe, California

# 267:

11:05 am PDT, Apr 24, Tim Redfern, Tennessee

# 266:

8:40 am PDT, Apr 24, Margaret Hartley, Washington

# 265:

7:01 am PDT, Apr 24, Mick Gill, Australia

# 264:

6:55 am PDT, Apr 24, Karen Brozek, Maine

# 263:

5:13 pm PDT, Apr 23, Camillo Di Cicco, Italy

# 262:

1:36 pm PDT, Apr 23, Jamaka Petzak, California

# 261:

8:45 am PDT, Apr 23, Joycey Berry, North Carolina

# 260:

4:30 am PDT, Apr 23, Emagin Peace, California

# 259:

10:17 am PDT, Apr 22, Laura McKee, Florida

# 258:

8:27 pm PDT, Apr 21, Rosemary Rannes, New Hampshire
Clearly the poor need justice and the terms in this petition outline this very clearly.

"The State of Florida must be required to extend services to the indigent in a manner that is free of fees, daunting bureaucratic red tape, and the arbitrary discretion of court clerks. Such a system of justice for sale to the highest bidder is unconscionable anywhere in a civilized country."

# 257:

8:59 pm PDT, Apr 20, Carrie James, Arkansas

# 256:

10:53 am PDT, Apr 20, Name not displayed, New York
Justice should be accorded to all and not based on a person's ability to pay.

# 255:

5:42 am PDT, Apr 20, Ute maria Benz, Germany

# 254:

5:36 pm PDT, Apr 19, Tom Maxwell, California

# 253:

4:47 pm PDT, Apr 19, Name not displayed, Colorado

# 252:

4:26 pm PDT, Apr 19, Ellaine Lurie-Janicki, Connecticut

# 251:

11:15 pm PDT, Apr 18, Sam Rabinowitz, California

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