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ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith, holds the Red Cross Circle of Humanitarians Award. ChoicePoint was presented with the award in February, 2007.
ChoicePoint received the award in recognition of a gift of technology and services donated in 2005 in support of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma relief efforts. ChoicePoint provided $1 million in authentication and verification services to the Red Cross to reduce fraud and help ensure that only people in need of assistance received benefits.
The Circle of Humanitarians award, one of the organization’s highest honors, recognizes companies and individuals whose contributions provide life-saving support through Red Cross programs.
A 91-year-old who received a Bronze Star for fighting in the Battle of the Bulge was reportedly told he may not be an American citizen, in an apparent mix-up due to Florida’s attempts to purge noncitizens from its voter rolls. Bill Internicola received a letter this month stating that he had to prove he was a citizen or lose his right to vote, reports the Miami Herald.
Internicola, it appears, was caught up in Gov. Rick Scott’s statewide attempt to clear noncitizens from voter registration rolls before the election this November. The Broward County Board of Supervisors said in the letter to Internicola that it had obtained “information from the State of Florida that you are not a United States citizen; however you are registered to vote.”
Internicola was “flabbergasted” when he received the letter, he said at a press conference where he was joined by two Democratic members of Congress. Democrats allege that the initiative is “misguided” and suggest that the governor is trying to remove legal voters from registration rolls before the presidential elections.
The WWII veteran has since proven to the state that he is in fact a citizen.
The state Division of Elections identified approximately 180,000 potential noncitizens from Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. This was later narrowed down to more than 2,600 names, which were passed onto counties for verification, according to the Miami Herald.
The newspaper’s analysis shows that the list of names targeted for possible removal is dominated by Hispanics, Democrats and independents.
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Whatever our party identification, we should be disturbed by the reports from the BBC and the United States Civil Rights Commission, largely buried in our major newspapers, on the purging of black and Hispanic citizens from the Florida voter rolls for falsely being tagged as ineligible . . .
Governor Jeb Bush's administration purged 94,000 largely poor and minority voters from the rolls . . . Staffers of ChoicePoint, the Republican-tied data-collection firm that handled this effort, acknowledged that this voter purge disproportionately targeted low-income Democrats, particularly African Americans, whose race was marked on the voter rolls. At the instructions of Governor Bush's administration, they made no effort to verify the validity of these purges. A follow-up by BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast found that 90 percent of those scrubbed were legitimate voters, enough by far to have made Al Gore the winner.
~ Paul Loeb, The Impossible Will Take a Little While
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Florida effort to curb voter fraud treads close to suppression
It seems every few months, Gov. Rick Scott's administration and the Legislature are rebuked by a judge or federal authorities for playing fast and loose with our rights when it comes to new laws and initiatives. The Tallahasee leadership's style appears to be shoot first, worry about constitutionality later.
Now we're seeing it with Florida voting rights, a topic of urgent concern as the 2012 presidential election draws near. Last week, a federal judge ruled that certain restrictions on third-party voter registration groups like the League of Women Voters were onerous and unconstitutional. And the Department of Justice urged Florida officials to halt a troubled purge of suspected noncitizens from voter rolls.
The pattern from Tallahassee is disturbing, especially when it comes to an issue as sensitive as voting. After all, this is the state where the disputed 2000 presidential election boiled down to a 537-vote margin. This is a state with such a checkered racial past that five counties are still protected by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Nobody wants voter fraud, but nobody should want voter harassment, intimidation or suppression either.
With a day off work I decided to take my camera gear and ride my bike downtown Harrisburg to capture life as it occurs every day. Besides, it was a good way for me to get out and get my mind off of things.
This was close to the end of my journey. I was walking around the Capitol, rather boring, and headed towards Strawberry Square when I saw this woman and a man in perfect business attire sitting on a park bench. I wasn't going to let this one slip through my fingers. I stopped and asked them if they would my mind me taking some photos of them. They agreed and asked what I wanted them to do. I told them to just keep talking like they were. I have signed model releases too!
Bryn Palena and Chuck Campbell from ChoicePoint were in town for some sort of business. I asked what it was that they did and Bryn explained to me that they do background checks for employers. Interesting job.
ChoicePoint's Affinity Groups volunteer three times a year with Project Open Hand.
Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care™, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed
food choices and improved quality of life.
Why does Choicepoint get a no-bid contract from the Bush Administration? Here's the answer we recieved in response to a "Freedom of Information" request. At least they've crossed out the "secret" stamp. (Source: EPIC)
Lucia Bone, founder of the Sue Weaver CAUSE, presents Derek V. Smith, Chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint with the Sue Weaver Opening Doors for CAUSE Award. The award recognizes companies for exemplary efforts to promote a safer, more secure society. This is the second consecutive year for the Sue Weaver CAUSE to honor ChoicePoint with the award.
The Sue Weaver CAUSE was founded in 2004 with the mission of promoting Consumer Awareness of Unsafe Service Employment (CAUSE) by requiring background checks on all workers sent to individuals' homes. The organization was founded by Lucia Bone, sister of Sue Weaver, after Sue was attacked and killed by a department store service contractor who had previously worked in her home in Orlando, Fla. Ms. Weaver's attacker was later found to be a twice-convicted sex offender.
04/22/08 Carol Di Battiste (General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer - ChoicePoint, Inc.) M Carmela Welte (Deputy Chief Executive Officer - National CASA) Mary Lou Leary (Executive Director - National Center for Victims of Crime) and Julie Whitman (Director of Special Projects - the National Center for Victims of Crime) members of a panel at the press conference on the release of the report: “Who’s Lending a Hand? A National Survey of Nonprofit Volunteer Screening Practices.”
Photo by Patrick G. Ryan
Kelly Deen from For Momentum and Beth Meyer from CARE USA address the participants about best practices in developing Corporate Partnership.
Through corporate sponsorships, race entries and employee donations, ChoicePoint made a $150,000 donation to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Pictured above are, starting from the right, Derek V. Smith, Chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint, and Gene Hayes, President of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation.
04/22/08 [ from l to r] Carol Di Battiste (General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer - ChoicePoint, Inc.) Julie Whitman (Director of Special Projects - the National Center for Victims of Crime) Mary Lou Leary (Executive Director - National Center for Victims of Crime) and M Carmela Welte (Deputy Chief Executive Officer - National CASA) members of a panel at the press conference on the release of the report: “Who’s Lending a Hand? A National Survey of Nonprofit Volunteer Screening Practices.”
Photo by Patrick G. Ryan
Mary Lou Leary, Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime (right) is joined by Carol DiBatistte, ChoicePoint's Chief Privacy Officer and General Counsel.
ChoicePoint Cares continues the volunteer program with the YWCA of Greater Atlanta TechGyrls mentoring. This spring, volunteers are helping the girls study for their standardized tests.
04/22/08 Mary Lou Leary, Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime holds a copy of the group’s latest report: “Who’s Lending a Hand? A National Survey of Nonprofit Volunteer Screening Practices” at a press conference at the National Press Club.
Photo by Patrick G. Ryan
VOICES for Georgia's Children Board Chair Suzanne Detlefs, Chief People Officer for ChoicePoint (retired), speaking at the 2009 Big Voice for Children Awards
04/22/08 Rep. John Lewis (D GA) attends a press conference at the National Press Club held by the National Center for Victims of Crime during which the group released their report: “Who’s Lending a Hand? A National Survey of Nonprofit Volunteer Screening Practices.”
Photo by Patrick G. Ryan