home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Current Shareware 1994 January
/
SHAR194.ISO
/
textfile
/
fija.zip
/
COLOEXP.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-08-29
|
4KB
|
118 lines
THE COLORADO EXPERIENCE:
HIGH ON A BILL
Afternoon rains, hail, high winds, blistering heat--nothing
could stop us. "Us" came down to Jim Glennie and I doing a last-
minute whirlwind petitioning effort around Colorado, with able
assists from local activists, beginning with Jim's wife:
Mary Margaret Glennie worked on arrangements for our tour,
published details in the Colorado LP newsletter the "Clipboard",
and let me use her furnished cellar as "home basement" over a 10-
day period. Thank you!
East or west of the Continental Divide, and whether working
with David Aitkin in Denver, Nancy Putnam in Boulder, Keith and
Patricia Hamburger in Colorado Springs, or Kim and Nita Benham in
Grand Junction, we enjoyed not only our hosts but ourselves--and
we learned a lot.
The biggest lesson, learned right away, was that it was
taking too long to gather each signature, even gathering one
right after another, for us to hope to qualify FIJA for the 1990
ballot in Colorado. That was because, unlike other ballot issues
which are simple to explain, FIJA requires quite a little pitch
per John Henry.
The ratio of signers to non-signers was excellent, though,
(about 4 or 5 to 1), and we hand-delivered and discussed a lot of
literature. It began to feel more like a political Johnny Apple-
seed adventure than a petitioning chore, and we really got into
it. That means having heavy chats with the occasional judges,
prosecutors, lawyers, court employees, ex-jurors, ex-convicts and
other "political types" who may turn up in a day's petitioning.
It also means watching people's faces light up as they, like
we once did, come to understand the implications of FIJA. There
were of course some people who turned cloudy upon understanding,
but at least a few of them walked away with their noses buried in
our literature, going "hmm-m".
Another lesson, one that Don Doig and I had been learning
for a few weeks before my July 25 departure for Ft. Collins, was
confirmed and resolved by the Colorado Experience:
Whereas, it always takes at least half a minute to explain
FIJA to anyone unfamiliar with it; and
Whereas, there exist lawmaking bodies whose job is to listen
to such explanations, known as legislatures; and
Whereas, major-party legislators, platform committees, and
caucuses have already endorsed FIJA in several states; and
Whereas, FIJA is an ideological, not a "pocketbook" issue,so
it will never be easy to raise enough money to hire petitioners:
Now therefore be it resolved that we go at this project more
efficiently--by lobbying our respective 1991 state legislatures.
If that doesn't pan out, then we can return to the sidewalks!
Operationally, this can mean that like Glennie in Colorado,
FIJA coordinators in ballot-drive states may wish to send "thank-
you" notes to all petition signers--notes which will also urge
people to get back in touch if they wish to participate in an
effort to pass FIJA as a legislative bill for referendum.
Here at HQ, it means that you now know why this issue of
the FIJActivist is replete with advice, ideas, plans and
progress reports on FIJA as a Bill. What was learned in Colorado
also reaffirmed our resolve to sponsor the first-ever National
FIJA conference, where the object will be to finalize a
sophisticated package of legislation we're calling "A Bill of
Jury Rights."
Should the history of justice record great leaps forward on
November 9-11 in St. Louis, Missouri, then, at least some of the
blame must go to the Colorado experience!
See you in St. Louis? Larry Dodge