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U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida (T
allahassee) CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 4:19-cv-00212-MW
 -MAF

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HARVARD et al v. INCH et al

Assigned to: CHIEF JUDGE M
 ARK E WALKER

Referred to: MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A 
FITZPATRICK

Demand: $0




Cause: 42:19
83 Prisoner Civil Rights

Plaintiff
JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND A
LL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED
 also known as ADMIRE HAR
 VARD

Date Filed: 05/08/2019 Jury Demand: Defendan
 t Nature of Suit: 555 Prison
 Condition Jurisdiction: Federal Question

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES

FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES INC - NEWBERRY FL

14260 W NEWBERRY RD

SUITE 412

NEWBERRY, FL 32669

352-375-2494

Fax: 352-271-4366

Email: cjones@filsinc.org


LEAD ATTORNEY





ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED




JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER

PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE - TALLAHASSEE FL

3167 FERNS GLEN DRIVE

TALLAHASSEE, FL 32309

904-415-6798

Email: jennifer.painter@floridalegal.org


TERMINATED: 04/01/2021





LEAD ATTORNEY







LORI E RIFKIN

RIFKIN LAW OFFICE - OAKLAND CA

3630 HIGH STREET

SUITE 18917

OAKLAND, CA 94619

510-414-4132

Email: lrifkin@rifkinlawoffice.com


LEAD ATTORNEY





ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED




SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER -

TALLAHASSEE FL

106 E COLLEGE AVENUE

SUITE 1010

TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301

706-473-6329

Email: shaluram@gmail.com


TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 


LEAD ATTORNEY





ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED




SUMAYYA SALEH

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER -

TALLAHASSEE FL

106 E COLLEGE AVENUE

SUITE 1010

TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301

813-351-9423

Email: sumayya@civilrightscorps.org


TERMINATED: 12/10/2020





LEAD ATTORNEY







AIMEE CRISTEN LIM

FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES INC - ORLANDO FL PO BOX 533986 ORLANDO, FL 32853 407-553-2550 Email: aimee.lim@floridalegal.org
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2021
ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES INC - ORLANDO FL PO BOX 533986 ORLANDO, FL 32853 407-553-2075 Email: alexis.alvarez@floridalegal.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
ANDREA COSTELLO FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES 14260 W NEWBERRY ROAD #412 NEWBERRY, FL 32669 407-801-0332 Fax: 407-505-7327 Email: andrea@floridalegal.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI FLORIDA JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC- MIAMI FL PO BOX 370747 MIAMI, FL 33137 305-358-2081 Email: dtrevisani@floridajusticeinstitute.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KARA SHELI WALLIS FLORIDA JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC- MIAMI FL PO BOX 370747 MIAMI, FL 33137 786-342-6916 Email: kwallis@floridajusticeinstitute.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KRISTA ANN DOLAN SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER TALLAHASSEE FL 106 E COLLEGE AVENUE SUITE 1010 TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301 850-521-3024 Fax: 350-521-3001 Email: krista.dolan@splcenter.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LAURA ANNE FERRO FLORIDA JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC- MIAMI FL PO BOX 370747 MIAMI, FL 33137 786-342-6922 Email: lferro@floridajusticeinstitute.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LEONARD J LAURENCEAU SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER - MIAMI FL 2 S BISCAYNE BOULEVARD 32ND FLOOR MIAMI, FL 33131 305-546-5517 Email: leo.laurenceau@splcenter.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LISA S GRAYBILL NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER - AUSTIN TX

Plaintiff J H
 TER
MINATED: 05/27/2021

PO BOX 40476 AUSTIN, TX 78704 213-493-6503 Email: graybill@nilc.org
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR FLORIDA JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC- MIAMI FL 2915 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD SUITE 300-21 MIAMI, FL 33137 305-302-8616 Email: mlilavois@floridajusticeinstitute.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER MONTGOMERY AL 400 WASHINGTON AVE MONTGOMERY, AL 36104 334-956-8200 Email: marta.jaszczolt@splcenter.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES INC - ORLANDO FL PO BOX 533986 ORLANDO, FL 32853 407-801-4709 Fax: 407-505-7327 Email: rachel.ortiz@floridalegal.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES - ORLANDO FL PO BOX 533986 ORLANDO, FL 32853 407-801-4530 Email: rebecca.klonel@floridalegal.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO FLORIDA JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC- MIAMI FL PO BOX 370747 MIAMI, FL 33137 305-358-2081 Email: sthypin-bermeo@floridajusticeinstitute.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KELLY JEAN KNAPP SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER - MIAMI FL PO BOX 12463 MIAMI, FL 33101 786-347-2056 Fax: 786-237-2949 Email: kelly.knapp@splcenter.org
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 


JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 04/01/2
021


LEAD ATTORNEY







LORI E RIFKIN (See above for address)


LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SUMAYYA SALEH (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 12/10/2020
 LEAD ATTORNEY
AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2021
ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KRISTA ANN DOLAN (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LISA S GRAYBILL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KELLY JEAN KNAPP

Plaintiff ANGEL MEDDLER
 TERMINATED: 12/02/
2020
Plaintiff JUAN ESPINOSA ON BEHALF OF TH
EMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED

(See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 


JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED



SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 09/29/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







SUMAYYA SALEH

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 12/10/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2
021



ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LISA S GRAYBILL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2
020



MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 


JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 04/01/2
021


LEAD ATTORNEY







LORI E RIFKIN

(See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SUMAYYA SALEH (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 12/10/2020
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2021
ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KRISTA ANN DOLAN (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
LISA S GRAYBILL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Plaintiff
JEROME BURGESS ON BEHALF OF THEM
 SELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED
 also known as SHAM'LA GO
 D ALLAH

KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 


JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 04/01/2
021


LEAD ATTORNEY







LORI E RIFKIN (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED



SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 09/29/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







SUMAYYA SALEH

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 12/10/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2
021



ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



KRISTA ANN DOLAN (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LISA S GRAYBILL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2
020



MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ

Plaintiff
JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES
 AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED

