If Florida lawmakers don’t do anything policy wise soon, the state’s prison population could increase. That’s according to a report commissioned by the Florida Senate to promote the need for prison reform. The report is called “Data-Driven Solutions to Improve Florida’s Criminal Justice System.” Len Engel is the Director of Policy and Campaigns with the Crime and Justice Institute. […]
Judge: Florida’s voter restoration process unconstitutional
In a landmark ruling with far-reaching implications, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker has found Florida’s scheme for restoring the voting rights of felons unconstitutional. Walker, in a 43-page order issued today, found that Florida “automatically disenfranchises” any individual who has been convicted of a felony and wishes to vote. “Florida strips the right to vote […]
Florida House, Senate Start Work On Criminal Justice Budget Proposals
About $5 million separates the Florida House and Senate’s criminal justice budget. But, while there are some differences, there are areas where both chambers agree. The Senate’s budget proposal is just over $4.6 billion. Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) chairs the Senate Budget committee that looks at criminal justice issues. He says the budget reflects […]
Darren Rainey family settles suit in brutal prison shower death
The family of Darren Rainey, the 50-year-old schizophrenic inmate whose barbaric shower death led to sweeping reforms in the Florida prison system, has settled a civil rights lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections, the Miami Herald has learned. The settlement notice, filed in federal court in Miami last week, did not disclose the amount […]
Voting rights for felons will be on Florida’s November ballot
For the first time in Florida history, voters will decide whether to grant the right to vote to an estimated 1.5 million convicted felons. Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced Tuesday that the proposal gained the required 766,000 valid signatures to get on the November ballot. The state elections website showed 799,278 valid signatures. It […]
Record number of inmates died in Florida prisons last year. And they died younger than past years.
More inmates died in Florida prisons last year than in any other year on record, leaving the state scrambling to identify causes and find solutions. The tally, 428 inmate deaths in 2017, was released late Friday by the Florida Department of Corrections and showed a 20 percent increase over previous years. The inmates who died […]
Striking Florida Prisoners Thrown in Solitary, Activists Say
When a series of disturbances and insurrections erupted across state prisons nationwide in 2016 on the anniversary of New York’s 1971 Attica prison riots, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) danced around acknowledging whether a set of incidents that had occurred in the Sunshine State were related to the nationwide movement. They were. But after Florida […]
Why Are American Prisons So Afraid of This Book?
In the eight years since its publication, “The New Jim Crow,” a book by Michelle Alexander that explores the phenomenon of mass incarceration, has sold well over a million copies, been compared to the work of W.E.B. Du Bois, been cited in the legal decisions to end stop-and-frisk and sentencing laws, and been quoted passionately on stage at the Academy […]
Florida prisoners launch strike against slave labor
Lake Butler Work Camp, Fla., Jan. 16 — There is one place in the U.S. where slavery is still constitutionally legal: in prisons. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1864, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. But prisoners held in this enslavement are organizing resistance. Brave prisoners […]
Protesters gather at Fla. Department of Corrections headquarters
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) — Protesters gathered at the Florida Department of Corrections headquarters on Calhoun Street in downtown Tallahassee. The protests were held Tuesday in support of prisoners’ rights. WCTV’s Alicia Turner was on the scene. Alicia reported that one person was arrested and a window was broken at the building. Read the full article.
Florida Inmates to Strike Against ‘Prison Slavery’ and Inhumane Conditions on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Prisoners in Florida are planning to go on strike on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to protest “prison slavery” and “deplorable conditions within FL prisons.” In a campaign nicknamed “Operation PUSH”, organizers say inmates are expected to protest at the Reception and Medical Center state prison and hospital for men in Lake Butler, Florida. Several rallies in […]
Florida Prisoners Prepare to Strike, Demanding an End to Unpaid Labor and Brutal Conditions
FLORIDA PRISONERS ARE calling for a general strike to start this week — marking the third mass action over the course of a year in protest of inhumane conditions in the state’s detention facilities. Detainees in at least eight prisons have declared their intention to stop all work on Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — to demand an […]
Florida prisoners to protest — again. This time, they’re refusing to work
Inmates across eight Florida prisons have announced a protest in the form of a work stoppage dubbed Operation PUSH set to start on Jan. 15, advocates say. “Every institution must prepare to lay down for at least one month or longer: No prisoners will go to their job assignments,” prisoners said in a lengthy statement, compiled from […]
Friday Editorial: Florida’s Department of Corrections makes another costly blunder
Yet another bungle by the state’s Department of Corrections may cost taxpayers millions of dollars this year. Florida is being forced to pay attention to a problem it’s been ignoring for years. This time it’ll be a big “oops” for a dysfunctional state department that’s been called on the carpet for years for its treatment […]
Missouri And Other States Face Potentially Costly Dilemma Over Treating Inmates With Hep C
In a corner of her house in Sparta in southwest Missouri, Jymie Jimerson has set up a kind of shrine. It has Native American art representing her Cherokee heritage alongside Willie Nelson albums, books and photos in remembrance of her late husband. On one side is a copy of Willie’s mid-’70s LP, “Red Headed Stranger.” […]
Court Enters Preliminary Injunction Requiring Evaluation and Treatment of Prisoners with Hepatitis C
Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida has entered a Preliminary Injunction requiring the Florida Department of Corrections to evaluate and treat prisoners with Hepatitis C with life-saving medications called direct-acting antiviral drugs. The Order also imposes deadlines for those evaluations and the initiation of treatment. The Court had previously granted Plaintiffs’ Motion […]
Miami Man in Jail for Weed Wins $730K After Losing Kidney
Pascual Diaz-Plasencia was arrested on misdemeanor drug possession charges June 29, 2012, after police caught him with less than 20 grams of marijuana. Diaz-Plasencia had recently undergone a kidney transplant and had to take a set of pills twice daily to ensure his body didn’t reject the organ. But after cops picked him up for harmless pot possession, […]
Florida Justice Institute and Freidin Brown Reach $730,000 Settlement with Miami-Dade County for Man Who Suffered Kidney Failure Because of Deficient Jail Medical Care
The Florida Justice Institute, Inc. (FJI) and the law firm Freidin Brown, P.A., have reached a settlement with Miami-Dade County and the Public Health Trust (PHT) for $730,000, resolving claims that deficiencies in the Miami-Dade Jail’s medical system caused an incarcerated man to suffer kidney failure and eventual loss of his kidney. The Plaintiff, Pascual […]