FORT LAUDERDALE. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the City of Fort Lauderdale from enforcing its two panhandling ordinances, finding that Plaintiffs Mark Messina and Bernard McDonald have shown that the laws are likely unconstitutional restrictions on free speech in violation of the First Amendment. The lawsuit, brought by the […]
ACLU alarmed, seeks to overturn ruling on Boynton mom filming police
Journalism organizations and civil rights groups are joining forces to overturn a West Palm Beach appeals court decision that they claim could block the press and the public from videotaping police. Raising the specter of cellphone footage that captured George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, ACLU attorneys on Friday urged the 4th District Court of Appeal […]
A Bill Limiting Youth Solitary Confinement In Florida Failed This Year. Here’s What The Practice Entails
What sticks most with Catherine Jones is the darkness. At night, when the sun no longer streamed through the small window of her isolation cell, the cockroaches would come out. Alone, tucked away in the corner of her cell, she’d beg the guard outside to keep her lights on through the night. Some would. Some […]
FJI Calls for Manatee County to Evacuate Jail to Protect Incarcerated People from Toxic Water
The Piney Point phosphate processing plant is threatening to release 300 million gallons of toxic water throughout Manatee County, causing flooding of up to 20 feet. Residents have been ordered to evacuate, but thus far the sheriff has refused to evacuate the jail, which is within the evacuation zone. FJI, along with numerous community partners, […]
Judge tells Florida prison system: You can’t harass inmates just for complaining
A federal judge granted a protective order on Monday to inmates suing the Florida Department of Corrections and its secretary, Mark Inch, for what they say are unconstitutional isolation practices. The inmates — housed in isolation at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, Lowell Correctional Institution and the Reception and Medical Center, a prison […]
Homeless Broward residents challenge Fort Lauderdale’s anti-panhandling laws in court
FORT LAUDERDALE — Mike Messina and Bernard McDonald, who are lifelong Broward County residents and have been homeless at various points in their lives, are challenging Fort Lauderdale’s anti-panhandling laws. They say the measures are an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. One of Fort Lauderdale’s ordinances prohibits anyone from requesting donations in all public parks, city parking […]
Lawsuit Challenges Fort Lauderdale’s Anti-Panhandling Ordinances as Unconstitutional
FORT LAUDERDALE Today, 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 […]
Court Gives Final Approval to Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit Against Florida Department of Corrections Over Confiscation of Millions of Dollars of Digital Music
MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE/TAMPA BAY – Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle gave final approval to a settlement resolving a statewide class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for the confiscation of millions of dollars of digital music from incarcerated people in Florida, the result of a nearly two-year-long legal challenge brought by the Florida […]
DeSantis’ latest proposal would harm the Black community | Letters
The draft text of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ first piece of proposed legislation since COVID-19 began to pummel Florida is finally circulating. The Defeat COVID-19 and Renew Florida Act? No — The Combatting Violence, Disorder, and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act. DeSantis’ proposed legislation is his reaction to the protests this summer after the killings […]
FJI Board member Benjamine Reid awarded Daily Business Review’s Lifetime Achievement Award
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District Court Rules that Some Incarcerated People Are Eligible for $1200 Payment
The federal government passed the CARES Act to give some people $1200. Thanks to a class action lawsuits brought by other organizations, some incarcerated people are eligible to receive these payments. Here’s more information about the case: https://www.lieffcabraser.com/pdf/CARES_notice_v3.pdf. Please note: If you are or were incarcerated at some point since March 27, 2020, you may […]
Florida Justice Institute and Other Stakeholders Oppose Proposed “Regulations for Street and Public Large Group Feedings” Ordinance
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 […]