TAMPA CITY COUNCIL ...
St. Petersburg Times, Jan. 22, 2010
Voiced protest during public comments concerning meeting prayers - at several meetings in first quarter 2010
More info ... viewtopic.php?f=5&t=895
LAKELAND CITY COMMISSION ...
Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in original form "One Nation Indivisible," during meeting 'public comments,' April 2010
Voiced protest during public comments concerning meeting prayers - at several meetings Mar-May 2010
We sued Lakeland City Commission & mayor June 2010 to cease their meeting prayer rituals; case on appeal in Federal court
More info ... http://www.free2think.org/forum/viewtop ... =30&t=1139
CAPE CORAL CITY COMMISSION ...
- Nov, Dec 2010 & Jan 2011, protested (during public comments) Cape Coral mayor's proposal to place 10 Cs in City Hall
Being removed by police from Cape Coral (FL) City Commission meeting for wearing atheist t-shirt - Jan. 2011
Being allowed to speak after Cape Coral City Commission debated & voted to allow me back in to speak without having to remove atheist shirt - Jan. 2011
More info ... http://www.free2think.org/forum/viewtop ... =30&t=1390
POLK COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD ...
Arrest & destination for milling about with an ATHEIST t-shirt on, talking and taking photos of a prayer ritual before meeting start at Polk County School Board Feb. 22, 2011.
- Polk County's top felony prosecutors assigned to this case
Trial: September 4, 2012
More case info & links below bio
ACADEMIC:
- Pine Forest High School, Fayetteville, NC 1968
US Army Infantry Officer Candidate School, Ft Benning GA 1969
US Army Infantry Officer Advance Course, Ft Benning GA 1980
US Army Command and General Staff College, US Army Reserve Component
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL: BA, MA Religious Studies
MILITARY SERVICE:
- US ARMY 1968-90
- FT BRAGG, NC: Enlisted as a private in the US Army upon graduation of high school, June 1968
FT BENNING, GA: Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Infantry Branch, May 6, 1969 (19 y/o)
VIETNAM, Dec. 1969 - Dec. 1970
- Combat tour was with the 1/61st (Mech) Infantry, 5th Infantry Division, I Corps (DMZ)
Awards: Combat Infantry Badge (CIB), Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal
UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVES: May 1972-Jan. 1990: duty assignments include Individual Ready Reserve (IRR); 3388th US Army Reserve School, 81st Army Command (ARCOM), Tampa, FL; and Forces Command (FORSCOM), Atlanta, GA
Highest rank: Major
John's military bio & some of his Vietnam pics
Vietnam, July 1970 - Rifle platoon leader (2nd Platoon, B Company, 1/61 INF); heading to Khe Sanh on an M-113 ... who says there's no atheists in foxholes
AFFILIATIONS:
- Atheist Student Alliance - University of South Florida - FOUNDER 2005 (member 2005-09) http://www.secularstudents.org/atheistsusf
Atheists of Florida - member since 1998; http://atheistsofflorida.org/
Humanists of Florida Association (HFA) - Life member; http://www.floridahumanist.org/
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - member; http://www.aclufl.org/
American Atheists - member; http://www.atheists.org/
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) - member; http://militaryatheists.org/
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) - member; http://ffrf.org/
Center for Inquiry (CFI): Florida - charter member
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) - member
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) - Life member
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
- 1999 - present (2012): volunteer guest speaker for "Vietnam War History Class" taught at Hillsborough County (FL) High Schools (~13 schools, 2 semesters/yr)
Write up in Tampa newspaper ... http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2009/nov/ ... -ar-53868/
CONTACT INFO:
- phone ... 813-919-9161
email ... johnkieffer1234@aol.com
Facebook ... http://www.facebook.com/#!/JohnAKieffer
Twitter ... @John_Kieffer ... https://twitter.com/#!/John_Kieffer
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Concerning my criminal trial in Polk County, FL. - trial cancelled as I plead no-contest to resisting arrest without violence and adjudication was witheld. I am currently serving probation. Synopsis:
- -- I was arrested Feb. 22, 2011, for essentially not participating in a Christian prayer ritual held prior to the official start of a school board meeting.
-- I was charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a lawful assembly and resisting arrest without violence
-- Polk County State Attorney assigned its two top high-profile felony prosecutors to prosecute the misdemeanor charges.
-- My trial was set to begin on September 4, 2012.
-- Two of the three charges were dismissed in April 2012. The remaining charge, (resisting arrest w/o violence) carried a potential prison sentence of one year had I gone to trial and been convicted.
More info -- TRIAL INFO PAGE
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PLEASE HELP ME WITH MY LEGAL DEFENSE COSTS
- Hello
I appreciate the time you have taken to read my bio and my current legal issues in Polk County.
Due to the high profile, religious/political nature of my trial and the fact that I was the President of Atheists of Florida at the time of my arrest, the Polk County State Attorney's office has replaced the usual court attorney/s used in such misdemeanor cases with their top prosecutors, which they usually use in their high profile felony cases (ASA Brad Copley and ASA Victoria Avalon), to insure convictions and, potentially, some time behind bars in Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s jail.
In response, I've retained a top rated criminal defense attorney, A.R. “Chip” Mander, (Dade City, FL) who, like me, understands the important constitutional issues involved in this case. But for Mr. Mander and his legal staff, this has involved hours of research, meetings, records requests, transcripts, and several court hearings, which have added up in legal fees. To date I've drawn $45,000 from my life savings to pay for legal fees and additional legal defense costs of $60,000 have been incurred to bring the case to a point in which two of the charges were dismissed and the remaining was witheld adjudication.
If you can, please donate to my legal defense fund … every bit helps.
Online donations (Paypal or credit card) ... JOHN KIEFFER LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
If donating by check, please make it out to my attorney: AR"Chip" Mander, ESQ with note on check: " for John Kieffer #20110675 "
& send to:
- Greenfelder, Mander, Murphy, Dwyer & Morris
Attorneys at Law
14217 Third Street
Dade City, FL 33523-3828
Thanking you in advance for your help,
John Kieffer
ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE
TRIAL INFO PAGE
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