OUR GOAL AND PURPOSE
"We will help open doors for people as they search for housing, we will not allow discrimination to serve as a deadbolt on the dreams of safe accomodations." We are dedicated to protect the Right to be Accompanied by a Service Dog that is Specially Trained to Assist the Disabled Americans.
THE AMERICAN LEGAL FOUNDATION OF FLORIDA
American Legal Foundation of Florida is founded on the principal that the Civil Rights granted in the Constitution of the United States do and will apply to every person. Through experience it has been found that persons having a disability and that have chosen to be accompanied by a "Service Dog" have been denied those Civil Rights.
It has also been found that with all of the great law schools and attorneys in the United States that there is a shortage of knowledge in the legal system for the protection of those Civil Rights of the Disabled to be accompanied in their homes and public places by a Service Dog. There is a great misunderstanding by those in the legal community as to what exactly those Civil Rights of the disabled to be accompanied by a Service Dog are.
The Founders of this Great United States in 1776, while writing the United States Constitution, realized than all men are not created equally physically but, they also realized that Civil Rights applied to all persons equally. They created that United States Constitution in a manner which has provided for the Required Equal Treatment of all Persons. Those Founders of this United States of America had experienced the unfair treatment of individuals by the King and were writing a Constitution which would prevent the New Government of the Great United States from that discrimination and unfair treatment of individuals which had been the history of the past.
Through Amendments to that Constitution of the United States, there have been granted and explained certain Civil Rights which are possessed by each and every person within this United States. Those Civil Rights were granted to insure that each individual person in the United States is legally permitted to enjoy the same opportunities and life as all individuals in the United States.
It took almost 200 years after the birth of this Great United States for the Congress to recognize that the United States Constitution by itself was not enough to protect those Civil Rights and that legislation had to be passed which would more clearly define and protect those Civil Rights. Beginning with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's many new Laws protecting the Civil Rights of individuals were passed. But, with the passage of legislation there is also the requirement of enforcement of those laws.
Laws are great tools, but, someone has to enforce those laws if they are to have any affect on the life of the individual. The United States Government placed that enforcement responsibility on certain Agencies of the United States Government but failed to provide the necessary resources for an effective enforcement.
But, the individual is also assigned the Right and Responsibility for enforcement of those individual Civil Rights in those individual acts of discrimination which violate those Civil Rights Laws. This is through litigation in the Courts of the United States which at times may be quite lengthy and complex requiring an understanding of the legal system.
Unfortunately for the Individual suffering from a Disability, litigation is sometimes costly and very time consuming for an attorney. Most individuals with a disability do not have large financial resources to litigate against those violators of Individual Civil Rights and because of that lack of financial resource the violations continue to be permitted.
That need of financial resources should not be the protection that Violators of Individual Civil Rights use to continue in that discrimination. In fact, it is not a barrier to the enforcement of those Civil Rights of the disabled.
Persons with a Disability need to understand that in this Great United States that there are provisions for litigating your Civil Rights Complaint in the United States Federal Court System when you have no financial resources. The Courts can and will permit you to file your complaint without paying any filing fees or court costs. Each Clerk of the United States District Courts has the necessary "easy to read and fill out" forms available for you which will permit you as an individual without an attorney to file your complaint with the United States District Court without any payment of costs. The United States Marshal will provide "Service of Summons and Complaint" upon that violator free of any cost to you the individual. The Court is permitted to and will "Appoint an Attorney" who is a member of the Bar of that particular District Court to represent you.
An interesting point to remember is this: When an individual files a Civil Rights Complaint in the United States District Court in "Forma Pauperis" (Poor Person Without Funds" there are procedures which the United States District Court follows. Before the Court grants permission to proceed in Forma Pauperis the Complaint is reviewed by a United States Magistrate who will determine if the Complaint is "With Merit" and if the individual is truly without the necessary funds. What does that mean? Simply, it means that if the United States Magistrate rules that the complaint has merit and that the individual is without funds that the complaint will not be dismissed as a frivolous complaint and that the United States Magistrate believes that a violation of the Civil Rights has occurred and the District Court will hear your complaint.
Obviously a very important point which is overlooked by many Civil Rights Defense Attorneys is that if the Magistrate has reviewed the individual complaint and found it to be "With Merit" permitting it to proceed in Forma Pauperis is that the individual will win in Court. Why is that? Simply put, the Civil Rights laws are very clear as to what constitutes a violation. They are only confused by the interpretations of attorneys and courts. When the facts of the violation are presented in a clear and concise manner by an individual then those facts can not be confused.
American Legal Foundation of Florida is dedicated to helping the Individual Person with a Disability accompanied by a Service Dog to present those facts in a concise and accurate Complaint of Civil Rights Violation to the United States District Court in Forma Pauperis for a successfull enforcement of those Individual Civil Rights Guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Laws of the United States of America.