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 […]
Inmates sue state in digital music dispute
TALLAHASSEE — Florida inmates are accusing state corrections officials of effectively stealing millions of dollars’ worth of digital music and books to benefit a new contractor. Attorneys with the Social Justice Law Collective and the Florida Justice Institute filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Tallahassee, alleging a Department of Corrections program is unconstitutional because it […]
Lawsuit accuses Florida Dept. of Corrections of multimillion-dollar digital media scam
A federal class action lawsuit accuses the Florida Department of Corrections of stealing millions of dollars of inmate-purchased digital music and books from prisoners. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida by the Florida Justice Institute and the Social Justice Law Collective on behalf of lifer William Demler, names state Corrections Secretary Mark […]
Lawsuit: FDC illegally requiring inmates to repurchase music, books
Two social justice organizations announced on Tuesday a class-action lawsuit alleging the Florida Department of Corrections forced inmates to surrender millions of dollars in downloaded books and music so they’ll have to repurchase them from its new vendor. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, says FDC sold digital media files to prisoners […]
Florida prisoners could form class action to demand refund on confiscated media players and files
The Florida Department of Corrections is facing a potential class action over recently forcing inmates to forfeit millions of dollars worth of mp3 and other multimedia files purchased under a since-axed media player contract. William Demler, a 74-year-old incarcerated man at South Florida Reception Center is the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed […]
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Florida Department of Corrections For Unlawfully Confiscating Millions of Dollars of Digital Music and Books
MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE – Today, the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) and the Social Justice Law Collective (SJLC) announced the filing of a federal class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for confiscating the lawfully purchased digital music and books of thousands of Florida prisoners. After years of selling digital music and books to Florida prisoners […]
Florida Is One of the Most Overincarcerated Places in U.S. Is It Likely to Change?
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Randy Ratledge doesn’t get out much. Since he was arrested in 2012, Ratledge, 61, has a fear of the police. He doesn’t like leaving his home, and definitely doesn’t like coming downtown, where he was locked up for 117 days. He faced 120 years in prison, and under the state’s minimum mandatory […]
DOC says aging inmates, mental health are driving up health care costs
Florida Department of Corrections staff briefed a House panel on the structure and status of prison health care Wednesday before detailing some of their 2019-20 budget requests. DOC in recent years has faced budget shortfalls, causing them to make dramatic cuts to inmate health care services. The $55 million shortfall last budget year caused officials to slash substance-abuse, […]
Hepatitis C Fight Hinges on Prisons
INMATES AND THEIR advocates are pushing for legal and political fixes to fight hepatitis C, a public health problem experts say can’t be solved in the U.S. overall without first tackling it within prison walls. The hepatitis C virus attacks the liver and can turn deadly: Research shows it was associated with more fatalities in 2013 than 60 […]
Inmate health costs drive up prison budget in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (NEWS SERVICE FLORIDA) – Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to fund the Florida Department of Corrections next year at $2.7 billion, a spending plan that has some criminal-justice reform advocates pointing to struggles facing Florida’s prison system as a result of increased health-care costs. Following litigation, the state needs to meet court mandates requiring it […]
‘You’re Going to Let Me Die From This’: Prisoners Fight to Access a Hepatitis-C Cure
On May 15, 2017, after serving 37 years, David Maldonado was released from prison. He had been sentenced to life for a murder he committed when he was 16. But for Maldonado, getting out was about more than freedom; his release might have also saved his life. In 1997, Maldonado was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C—a disease, now curable, […]
Attorney Randall Berg, defender of downtrodden, retires after ALS diagnosis
For more than 40 years, Randall Berg fought for the rights of the downtrodden, disabled, disenfranchised and even the despised. As founder and executive director of the Florida Justice Institute, the soft-spoken 70-year-old Miami attorney battled powerful landowners and intransigent state agencies — most notably the Florida Department of Corrections — to right wrongs suffered by people who society often […]