 |
HOME |
ABOUT |
ISSUES |
NEWS |
SISTER CITY INDEX |
CONTACT US |
E-NEWS |
LINKS |
Oakland - Santiago de Cuba Sister City
~~~ Florida state law on academic travel to Cuba found unconstitutional ~~~ ENCASA/ US-CUBA http://www.encasa-us-cuba.org/ TO: ENCASA members RE: Florida state law on academic travel to Cuba found unconstitutional Date: August 29, 2008 Some great news to report: A federal judge has just struck down the Florida law that restricts students, faculty members, and researchers at the state's public colleges and universities from traveling to Cuba and four other countries that the U.S. government considers terrorist states. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida had challenged the law in court on behalf of the Faculty Senate at Florida International University, arguing that the statute violated faculty members' First Amendment rights and impinged on the federal government's ability to regulate foreign commerce. One of the plaintiffs was our colleague and ENCASA steering committee member Lisandro Pérez of FIU. As you may recall, two years ago this month ENCASA members Eduardo Peñalver of Cornell and Cristina Rodríguez of NYU filed an amicus brief in federal court, on behalf of ENCASA, in the lawsuit against that new Florida law,"Travel to Terrorist States Act." At that time we sent you a copy of our amicus brief, and also the scholars' declarations which accompanied the brief, to which several of you contributed. Today we are attaching (below) a copy of the judge's decision in the case, along with two links to press coverage of it today, plus a note from Lisandro. While it's not yet over, this is a significant victory. Judge strikes down Cuba travel ban for professors (MiamiHerald.com, FL) - read [HERE] and [HERE]
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 I share with you the news that in the case involving the Florida state law on academic travel to Cuba, we (the plaintiffs) have prevailed in a decision (attached) handed down this morning by Patricia Seitz, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. We held a press conference this afternoon at ACLU offices in Miami. The state has 30 days to appeal if it is inclined to do so. But as of now the provisions of the law prohibiting the use of nonstate funds and the incidental funds necessary to administer nosnstate funds for travel to "terrorist countries" are unconstitutional and permanently --Lisandro Pérez With the Democratic convention finished yesterday and the Republican convention about to begin, we also want to let you know that ENCASA is finishing a terse "white paper" on US-Cuba policy to be sent to the presidential candidates shortly, and working on other activities in the two months leading to the November elections (both at the presidential level and locally especially in the 3 Miami Congressional races). An ENCASA blog is also in the works. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, in case you missed it: 13CUBANS [READ] Candidates on Cuba [READ] Local 10 News [READ] LAWG [READ] Rubén G. Rumbaut Professor of Sociology University of California, Irvine http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4999
~~~ Cuba Language in the Financial Services Appropriations Bill ~~~ Now! Cuba Language in the Financial Services Appropriations Bill. June 19, 2000 Dear Cuba Policy Advocates, It's time for us - and you - to get to work! A House subcommittee (Financial Services) yesterday added language to the appropriations bill that would ease travel restrictions for Cuban Americans wishing to visit family and would facilitate agricultural sales to Cuba . The result of yesterday's subcommittee meeting is an appropriations bill that allows for Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba once per year and expands the definition of family to include cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Get more details from this Reuters article http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1738649220080617. Or in Rep. Serrano's words: "This mark also includes provisions to liberalize travel to Cuba for Americans who have family members living in that nation. There is no reason to place harsh restrictions on those who simply wish to visit close family members. In addition, the bill contains a provision to facilitate agricultural trade with Cuba , allowing more American farmers to sell their products to Cuba ." This language in the legislation is only the beginning. This is a very modest effort, but it is extremely important that it not lose! It paves the way for broader changes that are what we and you really want. The message that would be sent if these provisions lose would be harmful to our work for real change next year. The real work starts now, and it starts with us! We have to work to get this bill on the floor, and to do so we have to make our voice heard on Capitol Hill! The first step is getting it passed by the full Appropriations Committee, which will meet tentatively Wednesday June 25. We must urge members on that committee to vote in favor of Representative Serrano's Cuba provisions in the Financial Services Appropriations bill so it reaches the floor. See a full list of committee members here http://appropriations.house.gov/members110th.shtml Check it out to see if your representative is on this committee. If so, we need you! We have selected a number of members in particular that need strong encouragement. This list includes: Rodney Alexander (R) LA-5 ( Alexandria , Monroe areas) 202.225.8490 Jo Bonner (R) AL-1 ( Mobile , Foley areas) 202.225.4931 Allen Boyd (D) FL-2 ( Tallahassee , Panama City areas) 202.225.5235 Chet Edwards (D) TX-17 ( Waco , College Station areas) 202.225.6105 Patrick Kennedy (D) RI-1 ( Pawtucket Area) 202.225.3290 Jack Kingston (R) GA-1 ( Savannah , Brunswick , Baxley, Valdosta areas) 202.225.5831 John Peterson (R) PA-5 (State College, Titusville areas) 202.225.2565 Dennis Rehberg (R) MT-At large (full state) 202.225.3211 Ciro Rodriguez (D) TX-23 ( San Antonio area) 202.225.4511 Steven Rothman (D) NJ-9 ( Hackensack , Jersey City areas) 202.225.5061 Tim Ryan (D) OH-17 ( Youngstown , Akron , Warren areas) 202.225.5261 Adam Schiff (D) CA-29 ( Pasadena area) 202.225.4176 Zach Wamp (R) TN-3 ( Chattanooga , Oak Ridge areas) 202.225.3271 Frank Wolf (R) VA-10 (Herndon, Winchester areas) 202.225.5136 We urge advocates from these districts contact your members and ask them to support Rep.Serrano's Cuba provisions in the Financial Services Appropriations Bill. Call the Washington office, ask for the foreign policy aide, and request that the congressperson vote in favor of the Cuba provisions in the Financial Services Appropriations Bill to be considered next week in full committee. Call today! And, if you aren't in any of the target districts but know people in these districts, PLEASE pass on this information and ask these constituents to call. The list above is made up of what we consider priority members to contact, but any member on the full committee should be strongly encouraged to vote in favor of Rep. Serrano's Cuba provisions. So, if your member is on the committee list (http://appropriations.house.gov/members110th.shtml ) but not one of the targets, we still encourage you to contact him/her. Finally, please let us know with a quick email if you contact your member's office and what the response is. Thanks! Thank you for all you do advocating for a more just policy. Sincerely, Mavis Anderson Paulo Gusmao
|
