Our Victories

Tillman v. Miller

In 1983 and 1988, cases were filed by inmates against the Brevard County Jail, alleging that overcrowding had led to dangerous and unsanitary conditions. The case was first litigated by attorney James K. Green, and culminated with the entry of a consent decree in 1993 requiring certain improvements to the Jail and requiring the Jail to keep the number of inmates below a certain threshold.  Since then, FJI has periodically conducted monitoring to ensure that Brevard County continues to comply with the consent decree.

Murphy v. Florida Department of Corrections

FJI filed a lawsuit for the family of a man who died by suicide in prison, seeking to reform the mental health care provided to incarcerated people. 

Objections to New Mail Restrictions for Inmates

FJI wrote an official letter objecting to a proposed FDOC rule that would impose burdens on confidential legal mail.

Vidal v. Florida Department of Corrections, et al, in the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County (Case No. 2018-029923 CA 01)

FJI won a significant settlement for the family of an incarcerated man who was murdered at Dade CI, a notoriously violent prison.

Florida Justice Institute Opposes Rule Restricting Inmate Telephone Usage

FJI successfully objected to a proposed rule that would have made it more difficult for incarcerated people to get assistance from attorneys.

Settlement Reached: Demler v. Inch, Case No. 4:19-CV-0094

FJI secured a final settlement approval in a class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) challenging the confiscation of millions of dollars of digital music from incarcerated people in Florida. 

Precautions for COVID-19

FJI joined Florida’s leading civil rights organizations to urge state and local officials to take appropriate steps to protect homeless people and people incarcerated in Florida's prisons and jails from COVID-19.

Read about our efforts

Carl Hoffer, et al. v. Inch Case No. 4:17cv214-MW/CAS

FJI secured a final order in our ongoing hepatitis C litigation, requiring the FDC to test, monitor, and treat every incarcerated person with the disease. 

G.H. v. Marstiller No. Case 4:19-cv-00431-MW-MJF

Partnering with Southern Poverty Law Center and Florida Legal Services, FJI filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s use of solitary confinement on incarcerated children, and secured an order recognizing that the Constitution requires those children to be treated differently than adults. 

Thompson v. Belhomme

While locked behind a steel door in his cell, Mr. Thompson put his arm outside of the door’s food flap to ask an officer about an upcoming medical appointment he had.  The officer ran over to the door and kicked the food flap shut, crushing Mr. Thompson’s hand, requiring surgery and months of physical therapy.  The officer was suspended for 30 days.  Mr. Thompson filed a pro se lawsuit and ably represented himself for years as the case was transferred from one venue to another.  When the case was finally set for trial, FJI was contacted through the Volunteer Lawyers Project, and ultimately negotiated a settlement on his behalf.  

Rommell Johnson

FJI, co-counseling with Florida Institutional Legal Services, sued the Florida Department of Corrections for the death of Rommell Johnson.  Mr. Johnson was severely asthmatic and one day suffered an asthma attack that required a nebulizer treatment in his cell.  Later that evening, he was sprayed with chemical agents (pepper spray) for allegedly making noise in his cell, and died of asphyxiation as a result.  Claims were brought for negligence, deliberate indifference to serious medical need, and for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, for failing to provide Mr. Johnson with an alternate use of force as a reasonable accommodation. The case was settled for $175,000. Hopefully, the FDOC will evaluate its use of force policies to exempt people with respiratory illnesses from the use of chemical agents.  

Butler v. McDonough, No. 3:04-cv-00917

This case was a major win for prisoners' rights in Florida. FJI, along with Holland & Knight and Florida Institutional Legal Services, represented eight inmates with severe mental illnesses who were regularly sprayed with pepper spray. After five years of litigation and a trial in Jacksonville, the District Court ruled it unconstitutional to use chemical agents on mentally ill inmates who cannot comply with prison rules due to their condition. The court ordered mental health intervention before using such agents, a decision upheld by the Eleventh Circuit. The Florida Department of Corrections later agreed to pay $1.6 million in attorneys' fees. This case sets a precedent aimed at reducing the use of chemical agents on mentally ill inmates.

Carr v. United States, No: 5:06-cv-00190

In a case co-counseled with Carlton Fields, P.A. Mr. Carr filed a Federal Tort Claims Act case against the Bureau of Prisons for failing to meet the standard of care in treating his chest pains and eventual congestive heart failure. Mr. Carr was seen multiple times in the days leading up to his eventual hospitalizations, however the Bureau of Prisons failed to timely refer him to a cardiologist or appreciate the severity of his symptoms. The case settled for $400,000.

Haney v. Miami-Dade County, No. 1:04-CV-20516, 2004 WL 2203481 (S.D. Fla.)

In the wake of mass arrests that occurred after FTAA protests in Miami, lawyers for FJI received information the Miami-Dade County jail was strip-searching the female arrestees, but not the male arrestees, who had been arrested for minor offenses and with no individualized suspicion. FJI brought suit on behalf of a class of women to stop this practice. The case eventually settled for $6.25 million to be split among the class of plaintiffs. As a result of the lawsuit, Miami-Dade County changed its policy to allow strip searches prior to a first appearance before a judge only if the charged offense involved violence, weapons, or drugs, or if there was some other individualized suspicion relating to contraband.

Osterback v. Moore, Case No. 97-2806-civ-Huck (S.D. Fla.)

Statewide class action sought to reform the FDOC’s solitary confinement system, which warehoused thousands of people, often for years on end, with little or no mental health treatment and no viable method of being returned to the general population. The settlement reached resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of people held in solitary, greater mental health treatment, and a required step-down method for eventual return to the general population.

Stapleton v. Singletary, No. 88-14178-civ-JCP, S.D. Fla., affirmed, 52 F.3d 1071 (11th Cir.)

A class action constitutional challenge to Florida’s system of protective custody, which held inmates who feared for their lives in isolation for extended periods of time. The resulting settlement completely changed the Florida Department of Corrections’ protective custody procedures and the conditions for those being held there.

Ancata v. Prison Health Services, 769 F.2d 700 (11th Cir.)

Landmark appellate decision established for the first time that private correctional actors operate under color of state law and are liable for constitutional violations, and contracting government officials have a non-delegable duty to provide medical care for inmates despite the contract for services. This case also helped define what constitutes deliberate indifference to serious medical needs under the 8th Amendment.

Arias v. Wainwright, Case No. TCA 79-0792 (N.D. Fla.)

The largest and only statewide jail conditions class action ever successfully brought in the country. Challenged the FDOCs’ failure to promulgate jail regulations, inspect county jails, and enforce jail standards in Florida’s 211 jails, which resulted in horrid living conditions for the thousands of people housed in those facilities. A settlement in 1981 brought tremendous relief, and over the course of the 15 year consent decree, crowded and unsanitary jails were either closed or significantly improved largely due to enforcement lawsuits brought against non-complying counties by the FDOC.