Dear Mayor Suarez, Chair Hardemon, and City Attorney Méndez: We, undersigned ACLU cooperating attorneys, Pottinger Class Representa-tive, the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU of Florida, Southern Legal Counsel, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, and other stakeholders, express our strong opposition to the proposed municipal ordinance restricting the public service of food […]
FJI condemns state-sanctioned violence against Black communities
We condemn the brutal murder of George Floyd and the countless other Black people who have been victims of police violence and racist oppression. As we deeply mourn their needless deaths, we recognize that they are only the most recent examples of a deeper current of racialized police brutality that pervades our law enforcement institutions. […]
Court Approves Preliminary Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit Against FDOC For Confiscation of Millions of Dollars of Digital Music
MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE/TAMPA BAY – Today, a federal judge preliminarily approved a settlement resolving a statewide class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) involving the confiscation of millions of dollars of lawfully purchased digital music from incarcerated people in Florida. The settlement requires the FDOC to provide 3.9 million credits for class members to […]
Miami Beach Once Again Tries to Ban Panhandling, a Constitutionally Protected Activity
For years, Miami Beach leaders have done their utmost to make the city an unpleasant place for homeless people. Advocates have long complained that the city’s homeless outreach office treats homeless residents rudely and isn’t open when it’s supposed to be. Since 2016, the city’s police force has used the courts to commit drug- and alcohol-addicted […]
Civil Rights Groups Demand Answers from the City of Miami about the Treatment of People Living under the I-395 Overpass on 11th Street Northwest
We – the Greater Miami ACLU, litigants in Pottinger v. City of Miami, Southern Legal Counsel, and other advocates attempting to protect the rights of our local homeless residents – write to express our outrage at the indefensible and inhumane assault conducted this morning on the personal safety, health, and property of homeless persons under […]
Civil Rights Groups Urge State Officials to Reduce Incarceration and Increase Testing
COVID-19 has begun to spread through Florida’s prisons, and will continue to do so unless dramatic action is taken to stop the impending humanitarian crisis. That’s why we’re asking state officials to do more to protect the health and safety of some of Florida’s most vulnerable residents. In a letter sent yesterday, FJI and other […]
Despite Coronavirus Warnings, Miami Area Police Are Still Arresting Hundreds of Homeless People
Between March 12—when Miami-Dade County instituted a local state of emergency to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus—and April 30, police departments within Miami-Dade County arrested homeless people at least 313 times. Among the arrestees were at least 41 people charged with petit theft or attempted petit theft; 13 for simple battery; 26 for […]
Florida Justice Institute is Second Runner-Up of the 2020 Goldstein-Van Nortwick Award for Excellence
On April 7, 2020, the Florida Bar Foundation announced that the Florida Justice Institute is Second Runner-Up of the 2020 Goldstein-Van Nortwick Award for its exceptional legal advocacy for the Hepatitis C Class Action litigation. A special selection committee was created to review, score, and select the award winners. This year’s Goldstein-Van Nortwick selection committee […]
Civil Rights Groups Demand Precautions for People in Florida’s Prisons and Jails
With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, we know these may be difficult times for many people. That is especially true for people incarcerated in Florida’s prisons and jails. That’s why, in addition to taking steps to safeguard our employees and communities, we are also demanding adequate precautions for those who may be most […]
Arrested panhandler fights city’s law, saying it violated his free speech right
More than 100 people have run afoul of Pompano Beach’s ban on street solicitation in recent years, leading to a string of arrests and citations. But for one arrested homeless man, it has become a battleground for repealing the law that landed him behind bars. Bernard McDonald, a homeless and disabled laborer, is suing the […]
FJI Files Lawsuit Challenging Pompano Beach’s Anti-Panhandling Ordinance as Unconstitutional
Today, 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 […]
Senate proposal funds Department of Corrections pilot program, officer pay raises
The Senate is proposing spending more than $5.5 billion on the state’s Department of Corrections, court system and law enforcement agencies (SB 2500). That number includes general revenue and trust fund revenue. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Chair Jeff Brandes said DOC has serious serious problems on which lawmakers must take action. […]
Claim of chronic overcrowding at Brevard Jail lands county back in federal court
For years, the Brevard County Jail has housed hundreds of inmates over its “operational capacity,” in apparent violation of a 27-year-old court decree, according to a motion filed in federal court in Orlando last week by a prisoners’ rights group. The Miami-based Florida Justice Institute filed the motion, seeking an order to show cause as to […]
More tax dollars won’t solve Florida’s dire prison crisis
Last year, a Florida prison inmate at Martin Correctional Institution used a hidden camera to document the conditions there. It showed inmates living in mold-infested squalor, passed out on synthetic drugs, and continuous, horrific violence. The video documents for the public what most legislators already knew: Florida’s prisons are crumbling. Illegal drugs are rampant. Assaults […]
FJI Returns to Court to Enforce Brevard Jail Overcrowding Consent Decree
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI) has filed a Motion for Order to Show Cause to enforce a Consent Decree that prohibits overcrowding in the Brevard County Jail. The Decree requires the jail population to remain below a certain level, but in recent years the population has exceeded that level. FJI has been monitoring the Decree […]
FJI 2019 Year in Review
It’s been quite a year for FJI, and we want to thank you for all the support that has made our work possible. While we mourned the loss of our dear friend and founder, Randy Berg, we continue to celebrate his life by advancing the work that he started. Some of this year’s accomplishments include: We […]
Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Juvenile Solitary Confinement
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 […]
Florida breached agreement to accommodate inmates with disabilities, lawsuit says
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, […]