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 […]
Press Coverage
In this section you'll find press coverage of our work.
Florida breached agreement to accommodate inmates with disabilities, lawsuit says From the Miami Herald
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, […]
Florida’s troubled teens don’t belong in ‘the hole’ | Opinion Special to the Sun Sentinel
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 […]
Florida shrugs off the cruelty of locking children in solitary cells | Fred Grimm South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida continues to consign children to the sensory deprivation and unceasing loneliness of solitary confinement. As if the Department of Juvenile Justice still regards sadism as a best practice. State lawyers last week asked a federal judge to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Legal Services and the Florida […]
Lawsuits aim to stop Florida’s use of solitary confinement for children, but state agencies are pushing back From the Orlando Weekly
In separate but parallel lawsuits, civil-rights and legal groups are challenging Florida’s use of solitary confinement in prisons and juvenile detention centers – but are facing pushback from state agencies. The Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Legal Services and the Florida Justice Institute this year sued the state Department of Corrections and the Department of […]
Closing the door on solitary confinement | Commentary From the Orlando Sentinel
Recently, a federal lawsuit was brought against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) over its excessive reliance on solitary confinement, despite an abundance of information about its damaging effects. Some critics warn that solitary confinement might be increasingly used as a management tool by understaffed correctional officers in many overcrowded state prisons. It has been […]
Florida Prisons Targeted Over Solitary Confinement From the Daily Business Review
Florida is an “outlier” in prison systems across the nation when it comes to the use of solitary confinement, according to a 90-page federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that alleges the state Department of Corrections is violating the constitutional rights of inmates. Attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center named the state agency and Secretary Mark […]
News Coverage of Solitary Confinement Lawsuit
https://www.nbcmiami.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Suit-Says-Solitary-Confinement-Police-Cruel-Excessive_Miami-509676192.html https://www.theledger.com/news/20190508/lawsuit-seeks-to-end-solitary-confinement-in-florida-prisons/4 https://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-solitary-confinement-policy-excessive-and-cruel-lawsuit-says https://www.wfla.com/news/politics/federal-suit-filed-to-end-solitary-confinement-in-florida/1989993175 https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2019/05/08/transgender-inmate-sues-fdc-over-solitary-confinement/1134061001/ http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/florida-prisons-targeted-over-solitary-confinement https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2019/05/09/florida-prisons-targeted-over-solitary-confinement/
‘Long and sordid history of neglect’: Judge demands Florida must treat all inmates with hepatitis C From the Tampa Bay Times
Blasting the Florida Department of Corrections’ “long and sordid history of neglecting” inmates who have hepatitis C infections, and citing a “risk of such deliberate indifference reoccurring in the future,” a federal judge ordered Thursday evening that the state must treat all inmates with the disease. The order is the result of a class-action lawsuit […]
Judge blasts Florida in final order requiring treatment of inmates for Hepatitis C From the Miami Herald
Blasting the Florida Department of Corrections’ “long and sordid history of neglecting” inmates who have Hepatitis C infections, and citing a “risk of such deliberate indifference reoccurring in the future,” a federal judge ordered Thursday evening that the state must treat all inmates with the disease. The order is the result of a class-action lawsuit […]