(See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

represented by CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL JONES (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 


JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 04/01/2
021


LEAD ATTORNEY







LORI E RIFKIN (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED



SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 09/29/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







SUMAYYA SALEH

(See above for address)


TERMINATED: 12/10/2
020


LEAD ATTORNEY







AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2
021



ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



KRISTA ANN DOLAN (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED



LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED

Plaintiff
JOHNNY HILL ON BEHALF OF T
 HEMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED

LISA S GRAYBILL (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 09/29/2020
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by LORI E RIFKIN (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 AIMEE CRISTEN LIM (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 05/10/2
021 
 ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 JENNIFER MORRISSEY PAINTER (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 04/01/2
021 
 KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 KRISTA ANN DOLAN (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 


Plaintiff AMY FERGUSON ON BEHALF OF TH
EMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED
 TERMINATED: 07/14/202
1
Plaintiff TRACEY DEAN ON BEHALF OF T
HEMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARY SITUATED

MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
REBECCA RENEE KLONEL (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SUMAYYA SALEH (See above for address)
 TERMINATED: 12/10/2020
KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by ANDREA COSTELLO (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 KARA SHELI WALLIS (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 KELLY JEAN KNAPP (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 LAURA ANNE FERRO (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 LEONARD J LAURENCEAU (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 LORI E RIFKIN (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS , JR (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT

Plaintiff
JEREMIAH HILL ON BEHALF OF TH
EMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARYLY SITUATED

V. 

Defendant

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

AN AGENCY OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA




(See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by DANIEL J GERBER RUMBERGER KIRK & CALDWELL PA - ORLANDO FL 300 S ORANGE AVENUE SUITE 1400 ORLANDO, FL 32801 407/872-7300 Fax: 841-2133 Email: dgerber@rumberger.com
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED 
 
 JEFFREY JAMES GROSHOLZ RUMBERGER KIRK & CALDWELL PA TALLAHASSEE FL 101 NORTH MONROE STREET STE 120 TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301 850-222-6550 Email: jgrosholz@rumberger.com
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED 
 
 JOSHUA D LERNER RUMBERGER KIRK & CALDWELL - MIAMI FL BRICKELL BAYVIEW CTR - STE 3000 80 SW 8TH ST MIAMI, FL 33130-3047 Email: jlerner@rumberger.com
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED 
 
 NICOLE SIEB SMITH RUMBERGER KIRK & CALDWELL PA TALLAHASSEE FL 101 NORTH MONROE STREET STE 120 TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301 850-222-6550 Fax: 850-222-8783 Email: nsmith@rumberger.com
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED 
 
 SAMANTHA CRAWFORD DUKE RUMBERGER KIRK & CALDWELL PA - ORLANDO FL 300 S ORANGE AVENUE SUITE 1400 ORLANDO, FL 32801 407-872-7300 Fax: 407-841-2133

Defendant
MARK INCH IN HIS OFFICI
AL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Email: sduke@rumberger.com
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by DANIEL J GERBER (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 JEFFREY JAMES GROSHOLZ (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 NICOLE SIEB SMITH (See above for address)
 LEAD ATTORNEY
 
 ATTORNEY TO BE
NOTICED 
 JOSHUA D LERNER (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED 
 SAMANTHA CRAWFORD DUKE (See above for address)
 ATTORNEY TO BE NOT
 ICED

Date Filed 05/08/2019
05/08/2019 05/09/2019 05/09/2019 05/10/2019 05/10/2019 05/10/2019 05/31/2019 06/10/2019
06/11/2019
06/11/2019
06/11/2019
07/02/2019

# Docket Text
1 COMPLAINT against All Defendants ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number AFLNDC-4484016.), filed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JUAN ESPINOSA, ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JEROME BURGESS. (Attachments: # 1 SUMMONS FOR MARK INCH, SECRETARY, # 2 SUMMONS FOR FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS) (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 05/08/2019)
2 CIVIL COVER SHEET. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 05/08/2019)
3 Summons Issued as to FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. (rcb) (Entered: 05/09/2019)
4 Summons Issued as to MARK S INCH. (rcb) (Entered: 05/09/2019)
5 NOTICE of Appearance by ANDREA COSTELLO on behalf of All Plaintiffs (COSTELLO, ANDREA) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
6 NOTICE of Appearance by SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL on behalf of All Plaintiffs (AGARWAL, SHALINI) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
7 NOTICE of Appearance by DANTE PASQUALE TREVISANI on behalf of All Plaintiffs (TREVISANI, DANTE) (Entered: 05/10/2019)
8 NOTICE of Appearance by LAURA ANNE FERRO on behalf of All Plaintiffs (FERRO, LAURA) (Entered: 05/31/2019)
9 Certificate of Good Standing construed as a Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice by Lisa Graybill.( Filing fee $ 201 receipt number AFLNDC-4517083.) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (GRAYBILL, LISA) Modified to correct the title on 6/11/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 06/10/2019)
10 ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE. This Court has considered, without hearing, the Certificate of Good Standing construed as a Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice filed on behalf of Lisa Graybill, ECF No. 9 . The motion is DENIED without prejudice to Ms. Graybill's meeting the requirements of Local Rule 11.1 for admission and filing a proper motion as opposed to simply filing a certificate. Instructions for compliance are available on the public website of the United State District Court for the Northern District of Florida.Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 06/11/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 06/11/2019)
11 MOTION Pro Hac Vice Admission re 9 MOTION to Appear Pro Hac Vice by Lisa Graybill.( Filing fee $ 201 receipt number AFLNDC-4517083.) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate of Good Standing) (GRAYBILL, LISA) (Entered: 06/11/2019)
12 ORDER ADMITTING LISA GRAYBILL PRO HAC VICE. This Court has considered, without hearing, the Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice by Lisa Graubill. ECF No. 11 . The motion is GRANTED. Ms. Graybill has fulfilled the requirements of the Local Rules for admission and is admitted pro hac vice as counsel for Plaintiffs. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 06/11/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 06/11/2019)
13 FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT against All Defendants All Defendants., filed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JEROME BURGESS, JOHNNY HILL. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 07/02/2019)

