Before I issue my press release, I want to apologise
to local news media for being slow to make you aware of the abuses to Lakeland’s homeless, but whereas St. Pete churches have hired a professional lawyer to address these things (“Well-known Bay area attorney Darryl Rouson has been hired by Refuge Ministries and several homeless people to represent them on behalf of the homeless situation in St. Petersburg,” Bay News 9 reported on 1-26-07), we have no one step up to the plate here in Lakeland, so it’s all on me, and I’m merely one person; and, this past week, I was busy with other responsibilities and then I felt too sick for about a week to proceed. On my honour, this is the truth. -GW--For immediate release
Complaint filed with FDLE regarding serious police abuses
Abuses include refusals to release public records, perjury by law enforcement officers, and a pattern of other illegal behavior -against Lakeland’s Homeless Population
LAKELAND, Fla. — February 10, 2007 — Gordon Watts, whose recent legal battles to save Terri Schiavo's life, almost won (ref. 1), doing better than even the governor's efforts (ref. 2), has recently filed a complaint with the State Department of Law Enforcement seeking review of practices of local law enforcement.
Abuses include a refusal to release public records, which might be of concern to local news media who routinely make public records requests. All of the many serious accusations are well-documented, and an online copy of the complaint may be obtained by visiting any of the following links and clicking on files marked "FDLE." File formats are in Microsoft Word *.doc and Web-page *.html formats.
*
http://www.GordonWayneWatts.com/LPD*
http://www.GordonWatts.com/LPD*
http://Members.aol.com/Gww1210/myhomepage/LPD
Watts calls upon the news media to uphold the Free Press doctrine, which lionizes "the press as the prime defender of public liberty in its role as a bulwark against governmental tyranny." (ref. 3)
The fear here is that if nothing is done, this agency will be emboldened to deny your news agency records requests -when those request are determined to be of an embarrassing nature.
To obtain copies of support documentation (not included here, due to cost of printing), please contact Gordon.
Notes:
* Ref. 1: Watts on behalf of Theresa Schiavo (Case No: SC03-2420, Fla. Supreme Court) denied 4-3:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/clerk/disposition/2005/2/03-2420reh.pdf* Ref. 2: Bush v. Schiavo (Case SC04-925, Fla. Supreme Court), denied 7-0:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/clerk/disposition/2004/10/04-925reh.pdf* Ref. 3: THE FOUNDING OF AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC PRESS LIBERTY, 1640-1800 by Robert W. T. Martin. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 238 pp. Cloth $40.00. ISBN: 0-8147-5655-7; ISSN 1062-7421; Vol. 12 No. 2 (February 2002) pp. 79-83.
http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/martinrowt.htmContact
:H: 863-688-9880 C: 863-513-4315
--- end of press release