by Tom Edwards
Guest Column
Immediate Past President, Florida Justice Association
Former Chair, Conservative Citizens for Justice
On Oct. 14, 2009 Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan released a report regarding the Florida Justice Association’s involvement with a racist mail piece sent during the campaign for Jim King’s Senate District 8 seat. The Kogan Report can be seen atwww.floridajusticeassociation.org/files/koganreport.pdf.
I was publicly blamed in some press reports for the mail piece because of a check written from an account of the 527 campaign organization, Conservative Citizens for Justice, I chaired. The 527 was an ally of the Florida Justice Association. The mail piece was despicable and appalling; it violated fundamental principles of justice, fairness and equality that I have worked for over my entire professional career.
Justice Kogan’s report cleared me and all of the Officers of the Florida Justice Association of any involvement in the mail piece. It found that when the offensive mailer was created, three Florida Justice Association employees had the opportunity to object to the mail piece and stop it from being sent, but failed to do so.
The investigation found that while the Florida Justice Association employees did not ask for this kind of horrible mail piece when they hired an outside vendor to work on the campaign, the vendor was retained with a check written by FJA employees from my 527. The employees were authorized to write checks for certain campaign activities, but did not comply with longstanding procedures in this case, and the mail piece was created without my knowledge or approval. The FJA employees also failed to inform FJA leaders, or me, of these events or of the existence of the abhorrent mail piece. These failures violated a number of standing policies and protocols that worked effectively for many years and through many campaigns.
As soon as I learned of our involvement in this offensive and inappropriate mail piece, I took immediate action:
1. I insisted that no political benefit could be gained from this hateful mail piece and took steps to prevent its further use in the campaign. It is my understanding that my request was complied with and no political gain was achieved by “working” these horrible mail pieces.
2. I directed that Conservative Citizens for Justice be dissolved as an entity. The dissolution process is underway and will be completed as soon as legally required tax and campaign reporting occurs.
3. I resigned as Conservative Citizens for Justice Chair to protest the contribution of funds, which occurred without my knowledge or approval.
4. I informed FJA’s president, who was also unaware of these events, and asked for an immediate and thorough investigation into the failure to object to, and stop the distribution of this mailer — and strong remedial actions to ensure that such a failure never happens again.
Justice Kogan’s report is a product of the investigation I requested. New policies were implemented by the Florida Justice Association as a result of the report and remedial action was taken against the involved employees.
I am a lifelong Floridian, resident of Jacksonville and spent my entire career working for the betterment of the Bar and our community in varied leadership roles. I apologize for the failures that permitted a campaign vendor to use funds for such an inappropriate purpose. This incident is inexcusable; I am leading the effort to ensure something like this never happens again.
My work in the Bar, the community and my association with the FJA have all been filled with a rich history of pursuing equality, fairness and justice on behalf of all Floridians. The absentee mailer is in no way indicative of the values and principles I hold or that the Florida Justice Association adhered to in its fifty year history of pursuing equality and justice for Florida’s citizens. Both the Florida Justice Association and I will continue to work for equality, fairness and justice for all Floridians.