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FJI, Representing Disability Rights Florida, Sues Florida Department of Corrections for Breach of Settlement Agreement Protecting Incarcerated People with Disabilities (12/4/2019) - TALLAHASSEE, DECEMBER 4, 2019– Disability Rights Florida, Florida’s federally funded Protection and Advocacy organization for individuals with disabilities, has brought suit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) over its systemic failure to comply with a settlement agreement signed by both parties in July 2017. DRF is represented by the Florida Justice Institute and Morgan… ... Continue Reading
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
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Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Juvenile Solitary Confinement Flaglerlive (12/11/2019) - A federal judge Friday rejected a request by the state Department of Juvenile Justice to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the use of solitary confinement for juveniles. The Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Legal Services and the Florida Justice Institute sued the state in September and alleged that placing juveniles in solitary confinement violated the constitutional… ... Continue Reading
Florida breached agreement to accommodate inmates with disabilities, lawsuit says From the Miami Herald (12/5/2019) - It’s been about two years since Florida and Disability Rights Florida, a statewide advocacy group, reached a settlement that was meant to improve conditions for inmates with disabilities. But the group says the state has failed to comply with the 2017 agreement by not providing interpreters for inmates who are deaf or hard of hearing,… ... Continue Reading
Florida’s troubled teens don’t belong in ‘the hole’ | Opinion Special to the Sun Sentinel (12/2/2019) - The use of solitary confinement for children and juveniles has been prohibited in federal prisons, but Florida continues this practice, despite its harmful effects. The “hole,” as solitary confinement is often called, consists of tiny cells where young offenders are placed in isolation for 22 to 24 hours a day. For weeks or months at… ... Continue Reading