07/09/2019 07/12/2019 07/12/2019 07/12/2019 07/12/2019 07/12/2019 07/15/2019 07/22/2019 07/22/2019 07/22/2019
07/22/2019
07/29/2019 07/29/2019 08/06/2019 08/06/2019
08/06/2019 08/06/2019
08/06/2019
08/07/2019

14 NOTICE of Appearance by DANIEL J GERBER on behalf of All Defendants (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 07/09/2019)
15 AFFIDAVIT of Service for Summons, Complaint, First Amended Complaint served on Mark Inch on 07/08/2019, filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 07/12/2019)
16 AFFIDAVIT of Service for Summons, Complaint, First Amended Complaint served on Florida Department of Corrections on 07/08/2019, filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 07/12/2019)
17 SUMMONS Returned Executed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JEROME BURGESS. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS served on 7/8/2019, answer due 9/6/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/15/2019)
18 SUMMONS Returned Executed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JEROME BURGESS. MARK S INCH served on 7/8/2019, answer due 9/6/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/15/2019)
***Corrected answer deadline for 21 days***SUMMONS Returned Executed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JEROME BURGESS. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS served on 7/8/2019, answer due 7/29/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/15/2019)
***Corrected answer deadline for 21 days***SUMMONS Returned Executed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER, J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JEROME BURGESS. MARK S INCH served on 7/8/2019, answer due 7/29/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/15/2019)
19 Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File Motion for Class Certification by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to correct title on 7/23/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 07/22/2019)
20 Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint and Request for Increased Word Limit by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (GERBER, DANIEL) Modified to correct title on 7/23/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 07/22/2019)
21 ORDER GRANTING 19 EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION.This Court has considered, without hearing, Plaintiffs Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File Motion for Class Certification. ECF No. 19 . The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file their motion for class certification on or before 5/6/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 07/22/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/22/2019)
22 ORDER GRANTING 20 EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION TO DISMISS AND REQUEST FOR INCREASED WORD LIMIT. This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants' Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint and Request for Increased Word Limit. ECF No. 20 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendants' may file their motion to dismiss on or before August 6, 2019, and the word limit for the memorandum in support may be increased to 11,000 words.(Motions due by 8/6/2019.) Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 7/22/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 07/23/2019)
23 DOCKET ANNOTATION BY COURT: ISO placed in Judge Walker's referral folder. (rcb) (Entered: 07/29/2019)
24 INITIAL SCHEDULING ORDER : Fed.R.Civ.P. 7.1 Corporate Disclosure Statement Deadline set for 8/12/2019. Rule 26 Meeting Report due by 9/11 /2019. Discovery due by 11/26/2019. Status Report due by 8/29/2019. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 07/29/2019. (toy) (Entered: 07/29/2019)
25 MOTION to Seal Document - Plaintiffs' Grievances Which May Contain Personal Health Information With Incorporated Memorandum of Law by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 08/06/2019)
26 MOTION to Transfer Case to to the Middle District, Jacksonville or Ocala Division Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and Incorporated Memorandum of Law by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 8/20/2019). (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1) (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 08/06/2019)
27 Declaration of Rusty McLaughlin by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6, # 7 Exhibit 7, # 8 Exhibit 8, # 9 Exhibit 9, # 10 Exhibit 10) (GERBER, DANIEL) Modified to correct title on 8/7/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 08/06/2019)
28 Defendant's Dispositive Motion to Dismiss Claims Asserted by Plaintiffs J.H., Angel Meddler, Jerome Burgess, and James Kendrick, Jr., and Partially Dispositive Motion to Dismiss Claims by Plaintiffs Admire Harvard, Juan Espinosa, and Johnny Hill by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law) (GERBER, DANIEL) Modified to correct title on 8/7/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 08/06/2019)
29 AFFIDAVIT of Alan McManus re 28 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2-1, # 3 Exhibit 2-2, # 4 Exhibit 3, # 5 Exhibit 4, # 6 Exhibit 5, # 7 Exhibit 6, # 8 Exhibit 7, # 9 Exhibit 8, # 10 Exhibit 9, # 11 Exhibit 10, # 12 Exhibit 11, # 13 Exhibit 12, # 14 Exhibit 13, # 15 Exhibit 14) (GERBER, DANIEL) Modified to correct title on 8/7/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 08/06/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 28 Defendant's Dispositive Motion to Dismiss Claims Asserted by Plaintiffs J.H., Angel Meddler, Jerome Burgess, and James Kendrick, Jr., and Partially Dispositive Motion to Dismiss Claims by Plaintiffs Admire Harvard,

