A 51-year-old inmate at the nation’s largest women’s prison was gravely injured this week in what was described as a violent assault by staff, including a lieutenant. According to sources close to Lowell Correctional Institution, the woman became involved in a confrontation with corrections officers as she sought to declare a psychological emergency. Under proper […]
Lawsuit: Florida Inmate Thrown In Solitary for Biting Guard While Having Seizure
A 28-year-old former Florida inmate with a history of epilepsy says he was beaten and thrown in solitary confinement for seven months after he involuntarily bit a correctional officer while having a seizure. In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last month and first reported by The Miami Herald, Dean Higgins claims he suffered a grand mal seizure last September at […]
Allegedly beaten and sent to isolation after epileptic seizure, a Florida prisoner sues
Last September, a 28-year-old autistic man experienced an epileptic seizure at Desoto Correctional Institution, about 50 miles north of Fort Myers. Instead of receiving prompt medical care, he alleges he was beaten by corrections officers, then placed in isolation for the balance of his two-year sentence. Dean Higgins is now suing the Florida Department of Corrections and […]
Experience the soaring temperatures of Florida’s prisons firsthand on Friday, August 23
Miami – More than 60,000 prisoners in Florida go without relief from the scorching summer temperatures. FAMM and Florida Cares are inviting the public to participate in a “Beat the Heat” awareness event, where they will be challenged to spend three minutes in an interactive exhibit featuring a mock prison cell. The event will be held […]
Banned behind bars: 20,000 books can’t be read by Florida inmates; the list may surprise you
How to Leave Prison Early” is not welcome in Florida prisons. The Department of Corrections has declared the how-to book on work release, parole and clemency off limits for the 96,000 inmates in state custody. “It makes no sense. All it does is explain Florida law to help inmates and families understand their options and […]
‘We Wouldn’t Treat Our Animals This Way’: Lack Of AC In Record Heat Puts Florida Prisons To The Test
This last May was the hottest ever recorded in the Sunshine State. That was followed by higher-than-average temperatures in June and July. The scorching hot temperatures means thousands of inmates across the state are spending what could potentially be a record-breaking summer without access to air conditioning. The Florida Department of Corrections operates 50 “major […]
Florida correctional officers charged after video shows inmate being beaten
Three Lake County correctional officers are charged and were fired after a YouTube video posted by an inmate showed them beating another inmate at the Lake Correctional Institute, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. The correctional officers in the video would also be fired immediately, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Read the full article.
Closing the door on solitary confinement | Commentary
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
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/
Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Massive Overuse of Solitary Confinement in Florida Prisons
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Admire Harvard has spent nearly 10 years locked up in solitary confinement in the Florida prison system. Harvard, a 28-year-old black transgender woman, has been subjected to solitary confinement in a men’s prison since September 2009. Due to conditions in solitary confinement, she suffers from depression, anxiety and auditory hallucinations, and has […]
‘Long and sordid history of neglect’: Judge demands Florida must treat all inmates with hepatitis C
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
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 […]
Court Issues Final Order in Prison Class Action Requiring Treatment for All Incarcerated People with Hepatitis C
On April 18, 2019, Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida issued a final order in the Florida Justice Institute’s (FJI) prison class action, granting the plaintiffs’ request to require the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) to provide treatment to all incarcerated people with Hepatitis C (HCV), including […]
Our Dear Friend Randy
We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved founder, friend, and mentor Randy Berg has died after a battle with ALS. Randy co-founded the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) in 1978 and served as its Executive Director for 41 years until his retirement in 2019. During that time, he was a mentor, friend, colleague, leader, […]
Miami Attorney Reps Florida Prisoners in Class Action Over Impounded Music
A federal lawsuit is accusing the Florida Department of Corrections of unlawfully separating Florida inmates from their rightful property, namely, digital media they’d purchased in prison. The class action filed in the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday charges the FDOC and its newly appointed secretary, Mark Inch, with violating Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment assurances […]
Florida inmate says prison sold him $569 of music, then took it away
Florida inmate William Demler says that since 2012, he has spent $569.50 on digital music via a proprietary digital music service sponsored by the Florida prison system. Demler listened to his music on a prison-sponsored music player he purchased for $99.95. Demler, who is serving a life sentence, says ads for the prison-sponsored service promised […]
Florida prisons are getting sued for erasing $11 million worth of prisoner music purchase
A Florida prison inmate is suing after a switch between contractors removed prisoners’ access to millions of dollars’ worth of their own music. As reported by The Florida Times-Union, William Demler filed a class-action suit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) — which he says falsely promised to let inmates buy music permanently through one digital […]