This is a First Amendment challenge to three Hollywood Ordinances that criminalize requests for donations.
Younce v. City of Jacksonville
A Jacksonville ordinance requires people on the sex offender registry to put up a sign on Halloween saying “No Candy or Treats Here.” After an Eleventh Circuit panel declared a similar practice unconstitutional compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment, we wrote the City asking them to repeal it. After they declined, we filed […]
Rinaldi et al. v. Brevard County
Florida Justice Institute (FJI), in partnership with Brevard County attorney Jessica J. Travis of DefendBrevard.com, filed a lawsuit challenging a Brevard County ordinance that prohibits people on the sex offender registry from attending County Commission meetings at the County Government Center in Viera, Florida. The ordinance prohibits the Plaintiffs, and all registered offenders, from being […]
Vidal v. Florida Department of Corrections
The family of Anthony Vidal, who was brutally murdered while incarcerated at Dade Correctional Institution (Dade CI), has settled a civil rights lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections and other individual officers for $350,000. The family was represented by the Florida Justice Institute (FJI), a nonprofit law firm dedicated to safeguarding civil rights in […]
Richter v. Palm Beach County
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI), with West Palm Beach attorney Sabarish Neelakanta, filed a lawsuit against Palm Beach County seeking to invalidate a County ordinance that makes it a crime for people to solicit for charitable contributions or business along any road. The ordinance also criminalizes displaying information of any kind, and violations are punishable […]
Williams, Frashaw, and Hyland v. City of West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach, Fla. – Southern Legal Counsel, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, the ACLU of Florida Palm Beach County Chapter, and Florida Justice Institute filed a federal lawsuit challenging a West Palm Beach ordinance that prohibits asking for donations in certain public spaces. The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District […]
Messina v. City of Fort Lauderdale
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI), in partnership with Fort Lauderdale lawyers Mara Shlackman and Frantz J. McLawrence, filed a lawsuit challenging a pair of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s anti-panhandling ordinances as an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. One ordinance prohibits requesting donations in all public parks, parking lots, and transportation centers; and within 15 […]
Copeland v. Jones
The Florida Justice Institute filed a class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) and its private medical contractor Corizon, LLC for failing to provide necessary hernia surgeries, resulting in possibly hundreds of incarcerated people being left in severe pain, unable to engage in normal activities, and at risk for serious complications such […]
Disability Rights Florida v. Florida Department of Corrections (I)
Disability Rights Florida, Florida’s federally-funded Protection and Advocacy organization for individuals with disabilities, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) over its systemic failure to comply with federal measures intended to protect individuals with disabilities incarcerated throughout the state. The suit, filed with the assistance of the Florida Justice Institute and Morgan & […]
McDonald v. City of Pompano Beach
the Florida Justice Institute (FJI), in partnership with Fort Lauderdale lawyers Mara Shlackman and Frantz J. McLawrence, filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Pompano Beach’s anti-panhandling ordinance as an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. The Ordinance prohibits the solicitation of donations, business, or sales during certain times and at certain intersections, and otherwise requires […]
Disability Rights Florida v. Florida Department of Corrections (II)
Disability Rights Florida (DRF), Florida’s federally funded Protection and Advocacy organization for individuals with disabilities, has brought suit against the Florida Department of Corrections 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 & Morgan, P.A. The […]
Hoffer v. Jones
The Florida Justice Institute filed a class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) for failing to provide incarcerated people with life-saving medications for hepatitis C, resulting in thousands being left at risk for liver failure, liver cancer, and a very painful death. The case is brought on behalf of three prisoners—Carl Hoffer, Ronald […]
Demler v. Inch
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI) and the Social Justice Law Collective (SJLC) filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for confiscating the lawfully purchased digital music and books of thousands of Florida prisoners. After years of selling digital music and books to Florida prisoners – and realizing millions of […]
G.H. v. Marstiller
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) places hundreds of children in solitary confinement on any given day. The FJI, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Florida Legal Services filed a federal class action lawsuit to end the use of solitary confinement in the state’s juvenile detention facilities. The lawsuit cites scientific, medical and mental health […]
Harvard v. Inch
FJI and co-counsel filed a federal class action lawsuit in 2019 challenging Florida’s use of solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, cites […]