Our Work
New Lawsuit Challenges Use of Solitary Confinement for Children in Florida Case Filed by Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Justice Institute, and Florida Legal Services (9/5/2019) - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --Citing scientific, medical and mental health evidence likening solitary confinement to torture and demonstrating its dangers to the development and rehabilitation of children, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Florida Legal Services (FLS), and the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)… ... Continue Reading
Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Massive Overuse of Solitary Confinement in Florida Prisons Case Filed by Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Justice Institute, and Florida Legal Services (5/9/2019) - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Admire Harvard has spent nearly 10 years locked up in solitary confinement in the Florida prison system. Harvard, a 28-year-old black transgender woman, has been subjected to solitary confinement in a men’s prison since September 2009. Due to conditions in solitary confinement, she suffers from depression, anxiety and auditory hallucinations, and has… ... Continue Reading
Court Issues Final Order in Prison Class Action Requiring Treatment for All Incarcerated People with Hepatitis C (4/18/2019) - On April 18, 2019, Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida issued a final order in the Florida Justice Institute’s (FJI) prison class action, granting the plaintiffs’ request to require the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) to provide treatment to all incarcerated people with Hepatitis C (HCV), including… ... Continue Reading
Latest News
After inmate ‘dragged like a ragdoll,’ lawmaker calls prison conditions ‘less than human’ From the Miami Herald (8/27/2019) - In a video posted on Facebook, State Rep. Dianne Hart excoriated excessive heat, excessively short eating times, inadequate female hygiene materials and inmate treatment after spending Sunday at Lowell Correctional Institution, days after an inmate was brutally manhandled, leaving her gravely hurt. Hart’s been at Lowell several times before, but this is the first time… ... Continue Reading
Protest planned after brutal attack by guards on woman at Florida’s Lowell prison From the Miami Herald (8/27/2019) - Advocacy groups are organizing a protest at Florida’s largest women’s prison, Lowell Correctional Institution, Saturday morning in the wake of a violent assault, allegedly by a correctional lieutenant, that gravely injured a 51-year-old inmate, sources have told the Miami Herald. The inmate, identified by sources as Cheryl A. Weimar, had suffered from both mental and… ... Continue Reading
After brutal attack by guards on woman at Florida’s Lowell prison, a probe is begun From the Miami Herald (8/23/2019) - A 51-year-old inmate at the nation’s largest women’s prison was gravely injured this week in what was described as a violent assault by staff, including a lieutenant. According to sources close to Lowell Correctional Institution, the woman became involved in a confrontation with corrections officers as she sought to declare a psychological emergency. Under proper… ... Continue Reading
