<<http://www.nylawyer.com/news/04/01/011504h.html>>
Bar Group Sells Mailing List of Thousands of Lawyers to Neo-Nazis New York Lawyer January 15, 2004 By Julie Kay Miami Daily Business Review The Florida Bar is under fire for selling its mailing list � and labels � to a neo-Nazi group that sent mailers to thousands of Florida lawyers containing anti-Semitic and racist propaganda. The letter with an eight-page brochure was sent to Florida criminal defense lawyers by the National Alliance, an offshoot of the American Nazi Party, which law enforcement and watchdog groups characterize as a violent, neo-Nazi organization. The mailing contains anti-Semitic cartoons and an article titled �Building a New White World,� along with a letter calling on attorneys to join their organization. �We need legal talent to augment our technical, musical and writing talent,� stated the letter, signed by Tampa unit coordinator Todd Weingart. �That�s why we�re writing to you today.� Attorneys who received the letter last week were doubly shocked to learn that the Bar sold the organization its mailing list and prepared labels for the group for a fee. The Bar is technically an arm of the Florida Supreme Court and is considered a quasi-public agency. Anyone can obtain names and addresses of lawyers from the Bar�s Web site. But the Bar also sells mailing lists and prepares labels of attorneys and their addresses for a fee, said Paul Hill, the Bar�s general counsel. Lawyers throughout the state receive frequent mailings from lawyers announcing new addresses and partnerships and from companies that market products and services to lawyers. Hill said the Bar had no idea it was selling the list to a neo-Nazi group when the National Alliance contracted the Bar to print labels for all 2,500 members of its criminal law section. But even if the Bar had known the nature of the group, it would have had to sell it lists and labels, Hill said. �This is a dark side of our public records law,� he said. �We can�t screen the message. We can�t be selective � it�s an all-or-nothing proposition. We are trying to explain to everyone � sometimes they have to hold their nose or use their trash can.� Criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, prosecutors and judges are all members of The Florida Bar�s criminal law section and received the letters. The charge for labels is 10 cents per name. The National Alliance�s fee was $262. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
