Florida Justice Institute, Inc.

Florida Justice Institute (FJI) is a nonprofit, public interest law firm that uses impact litigation and advocacy to improve the lives of Florida’s disenfranchised residents and underinvested communities, while focusing on human rights in the justice system, empowerment for vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness and poverty, dignity and access for people with disabilities, and related civil rights issues.  

For over 45 years, FJI engaged in targeted civil rights litigation to achieve widespread and meaningful social progress. We have worked collaboratively with law firms, social justice organizations, and individuals to identify major, unmet needs in the community. During that span, FJI collaborated with: 

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• Florida Legal Services
• HOPE Fair Housing Center
• Morgan & Morgan
• Southern Poverty Law Center

FJI works to end systems of oppression and improve living conditions for vulnerable populations across Florida. Though a combination of class action and individual cases, FJI leverages its legal expertise to pursue access to justice that transcend typical lawsuits.

FJI pursues criminal justice reform by representing incarcerated people in cases seeking to improve prison and jail conditions; giving a voice to these individuals in a system that routinely violates and denies their basic humanity.

FJI pursues cases that catalyze the reform of Florida's inequitable criminal justice policies, including cases to improve prison conditions in areas such as medical and mental health care, abuse, violence, disability accommodations, free speech, dangerous understaffing, overcrowding, and solitary confinement.

FJI also seeks to alleviate poverty and advocates for the right to self-determination by encouraging smarter approaches to housing solutions while representing those experiencing homelessness and low-income residents in cases that seek to eliminate laws that criminalize someone’s lifestyle, their identity or circumstances, and other social determinants. Additionally, FJI brings cases for victims of housing discrimination.

FJI works to ensure governments and businesses maintain accessible facilities, which enable people with disabilities receive the accommodations they need to earn a living wage with dignity and respect.

Our efforts have achieved many accomplishments in recent years:

• Facilitated lifesaving treatment for approximately 8,000 incarcerated people with Hepatitis C and roughly 40,000 more per year are being diagnosed and monitored;
• Increased access for incarcerated individuals with disabilities to possess communication devices, programs, and services to ensure they can live with dignity, safety and independence;
• Earned a $2.1 million settlement resulting in appropriate treatment for all future incarcerated people with gastrointestinal issues in Florida;
• Secured over $8 million in recovery for victims of housing discrimination;
• Restored civil and voting rights for formerly incarcerated returning citizens; and
• Successfully repealed or enjoined several ordinances criminalizing the conduct of unhoused people that prevented hundreds of needless arrests annually.