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Juan Espinosa, and Johnny Hill . (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 8/21/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 08/07/2019)
30 ORDER GRANTING 25 MOTION TO SEAL GRIEVANCES.This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants' Motion to Seal Plaintiffs' Grievances Which May Contain Personal Health Information. ECF No. 25 . The unopposed motion is GRANTED. Defendants may file under seal the grievance appeals that contain private health information. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 8/7/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 08/07/2019)
31 First MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply to Defendants' Dispositive Motion to Dismiss by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 08/08/2019)
32 ORDER GRANTING 31 EXTENSION OF TIME AND REQUEST FOR INCREASED WORD LIMIT. This Court has considered, without hearing, Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File a Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants' Dispositive Motion to Dismiss and Request for Increased Word Limit. ECF No. 31 . The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs may respond to the motion to dismiss on or before September 6, 2019, and may increase the word limit to 11,000 words. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 9/6/2019).) Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 8/8/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 08/08/2019)
33 Sealed Document (rcb) (Entered: 08/09/2019)
34 MOTION TO JOIN filed by MATTHEW THOMPSON. (blb) (Main Document 34 replaced on 8/14/2019) (rcb). (Entered: 08/13/2019)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: 24 Scheduling Order.*** Corporate Disclosure Statement not filed on 8/12/2019*** (rcb) (Entered: 08/13/2019)
ACTION NO LONGER REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: Action Required by District Judge (previous entry)*** Corporate Disclosure Statement not required to be filed on 8/12/2019*** (rcb) (Entered: 08/13/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 28 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM . (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 8/28/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 08/14/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 34 MOTION for Joinder. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 8/28/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 08/14/2019)
35 ORDER DENYING 34 MOTION TO JOIN. Accordingly, Matthew Thompsons motion to join, ECF No. 34 , is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 8/16/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 08/16/2019)
36 RESPONSE in Opposition re 26 MOTION to Transfer Case to to the Middle District, Jacksonville or Ocala Division Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and Incorporated Memorandum of Law filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (TREVISANI, DANTE) (Entered: 08/20/2019)
37 Monthly Joint Status Report on Discovery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) Modified to correct title on 8/29/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 08/28/2019)
38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order Proposed HIPAA Qualified Protective Order, # 2 Exhibit Copeland Agreed HIPAA Qualified Protective Order, # 3 Exhibit DRF Agreed HIPAA Qualified Protective Order, # 4 Exhibit Hoffer HIPAA Qualified Protective Order) (TREVISANI, DANTE) (Entered: 08/28/2019)
Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 9/28/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 08/29/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 9/12/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 08/29/2019)
39 NOTICE of Appearance by NICOLE SIEB SMITH on behalf of FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 08/29/2019)
40 NOTICE OF HEARING Re: 38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order: Motion Hearing set for 9/19/2019 01:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER. United States Courthouse, Courtroom 5 West, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301.
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as, a hearing impairment that requires a sign language interpreter or a wheelchair restriction that requires ramp access, please contact Victoria Milton McGee at 850-521-3510 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk 
(vkm) (Entered: 09/05/2019)
41 NOTICE TELEPHONIC HEARING Re: 38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 9/19/2019 01:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER.
ALL PARTIES are directed to call the AT&T Conference Line (see below)

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Conference Call Information
You may dial into the conference call up to five minutes before start time. Call in number: 888-684-8852 When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136# If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 4565# Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call. Remember to mute your phone when you are not speaking. The Court also asks that counsel NOT use cell phones or speaker phones during the call as the quality of the audio connection is comprised by these devices.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk (vkm) (Entered: 09/06/2019)
42 MEMORANDUM in Opposition re 28 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER and PARTIALLY DISPOSITIVE MOTION TO DISMISS CLAIMS BY PLAINTIFFS ADMIRE HARVARD, JUAN ESPINOSA, AND JOHNNY HILL (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Informal Grievance Log No. 205-19020471) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified on 9/9/2019 (blb). *Edit Title* (Entered: 09/06/2019)
43 REPORT of Rule 26(f) Planning Meeting. (Attachments: # 1 Appendix Agreement Regarding Inadvertent Disclosures of Privileged Information, # 2 Appendix Proposed Schedule of Pretrial and Trial Dates) (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 09/06/2019)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: 43 Report of Rule 26(f) Planning Meeting. (blb) (Entered: 09/09/2019)
44 SCHEDULING AND MEDIATION ORDER Re: 43 Report of Rule 26(f) Planning Meeting :( Discovery due by 4/30/2021., Dispositive Motions to be filed by 5/28/2021., Mediation Report due by 6/11/2021.), Case referred to mediation. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 9/9/19. (blb) (Entered: 09/09/2019)
45 RESPONSE in Opposition re 38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 09/12/2019)
46 HIPAA QUALIFIED PROTECTIVE ORDER. Plaintiffs' motion for entry of HIPAA Qualified Protective Order is GRANTED as follows. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 09/19/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 09/19/2019)
47 Minute Entry for proceedings held before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER: Telephonic Motion Hearing held on 9/19/2019 re 38 MOTION for Protective Order HIPAA Qualified Protective Order. Court hears argument Re: 38 Motion for HIPAA Qualified Protective Order. Order to follow (Court Reporter Megan Hague). (vkm) (Entered: 09/23/2019)
48 Monthly Joint Status Report on Discovery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) Modified to edit title on 9/30/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 09/30/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 10/30/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 09/30/2019)
49 MOTION for Protective Order Confidentiality Order by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Proposed Confidentiality Order, # 2 Exhibit Confidentiality Order from Parrish v. Solis, # 3 Exhibit Confidentiality Order from Copeland v. Jones, # 4 Exhibit Confidentiality Order from Vidal v. FDC) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) (Entered: 10/02/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 49 MOTION for Protective Order Confidentiality Order. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 10/17/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 10/03/2019)
50 ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. Plaintiffs have filed their Motion for Entry of Confidentiality Order. ECF No. 49 . Defendants shall file an expedited response to ECF No. 49 not later than Wednesday, 10/9/2019. See N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 7.1(E). Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/03/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 10/03/2019)
51 Defedant's Response and Incorporated Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Confidentiality Order filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Confidentiality Order, # 2 Declaration of Kirkland) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 10/10/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 10/09/2019)
52 ORDER DENYING 26 DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO TRANSFER. Therefore, Defendants' motion to transfer venue to the Middle District of Florida, ECF No. 26 , is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/11/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 10/11/2019)
53 NOTICE of Appearance by SAMANTHA CRAWFORD DUKE on behalf of FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH (DUKE, SAMANTHA) (Entered: 10/23/2019)
54 ORDER DENYING 28 DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS. Defendants have not convinced this Court that dismissal is warranted. Therefore, Defendants' motion to dismiss, ECF No. 28 , is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/24/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 10/25/2019)
55 STATUS REPORT (Joint) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) (Entered: 10/30/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 11/30/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 10/31/2019)
56 Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff's Amended Complaint by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to correct title on 11/6/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 11/05/2019)
57 ORDER GRANTING 56 EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO AMENDED COMPLAINT. This Court has considered,

