In addition to dinner, good company and a life lesson, lawyers get CLE. Join us on February 4 to hear about the 1923 Rosewood story and the efforts in the 1990s to obtain justice. The gala dinner event is a joint fundraiser for Southern Legal Counsel and Three Rivers Legal Services. It is less than a week away.
In January 1923, a white woman falsely accused a black man of attacking her, and a week-long rampage of hundreds of whites murdered many black residents of Rosewood, Florida, and burned the town to the ground. Residents fled from Rosewood, then a thriving community, to Gainesville and other neighboring towns. The Grand Jury found “insufficient evidence” to prosecute anyone. It took 71 years for the State to acknowledge and grant reparations to the survivors and descendants of the Rosewood massacre.
Dr. Maxine D. Jones, a professor of history, women’s studies and African-American studies at the Florida State University, led the investigation into the history of the event for the Florida Legislature. Stephen F. Hanlon led a team of pro bono attorneys to obtain reparations from the state and won more than $2 million in reparations and other benefits for the survivors and descendants.
To remember and honor the residents of Rosewood and their descendants, Southern Legal Counsel and Three Rivers Legal Service are partnering for a fundraising gala. Dr. Jones and Stephen Hanlon will speak about the events of Rosewood and the efforts to obtain justice in the 1990's. The gala will be held on February 4 at the UF Hilton Conference Center at 6 p.m. Tickets are $75 ($60 for members of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association before February 1), and include a catered dinner and CLE credit. For more information, go to www.trls.org.
We thank the following sponsors for their generous contributions:
Gold • Emmer Development Corporation
Silver • Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association, Inc.
• Fine, Farkash & Parlapiano, P.A.
• Avera & Smith, LLP
Bronze • Meldon Law
• N. Albert Bacharach, Jr., P.A.
• Raymond F. Brady, Esq.
• Xerographic Copy Center
• Everyman Sound Company
• Brown & Brown Insurance
• Swanson-Hill
• Harvey Goldstein
• CC’s Florist
Southern Legal Counsel Welcomes Back Andrea Costello
Civil rights attorney Andrea Costello has returned to nonprofit public interest law firm Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC). She previously worked at SLC from 2001 to 2007, including as an Equal Justice Works Fellow.
Costello was first drawn to Southern Legal Counsel because of its broad social justice mission. “SLC has a long-standing and deep commitment to advancing the rights of communities and individuals that have been historically underrepresented,” Costello said. “The organization has made an impact statewide and nationally on critical public interest issues and I am honored to help carry on that work.”
She received her J.D. from the City University of New York at Queens College in 1998. Costello has a long-standing commitment to civil rights and public interest legal work in Florida and nationally. Previously, she was the Legal Director of the Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida, a Senior Staff Attorney with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund in Washington, D.C., and an attorney with Florida Institutional Legal Services and the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City.
As a community organizer for women’s rights and social justice for over 20 years, Costello brings a passionate commitment to using the law as a tool to advance movements for social, economic and racial justice. She has worked extensively on impact litigation concerning access to health care, reproductive justice, disability rights, police misconduct, juvenile justice and First Amendment issues.
Make an Impact with Your Gift
Southern Legal Counsel’s core mission is to seek systemic reform in order to attain basic human and civil rights for all. We are working to ensure that struggling students have access to a high quality education, people with disabilities have sufficient Medicaid Waiver home services, and persons experiencing homelessness are not subjected to arrest for life-sustaining activities.
With your donation, we will continue to touch the lives of thousands who seek to improve their quality of life in the new year. We seek to eliminate life’s challenges for the people we serve and increase their opportunities for a richer life.
Your gift is important and will impact each person we serve.
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”
~Nelson Mandela
Thank you for giving the gift of hope.
Contributions are tax deductible. Donate online at www.southernlegal.org Please make checks payable to Southern Legal Counsel 1229 NW 12th Avenue Gainesville, FL 32601
SLC in the News
To read articles involving Southern Legal Counsel in the news in 2016, please click the links below:
To maintain our independence in order to challenge institutional inequities, SLC does not accept federal, state or local government funds.
We really need your help to ensure that SLC has the resources to continue to provide legal and policy advocacy in public interest cases across the state of Florida. SLC is eligible to receive your $350 pro bono contribution.
SLC's monthly giving program is the easiest way to give and ensure that SLC recieves your ongoing support.
Your recurring donation or one-time gift means, together, we will help people in need.
To sign up, visit southernlegal.org and click "Donate Now," or click the "Donate" button above.
SAVE THE DATE
What: Education Case Information Session When: February 2, 2016, @ 6:30 p.m. Where: Hawthorne Middle/High School Media Center
What: Rosewood: The Road to Reparations
When: February 4, 2016, @ 6:00 p.m.
Where: UF Hilton Conference Center, 1714 SW 34th St., Gainesville FL, 32607
What: Education Case Information Session
When: February 9, 2016 @ 6:30 p.m.
Where: Buchholz High School Media Center
What: Education Case Information Session
When: February 11, 2016 @ 6:30 p.m.
Where: Newberry High School Media Center
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Peg O'Connor, Chair
Elizabeth L. Bevington
Bennett Brummer
Raul A. Cuervo
Karen C. Dyer
William S. Graessle
Tim D. Haines
E. Andrus Healy
Berta Hernández-Truyol
Dr. Vivian L. Hobbs Tiffani G. Lee
Marni Lennon
Barbara Bolton Litten
Dixon Ross McCloy, Jr. Robert A. Rush
Tom Scarritt
Harry L. Shorstein
Robert F. Spohrer
The Hon. William A. Von Nortwick, Jr.
ATTORNEYS
Jodi Siegel, Executive Director Neil Chonin Kirsten Clanton
Andrea Costello
INTERNS AND CLERKS
Diego Aleto
Cailtyn Burnitis
Candice Davis
Melissa Diaz
Abigail Dorwart
Romy Ellenbogen
Dejhon Fairure
Conor Flynn
Berta Gonzalez
Harrison O'Keefe
Marisol Silva
Michael Thomas
James Tyler
THANK YOU TO SLC'S 2016 PRO BONO ATTORNEYS
Your work helps impact cases involving education, disability rights, homelessness and due process protections.
Deborah E. Cupples Eric J. Lindstrom Timothy McLendon Maru Opabola Mara Shlackman Nancy E. Wright George "Tre" Dekle, III National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Baker Donelson
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC primarily assists individuals and groups with public interest issues who otherwise would not have access to the justice system and whose cases may bring about systematic reform. SLC uses a range of strategies to achieve its goals, including litigation, policy advocacy, and training and technical assistance to lawyers, lay persons and organizations.
SOUTHERN LEGAL COUNSEL, INC., A NON-PROFIT FLORIDA CORPORATION, IS REGISTERED WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION, #CH13498, AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. SLC IS A FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED 501(C)3 ORGANIZATION.
