THE BILL ITSELF
SCR 338
Injustices Against the Targets of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee
Florida Senate - 2026 SCR 338 By Senator Smith 17-00361-26 2026338__
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Senate Concurrent Resolution
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A concurrent resolution acknowledging the injustices
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perpetrated against the targets of the Florida
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Legislative Investigation Committee between 1956 and
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1965 and offering a formal and heartfelt apology to
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those whose lives, well-being, and livelihoods were
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damaged or destroyed by the activities and public
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pronouncements of those who served on the committee.
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WHEREAS, following a special session of the Florida
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Legislature in July 1956, the act establishing the Florida
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Legislative Investigation Committee became law, and
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WHEREAS, following its establishment, the committee, in
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conjunction with Tallahassee police, surveilled, harassed,
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intimidated, and arrested members of the Inter-Civic Council,
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students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University,
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and other participants in the bus boycott and carpool network
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that began in May 1956 and continued until December 1956, and
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WHEREAS, on February 1, 1957, the committee held its first
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public hearing, questioning Virgil Hawkins, an African-American
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man who had been seeking admission to the University of Florida
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College of Law since 1949, as well as National Association for
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the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attorneys Francisco
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Rodriguez and Horace Hill, claiming that the NAACP was violating
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the law by soliciting plaintiffs for desegregation lawsuits, and
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WHEREAS, on February 25, 1957, the committee began public
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hearings in Miami, demanding that the local NAACP branch
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surrender all of its records, including membership lists, and
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claiming that the branch had been infiltrated by current and
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former communists, and
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WHEREAS, during 1957 and 1958, the committee devoted itself
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to besmirching NAACP members as criminals and communist
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sympathizers in order to slow or halt their efforts to
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desegregate Florida schools and public spaces, and
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WHEREAS, in November and December of 1958, the committee’s
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chief investigator began an inquiry into alleged homosexual
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activity by faculty, staff, and students at the University of
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Florida in Gainesville; allowed officers of the University of
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Florida Police Department to entrap and question without legal
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counsel those suspected of such activity; and threatened and
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coerced those individuals with a public hearing or perjury
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charges into confessing and identifying others as alleged
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homosexuals, and
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WHEREAS, the committee continued the University of Florida
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investigations into 1959, having entrapped and intimidated
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dozens of individuals on and off campus, interrogating them in
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motel rooms and basements, resulting in the firing of 14 faculty
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and staff at the University of Florida, and
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WHEREAS, in the spring of 1959, the committee reported to
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the Florida Legislature that homosexual professors were
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recruiting students into “homosexual practices,” and that those
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students were in turn becoming teachers in Florida’s public
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school system and recruiting even younger students, and
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WHEREAS, the committee began 4 years of statewide
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investigations into alleged homosexual activity by public school
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teachers, administrators, and students, working with local law
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enforcement agencies and employing the same tactics used at the
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University of Florida and cooperating with the State Board of
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Education to revoke individuals’ teaching certificates, and
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WHEREAS, in the spring of 1961, the committee began an
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inquiry into alleged homosexual activity and liberal teaching
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methods, curricula, and policies at the University of South
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Florida in Tampa, and
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WHEREAS, the committee investigator and attorney, together
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with local law enforcement, questioned University of South
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Florida faculty, staff, and students in a motel room without
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appropriate legal counsel and gathered information about the
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allegedly anti-Christian, pro-integration, and pro-communist
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slant of reading assignments, classroom lectures, and invited
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campus speakers, and
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WHEREAS, the committee held public hearings to question the
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University of South Florida faculty and administrators about the
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content of their courses and policies related to hiring faculty
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and inviting speakers in an effort to discredit them as
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atheists, integrationists, and communist sympathizers, damaging
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individuals’ careers and this state’s national standing in
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higher education, and
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WHEREAS, in 1964 and 1965, the committee published
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misleading and inflammatory reports about homosexuals and civil
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rights activists in Florida, drawing continued unfavorable
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national attention and perpetuating falsehoods against residents
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of this state, and
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WHEREAS, the committee spent 9 years at the expense of the
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taxpayers of this state using unconstitutional and unjust
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methods to discredit and combat legal, peaceful desegregation
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efforts; to destroy or otherwise jeopardize the livelihoods and
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reputations of educators, administrators, and other
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professionals in Florida’s public schools and universities; and
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to create a climate of fear that caused pain and suffering among
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vulnerable residents and made Florida a national symbol of
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intolerance, NOW, THEREFORE,
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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
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of Representatives Concurring:
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That the Legislature acknowledges the injustices
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perpetrated against the targets of the Florida Legislative
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Investigation Committee between 1956 and 1965 and offers a
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formal and heartfelt apology to those whose lives, well-being,
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and livelihoods were damaged or destroyed by the activities and
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public pronouncements of those who served on the committee.