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without hearing, Defendants' Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint. ECF No. 56 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendants may file their responsive pleading to the amended complaint on or before 11/21/2019. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/5/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 11/05/2019)
58 CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER re 49 MOTION for Confidentiality Order. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/5/2019. (vkm) (Entered: 11/05/2019)
59 NOTICE of Appearance by SAM N THYPIN-BERMEO on behalf of All Plaintiffs (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) (Entered: 11/08/2019)
60 Defendant's Unopposed Motion For Leave To Depose Prisoner Plaintiffs by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to correct on 11/21/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 11/20/2019)
61 ORDER GRANTING 60 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO DEPOSE PRISONER PLAINTIFFS. This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants Unopposed Motion for Leave to Depose Prisoner Plaintiffs. ECF No. 60 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendants may depose the named Plaintiffs who are incarcerated on dates and times mutually agreeable to the parties. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/20/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 11/20/2019)
62 ANSWER to 13 Amended Complaint by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) (Entered: 11/21/2019)
63 NOTICE of Appearance by AIMEE CRISTEN LIM on behalf of All Plaintiffs (LIM, AIMEE) (Entered: 11/22/2019)
64 STATUS REPORT on Discovery (Joint) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) (Entered: 12/02/2019)
Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 1/2/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/03/2019)
65 Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion And Incorporated Memorandum To Request Increased Word Limit by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Motion to Compel, # 2 Exhibit Exhibit A (Liman-ASCA Survey), # 3 Exhibit Exhibit B (Analysis of Segregation Processes), # 4 Exhibit Exhibit C (Long-Term Segregation Team Report), # 5 Exhibit Exhibit D (Procedures Related to Close Management)) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to correct title on 12/13/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 12/12/2019)
66 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO INCREASE WORD LIMIT. The motion is GRANTED. However, given the motion's length and the upcoming holidays, this Court will extend the deadline to respond. Defendants shall respond to Plaintiffs' motion by January 06, 2020. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 1/6/2020).). Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/12/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 12/12/2019)
67 MOTION for Protective Order Regarding Deposition Conditions by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Declaration of Jac'Quann (Admire) Harvard, # 2 Affidavit Declaration of Johnny Hill, # 3 Affidavit Declaration of Jerome Burgess, # 4 Affidavit Declaration of James Kendrick, # 5 Affidavit Declaration of Jeremiah Hill, # 6 Affidavit Declaration of James Cook) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) (Entered: 12/20/2019)
68 Plaintiff Johnny Hill's Motion For Protective Order To Prevent Retaliation and Incorporated Memorandum of Law by JOHNNY HILL. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Declaration of Johnny Hill, # 2 Affidavit Declaration of Laura Ferro) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to edit title on 12/23/2019 (rcb). (Entered: 12/20/2019)
69 ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE - Plaintiffs have filed their Motion for a Protective Order Regarding Deposition Conditions. ECF No. 67 . Defendants shall file a response to Plaintiffs' motion on or before 12/31/2019. The Clerk shall set the motion for hearing at a time during the week of January 6, 2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/20/2019. (vkm) (Entered: 12/20/2019)
70 ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE.Plaintiff Johnny Hill has filed his Motion for Protective Order to Prevent Retaliation. ECF No. 68 . Defendants shall file a response to Plaintiff Hill's motion on or before December 31, 2019. See N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 7.1(E). The Clerk shall set the motion for hearing during the week of January 6, 2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/23/2019. (rcb) (Entered: 12/23/2019)
Set Deadlines/Hearings (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 12/31/2019). (rcb) (Entered: 12/26/2019)
71 NOTICE OF HEARING RE: 67 & 68 MOTIONS for Protective Order. Motion Hearing set for 1/6/2020 01:00 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER. United States Courthouse, Courtroom 5 West, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301.
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as, a hearing impairment that requires a sign language interpreter or a wheelchair restriction that requires ramp access, please contact Victoria Milton McGee at 850-521-3510 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk 
(vkm) (Entered: 12/30/2019)
72 RESPONSE in Opposition re 67 MOTION for Protective Order Regarding Deposition Conditions filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Kirkland) (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 12/31/2019)

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73 RESPONSE in Opposition re 68 MOTION for Protective Order to Prevent Retaliation filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Interrogatory Responses, # 2 Declaration Masters, # 3 Medical Records, # 4 MINS Report, # 5 Declaration Pugh, # 6 Grievances, # 7 Various Correspondence) (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 12/31/2019)
74 STATUS REPORT (Joint on Discovery) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) (Entered: 01/02/2020)
75 STIPULATION on Disciplinary Reports (Joint) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (FERRO, LAURA) (Entered: 01/02/2020)
76 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 66 Order,, Set Deadlines/Hearings, by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) (Entered: 01/02/2020)
77 ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL AND REQUEST FOR INCREASED WORD LIMIT. This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants' Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel (ECF No. 65 -1) and Request to Increase Word Limit. ECF No. 76 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendants' shall file their response to the Motion to Compel on or before 1/13/2020, and the word limit for the response is increased to 24,000 words. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 1/2/20. (blb) (Entered: 01/02/2020)
Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 2/3/2020. (blb) (Entered: 01/03/2020)
78 NOTICE of Filing Declaration of Mashburn by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH re 73 Response in Opposition to Motion, (Attachments: # 1 Declaration) (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 01/03/2020)
79 NOTICE of Filing Amended Declaration of Mashburn by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH re 73 Response in Opposition to Motion, (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Mashburn) (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
80 Minute Entry for proceedings held before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER: Motion Hearing held on 1/6/2020. Court hears argument regarding Plaintiffs 67 & 68 Motions for Protective Order. Ruling by Court: 68 Motion taken under advisement. Parties to confer, view video and notify Court on or before 1/20/2020. Order to follow (Court Reporter Megan Hague). (vkm) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
81 ORDER DIRECTING PARTIES TO CONFER AND PLAINTIFF HILL TO NOTIFY. This Court has considered, following a hearing on January 06, 2020, Plaintiff Johnny Hill's Motion for Protective Order to Prevent Retaliation. ECF No. 68 . For the reasons stated on the record, this Court will take the motion under advisement. The parties are directed to meet, confer, and review the video in question. After reviewing the video, Plaintiff Hill shall notify this Court whether he intends to move forward with the motion, ECF No. 68 , on or before January 20, 2020. (Plaintiff Hill to notify Court As to Posture of ECF 68 Deadline - by 1/20/2020.) Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 01/07/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/07/2020)
82 ORDER GRANTING 67 IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING DEPOSITION CONDITIONS. Plaintiffs motion is, therefore, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 01/07/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/07/2020)
83 Defendant's Response to Plaintiff's Motion to Compel . (Attachments: # 1 Response Inch, # 2 Response FDC) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 1/14/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/13/2020)
84 Defendant's Motion for Entry of a Protective Order and Incorporated Memorandum of Law by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Kirkland) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 1/14/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/13/2020)
85 ORDER REQUIRING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. Plaintiffs shall file an expedited response to Defendant's motion on or before Monday, 1/20/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 01/14/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/14/2020)
86 NOTICE Regarding Order Directing Parties to Confer and Plaintiff Hill to Notify by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH re 81 Order,,, Set Deadlines/Hearings,, (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 01/14/2020)
87 MOTION for Leave to File Reply to Defendants' Response to Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Discovery, ECF 83 by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (SALEH, SUMAYYA) (Entered: 01/14/2020)
88 ORDER GRANTING 87 MOTION TO FILE A REPLY. The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs may file their reply to Defendants' Response on or before Wednesday, 1/22/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 01/15/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/15/2020)
89 Defendant's Second Notice Regarding Order Directing Parties To Confer and Plaintiff Hill to Notify (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 1/21/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/17/2020)
90 Plaintiff's Memorandum In Opposition To Defendant's Motion for Entry of a Protective Order (ECF 84) (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Technical Manual Produced by FDC in Response to Public Records Request) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to edit title on 1/21/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/19/2020)
91 Plaintiff Johnny Hill's Notice, Request for Leave to Amend, Request for Discovery Regarding re 68 MOTION for Protective Order to Prevent Retaliation (FERRO, LAURA) Modified to edit title on 1/21/2020 (rcb). Modified on 1/22/2020 to convert to a motion re: 92 ORDER REQUIRING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. (kjw) (Entered: 01/20/2020)
92 ORDER REQUIRING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. Defendants are ordered to respond to Plaintiffs' motion, ECF No. 91 , on or before 1/24/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 1/22/2020. (kjw) (Entered: 01/22/2020)

