Press Coverage

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS TALLAHASSEE.  About 1,800 current and former Florida prison inmates who were denied medical care for hernias will be entitled to divide $1.7 million in damages from a class-action lawsuit under a conditional settlement agreed to by the Department of Corrections and its former prison health-care provider, Corizon, and filed in federal […]

Attorneys from the nonprofit Florida Justice Institute teamed with Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton lawyers for a high-profile class-action against the Florida Department of Corrections and its former medical contractor, Corizon LLC. They negotiated a $2.1 million settlement with the defendants, who were accused of denying prisoners hernia operations to save money. Institute executive director Randall Berg […]

The Florida Department of Corrections and former prison health-care provider Corizon have agreed to pay about $2.1 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the state agency and the company denied hernia operations to inmates to save money. Under the settlement, Corizon agreed to pay $1.7 million to current and former inmates. The Department […]

In a first-of-its kind decision, a federal judge in Tallahassee has ordered that local voting districts in nearby Jefferson County be redrawn, saying their boundaries are unconstitutional because of a system critics call “prison gerrymandering.” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Friday ruled against the county on a motion for summary judgment, effectively disposing of the case brought […]

The Federal District Court for Florida’s Northern District ruled Monday that the prison gerrymandering in Florida’s Jefferson County unconstitutionally dilutes the voting power of its residents. By packing inmates who can’t vote into a district, but counting them when drawing electoral maps, District Judge Mark Walker said the county had violated the “one person, one […]

(CN) – The Florida Department of Corrections routinely denies disabled prisoners access to wheelchairs, canes, sign language interpreters and even hearing aids, a disability rights group claims in court. In a lawsuit filed in Tallahassee Federal Court on behalf of 32 inmates, Disability Rights Florida claims the routinely encountered access of other difficulties that the […]

A group representing disabled inmates has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Florida prison officials of discriminating against prisoners who are deaf, blind or confined to wheelchairs, in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Tallahassee by Disability Rights Florida, alleges that the Department of Corrections failed to provide interpreters […]

Prompted by complaints that the needs of deaf, blind, and wheelchair-bound inmates are being routinely ignored, lawyers for a group of prisoners filed suit against the Florida Department of Corrections on Tuesday, claiming a litany of abuses. The lawsuit, filed by the Florida Justice Institute on behalf of Disability Rights Florida, includes accounts from 32 […]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – ​A federal court in the state Capitol is considering what could be a landmark case when it comes to who represents you in local government. The case boils down to whether it’s fair to count state prisoners when creating local districts. The county told the judge that if he rules against them, […]

(CN) – Prison Legal News asked the 11th Circuit to revive its challenge to a ban on its magazine from Florida jails and prisons. Prison Legal News, a monthly publication of the Human Rights Defense Center, is written by and for prisoners. The muckraking 72-page magazine features articles about abuses inside prisons and jails, and […]