The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith praised Gov. Bob Graham and the Florida state legislature for enacting a law designed to bar paramilitary training camps run by the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups.
According to Arthur Teitelbaum, ADL’s Southern Area director, the new law, signed here last week, “will give impetus to vigorous investigation by law enforcement agencies of paramilitary activities meant to deprive persons of their civil rights.”
The Florida law follows closely a “model” bill created by ADL for introduction by state legislatures around the country. It imposes a maximum sentence of five years and a $5,000 fine on anyone convicted of violating its provisions, and bars anyone from training persons in acts of violence intended to provoke a civil disturbance in the United States.
Florida is the fourth state nationally to adopt a measure imposing prison terms and/or fines against anyone found guilty of operating para-military camps or receiving training there. The others are Conn., N.C., and Calif. Similar proposed laws are now pending in eight additional state legislatures — Ga., III., Ky., Mass., Mich., N.J., Pa., and Wisc.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