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93 PLAINTIFFS' REPLY TO DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY, ECF 83 filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Defendants' Response to Plaintiffs' First Request for Admissions, # 2 Defendant Mark Inch's Response to Plaintiffs' Second Request for Production, # 3 Defendant Mark Inch's Verified Responses to Plaintiff Harvard's First Set of Interrogatories, # 4 Emails from Defendants about Unofficial Rule Change) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 1/23/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/22/2020)

94 ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' 84 MOTION FOR ENTRY OF A PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 1/22/2020. (kjw) (Entered: 01/22/2020)

***PLEASE DISREGARD THIS ENTRY***Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 2/22/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/23/2020)

Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 2/3/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/23/2020)

95 Defendant's Response to Plaintiff Johnny Hill's Notice, Request for Leave to Amend, and Request for Discovery Regarding His Motion for Protective Order to Prevent Retaliation filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 1/27/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 01/24/2020)

96 ORDER ENJOINING DEFENDANTS, AND THEIR OFFICERS, AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES FROM RETALIATING. Plaintiff Hill's motion for protective order, ECF No. 68 is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; Plaintiff Hill's motion to amend his protective order and open limited discovery, ECF No. 91 , is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 01/28/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 01/28/2020)

97 Monthly Joint Status Report on Discovery (FERRO, LAURA) Modified to edit title on 2/4/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 02/03/2020)

Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 3/5/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 02/04/2020)

98 ORDER ON MOTION TO COMPEL. Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel, ECF No. 65 -,1 is GRANTED. Defendants shall furnish the requested information to Plaintiffs within 30 days of this Order. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 2/7/2020. (kjw) (Entered: 02/07/2020)

99 NOTICE of Appearance by MARCEL ANDREW LILAVOIS, JR on behalf of All Plaintiffs (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 02/21/2020)

100 NOTICE OF APPEAL as to 94 Order on Motion for Protective Order, 98 Order, by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. ( Filing fee $505 Receipt Number AFLNDC-4887204.) (Attachments: # 1 Order Denying Protective Order, # 2 Order Granting Motion to Compel) (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 02/21/2020)

101 ***PLEASE DISREGARD THIS ENTRY***NOTICE OF APPEAL as to 94 Order on Motion for Protective Order by JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD. ( (Filing fee $ 505.) (rcb) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

102 Appeal Instructions re: 100 Notice of Appeal, : The Transcript Request Form is available on the Internet at

http://www.flnd.uscourts.gov/forms/Attorney/ECCA_transcript_form_fillable.pdf




**PLEASE NOTE** Separate forms must be filed for each court reporter. Transcr
ipt Order Form due by 3/6/2020. (rcb)

(Entered: 02/24/2020)

103 Transmission of Notice of Appeal and Docket Sheet to US Court of Appeals re 100 Notice of Appeal. (rcb) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

Set Deadlines re 100 Notice of Appeal, : Clerk to check status of Appeal on 5/21/2020. Certificate of Readiness (FRAP 11) due by 3/6/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

104 MOTION to Stay Discovery Regarding Confidential Prison Security Information Pending Resolution of Interlocutory Appeal by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (GERBER, DANIEL) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

105 ORDER REQUIRING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. Plaintiffs shall file an expedited response to Defendant's motion on or before Thursday, February 27, 2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 02/24/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

Set Deadlines/Hearings (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 2/27/2020). (rcb) (Entered: 02/24/2020)

109 USCA-# 20-10690-J Acknowledgment Letter 100 Notice of Appeal. (rcb) (Entered: 02/27/2020)

106 TRANSCRIPT REQUEST (no hearing) by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH for proceedings held on NA before Judge NA.. (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 02/26/2020)

107 Plaintiff's Second MOTION to Compel First Requests for Production from Defendant Mark Inch by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Kelly Knapp) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 2/28/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 02/27/2020)

108 Plaintiff's Memorandum In Opposition To Defendants' Motion To Stay Discovery Regarding Confidential Prison Security Information Pending Resolution Of Interlocutory Appeal 104 filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to edit title on 2/28/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 02/27/2020)

