Every Donation Makes a Difference

For 29 years I have been part of the incredible team at FJI representing the most vulnerable in our society.  We take on cases in Florida that no one else will.  We seek to bring about change and to treat people with dignity. Your donation, no matter the size, will help fund our work. It will go directly to what we do each day.  It's because of generous donors like you, that we can keep fighting.  This past year alone we have:

• Investigated, built, and filed a class action lawsuit aiming to stop the dangerously hot conditions at one South Florida prison.  
• We secured a victory in our lawsuit against Fort Lauderdale on behalf of two homeless individuals—after a three-and-a-half-year fight, a federal judge declared an ordinance that prohibited requesting donations in certain locations unconstitutional, thereby avoiding dozens of needless arrests.
• We filed a lawsuit against St. Johns County for arresting homeless and poor people under an ordinance that criminalizes requesting donations along roadways.
• We filed a lawsuit on behalf of five incarcerated women who allege they were sexually assaulted by a prison doctor, as part of the fight against rampant sexual abuse at a central Florida women’s prison.
• We filed and settled a lawsuit on behalf of a homeless man against the City of Miami over an unconstitutional panhandling ordinance that resulted in the City repealing the ordinance and our client receiving stable housing and healthcare.
• We filed and settled cases against Lake City and Columbia County for enforcing unconstitutional panhandling ordinances, resulting in damages for our clients and repeal of the ordinances, which has avoided dozens of needless arrests of homeless people.
• We filed a lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville, aiming to end a restrictive panhandling ordinance enforced against homeless people.
• We represented an incarcerated man, trying to stop the Florida Department of Corrections from using a “cost of incarceration” lien to take the money he received from a civil rights lawsuit.
• We continued to litigate our lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections on behalf of the family of a man who committed suicide with a chainsaw; that case has caused a policy change requiring more in-depth investigation of people with mental health history before placing them in dangerous prison jobs. 
• We continued to litigate our lawsuit on behalf of people who don’t want to broadcast government messages about them on branded driver licenses. 
• We helped a client regain her right to attend school board meetings after being barred from them for making unpopular comments. 
• We helped incarcerated people with disabilities secure needed accommodations in prison. 
• We helped ensure a man entering prison received medications to treat opioid use disorder, ensuring that he would not suffer through withdrawal symptoms. 
• We provided informal advocacy to dozens of people who sought our help with getting access to medical care in prison, or helping family members get information about what happed to their loved ones who passed away in prison.