The Florida Justice Institute (FJI) is a nonprofit public interest

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. It was established in 1978 by Randall C. Berg Jr. The institute has been dedicated to improving conditions in Florida's prison system and has initiated numerous

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s toward this end. Berg is past president of the Florida

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...

. Berg also served on Governor

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...

' Transition Criminal Justice Task Force and is the past Chairman of the Corrections Committee. The Florida Justice Institute is led by Executive Director Randall C. Berg Jr., and is staffed by attorneys who handle major, systemic civil rights litigation throughout the state of Florida. FJI litigates primarily on behalf of those incarcerated in Florida's prisons and jails. These types of cases include wrongful death, deliberate indifference to serious medical need, unconstitutional conditions of confinement, excessive force, failure to protect, First Amendment (including free speech, censorship, and religious freedom), disability discrimination, and others. FJI also conducts litigation for non-incarcerated victims of housing discrimination, disability discrimination, police misconduct, and engages in various other forms of

impact litigation Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of bringing lawsuits intended to effect societal change. Impact litigation cases may be class action lawsuits or individual claims with broader significance, and may rely on s ...

, education, and advocacy for the poor and disenfranchised. The Florida Justice Institute also operates the Volunteer Lawyers' Project for the Southern District of Florida, a pro bono project that helps low-income, pro se litigants obtain pro bono attorneys for civil cases. The Florida Justice Institute and the Volunteer Lawyers' Project are both housed in office space donated by the law firm of

Carlton Fields Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyter ...

, P.A. In 2007 the institute settled the ''Parilla v. Eslinger'' strip search class action lawsuit. In 2001 the institute collaborated with the Florida ACLU to protect the voting rights of Florida's poor and disenfranchised. In 1996 the institute advocated for Blacks and Hispanics who were being discriminated against in the housing market. In 2000 the institute was instrumental in eliminating Florida's Amendment 2, which would have enshrined the death penalty in the state's Constitution. The Florida Justice Institute regularly collaborates with

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and

Prison Legal News ''Prison Legal News'' (''PLN'') is a monthly American magazine and online periodical published since May 1990. It primarily reports on criminal justice issues and prison and jail-related civil litigation, mainly in the United States. It is a pro ...

to advocate for prisoners' rights.

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1978 Government watchdog groups in the United States Legal advocacy organizations in the United States Law firms based in Miami 1978 establishments in Florida Law firms established in 1978