110 ORDER REQUIRING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. On February 27, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a Second Motion to Compel First Request for Production. ECF No. 107 . Defendants are ordered to respond to 107 Plaintiffs' motion on or before 3/4/2020. See N.D. Fla. R. 7.1(E) ("Unless otherwise ordered, the deadline for a memorandum opposing a motion... is 14 days after service of

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the motion, without a 3-day extension based on electronic service of the motion."). Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 02/27/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 02/28/2020)
111 ORDER DENYING 104 STAY OF DISCOVERY.ECF No. 104 . For the reasons provided below, Defendants' motion is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/02/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/02/2020)
112 Defendant's Response In Opposition To Plaintiffs' Second Motion to Compel First Requests For Production From Defendants Mark Inch And Florida Department Of Corrections And Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Smith) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 3/5/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 03/04/2020)
113 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 3/6/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 03/05/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 4/6/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/06/2020)
114 Defendant's Motion For Extension Of Time To Comply With The Court's Order On Motion To Compel Dated February 7, 2020 And Incorporated Memorandum Of Law (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Smith) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 3/9/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 03/06/2020)
116 MANDATE of USCA-20-10690-JJ as to 100 Notice of Appeal, filed by MARK S INCH, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. This is appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. All pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT. (30 Day Exhibit Return Deadline After Appeal Mandate set for 4/6/2020.) (rcb) (Entered: 03/09/2020)
118 ORDER of USCA-#20-10650-J as to 100 Notice of Appeal. Before the Court is a petition for a writ of mandamus. Respondents are directed to file an answer to this petition within 7 days after the date of this order. See Fed. R. App. P. 2 l(b)(I). If the District Judge elects to address the petition, the Court invites the District Judge to address the petition within 7 days after the date of this order. See Fed. R. App. P. 21(b)(4). If the District Judge elects not to address the petition, the Court requests that the District Judge provide n letter to that effect to this Court's Clerk of Court within 7 days after the date of this order.The petitioners' duty to produce in discovery information al issue in the district court's "Order Denying Defendants' Motion for Entry of a Protective Order" (Doc. 94 ) is TEMPORARILY STAYED pending further order of this Court. (rcb) (Entered: 03/10/2020)
119 Letter from Chief Judge Mark E Walker to 11th Circuit USCA re 118 USCA Order. (rcb) (Entered: 03/10/2020)
115 Pursuant to F.R.A.P. 11(c), the Clerk of the District Court for the Northern District of Florida certifies that the record is complete for purposes of this appeal re: 100 Notice of Appeal,, Appeal No. 20-10690-JJ. The entire record on appeal is available electronically. (rcb) (Entered: 03/09/2020)
117 ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR DISCOVERY. The 114 motion is, therefore, GRANTED. Defendants shall produce the requested documents on or before 4/7/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/09/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/09/2020)
120 SUPPLEMENTAL ROA-USCA #20-10690. Pursuant to F.R.A.P. 11(c), the Clerk of the District Court for the Northern District of Florida certifies that the record is complete for purposes of this appeal re: 100 Notice of Appeal. The entire record on appeal is available electronically. (rcb)** ECF 117 ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR DISCOVERY filed on 3/9/2020** (Entered: 03/10/2020)
121 ORDER GRANTING 107 IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL. Defendants' shall produce the requested emails on or before 5/18/2020. In the meantime, the parties shall negotiate in good faith as to the contested emails. Further, given the amount of relevant emails and nature of ongoing discussions between the parties, this Court finds that Defendants actions were substantially justified. Therefore, this Court will not award reasonable fees and costs. Plaintiffs motion, ECF No. 107 , is therefore GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. SO ORDERED Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/17/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/17/2020)
122 Plaintiff's Motion For Extension Of Time To File Motion For Class Certification (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 3/25/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 03/24/2020)
123 ORDER GRANTING 122 EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION. ECF No. 122 . The unopposed motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs may file their Motion for Class Certification on or before 11/6/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/24/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/24/2020)
124 Plaintiff's Emergency Motion To Expedite Defendants' Response To Plaintiff's Requests For Production And Interrogatories (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 3/26/2020 (rcb). Modified on 3/31/2020 to unterm this motion. (kjw) (Entered: 03/25/2020)
125 ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. ECF No. 124 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendant Florida Department of Corrections must respond to Plaintiff Harvard's Interrogatories numbered 20, 21, 23, and 24 on or before 3/30/2020). Defendant Inch must produce documents responsive to Plaintiffs' Request for Production numbered 343 and 344 by 3/30/2020. See N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 7.1(E). Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/26/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/26/2020)
126 AMENDED ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE. On March 26, 2020, this Court entered an Order directing Defendants to respond to Plaintiffs' request for production and interrogatories. ECF No. 125 . In its Order, this Court mistakenly indicated that Plaintiffs' motion was granted-as evidenced by the title of the prior order. The parties shall, therefore, ignore this Courts Order, ECF No. 125 . Instead, Defendants are directed to respond to Plaintiffs' motion, ECF No. 124 , on or before 3/30/2020. See N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 7.1(E). In so ruling, this Court understands Plaintiff requested the discovery be turned over on or before that date. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/26/2020. (kjw) (Entered: 03/26/2020)
127 SUPPLEMENTAL ORDER. The parties shall submit a stipulated confidentiality order or notify this Court that they are unable

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to reach an agreement on the confidentiality order on or before 4/3/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/30/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 03/30/2020)
128 Defendant's Response In Opposition To Plaintiff's Emergency Motion To Expedite Defendant's Response To Plaintiffs' Request For Production And Interrogatories And Defendants' Incorporated Motion For Protective Order (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Declaration of Reimers, # 2 Exhibit Public Records Request) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 3/31/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 03/30/2020)
130 ORDER of USCA #20-10650 as to 100 Notice of Appeal. The petition for a writ of mandamus is GRANTED as follows: the district court is directed to (a) vacate its order denying the petitioners motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 94 ), (b) grant the petitioners motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 84 ), and (c) enter any other orders necessary to implement the relief granted by this order. The petitioners are not obligated to produce in discovery information at issue in the petitioners' motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 84 ) absent the protective order. The petitioners' "Emergency Motion to Stay Discovery Regarding Confidential Prison Security Information Pending Resolution of Petition for Writ of Mandamus" is DENIED AS MOOT. (rcb) Modified on 4/14/2020 to add additional information to this entry from the USCA Order. (kjw) (Entered: 04/01/2020)
129 ORDER DENYING 124 MOTION TO EXPEDITE RESPONSE.This Court finds that an expedited response to Plaintiffs' discovery request is not appropriate and, therefore, denies Plaintiffs' motion, ECF No. 124 . Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 4/1/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 04/01/2020)
131 Joint MOTION for Extension of Time to File Stipulated Confidentiality Order by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK S INCH. (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 04/03/2020)
132 ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER. This Court has considered, without hearing, the Joint Motion for Extension of Time to File Stipulated Confidentiality Order. ECF No. 131 . The motion is GRANTED. The parties may file their stipulated order on or before 4/10/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 4/3/2020. (kjw) (Entered: 04/03/2020)
135 ORDER REASSIGNING CASE. Case reassigned to MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK for all further proceedings. MAGISTRATE JUDGE CHARLES A STAMPELOS no longer assigned to case. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 4/3/2020. (erl)**Please use the new judge's initials for all future filings: 4:19cv212-MW/MAF. (Entered: 04/06/2020)
133 Defendants' Unopposed Second Motion For Extension Of Time To Comply With The Court's Order On Motion To Compel Dated February 7,2020 (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 4/6/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 04/06/2020)
134 ORDER GRANTING 133 SECOND MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLY WITHPRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS. This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants' Unopposed Second Motion for Extension of Time to Comply With the Court's Order on Motion to Compel. ECF No. 133 . The motion is GRANTED. Defendants shall produce the remaining documents subject to Plaintiffs First Response for Production on or before 5/7/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/06/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 04/06/2020)
136 STATUS REPORT (Joint on Discovery) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 04/06/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 5/6/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 04/07/2020)
137 Joint Motion For Entry Of Stipulated Confidentiality Order (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 4/10/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 04/10/2020)
138 STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER. ECF No. 137 . The motion is GRANTED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 4/10/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 04/10/2020)
139 Defendant's Unopposed Third Motion For Extension Of Time To Comply With The Court's Order On Motion To Compel Dated February 7, 2020. (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 5/7/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 05/07/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 6/8/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 05/07/2020)
140 Monthly Joint Status Report On Discovery (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 5/7/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 05/07/2020)
141 ORDER GRANTING 139 THIRD MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLY WITH PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants' Unopposed Third Motion for Extension of Time to Comply With the Courts Order on Motion to Compel. ECF No. 139 . The 139 motion is GRANTED. Defendants shall produce the remaining documents subject to Plaintiffs' First Response for Production on or before 6/6/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 5/7/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 05/07/2020)
142 DEFENDANTS' UNOPPOSED FOURTH AND FINAL MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLY WITH THE COURTS ORDER ON MOTION TO COMPEL DATED FEBRUARY 7, 2020 (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified on 6/6/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 06/05/2020)
143 ORDER GRANTING 142 FOURTH MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLY WITH PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS. The motion is GRANTED. Defendants shall produce the remaining documents subject to Plaintiffs' First Response for Production on or before 7/6/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 6/5/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 06/05/2020)
144 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN

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MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 6/9/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 06/08/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 7/8/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 06/09/2020)
145 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY. Modified to edit title on 7/9/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 07/08/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 8/10/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 07/09/2020)
146 MOTION to Consolidate Cases (Motion to Join Harvard v Inch With The Newly Filed COmplaint In Sussman v Inch (See Exhibit A). (rcb) (Entered: 07/28/2020)
147 **PLEASE DISREGARD THIS ENTRY-(Duplicate) Motion to Join Harvard v Inch With The Newly Filed Complaint In Sussman v Inch with attachment (Exhibit A) (rcb) (Entered: 07/28/2020)
148 ORDER DENYING 146 MOTION TO JOIN HARVARD V. INCH WITH NEWLY FILED COMPLAINT. The 146 motion is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 7/29/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 07/29/2020)
149 PLAINTIFFS THIRD MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (Attachments: # 1 Discovery Requests and Responses, # 2 Declaration of Jennifer Painter (Redacted), # 3 Exhibit A (EHA00000044065-101), # 4 Exhibit B (EHA00368213-14), # 5 Exhibit C (EHA00001017-18), # 6 Exhibit D (Redacted), # 7 Exhibit E (EHA00368561-62), # 8 Exhibit F (EHA00430008-32)) (PAINTER, JENNIFER) Modified to edit title on 8/3/2020 (rcb). (Additional attachment(s) added on 8/6/2020: # 9 Exhibit Copy of ECF 149 ) (rcb). (Additional attachment(s) added on 8/6/2020: # 10 Exhibit COVER LETTER) (rcb). Modified to edit title on 8/10/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 08/03/2020)
150 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 8/10/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 08/07/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 9/9/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 08/10/2020)
151 DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' THIRD MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Smith) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 8/18/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 08/17/2020)
152 ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFFS TO REPLY. Plaintiffs shall file a reply on or before 8/24/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 8/18/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 08/18/2020)
153 PLAINTIFFS' REPLY TO DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' THIRD MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES (ECF NO. 149 ) (Redacted) (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Declaration of Sumayya Saleh, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B, # 4 Exhibit C, # 5 Exhibit D, # 6 Exhibit E, # 7 Exhibit F, # 8 Exhibit G) (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to edit title on 8/25/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 08/24/2020)
154 **SEALED**(Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Cover Letter) (rcb) (Entered: 08/26/2020)
155 Letter from ANTONIO JOHNSON (Courtesy copy of the docket sheet mailed to Antonio Johnson (Non-Party) (rcb) (Entered: 08/31/2020)
156 Monthly Joint Status Report On Discovery (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 9/11/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 09/10/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 10/12/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 09/11/2020)
157 STIPULATION FOR ENTRY ON LAND FOR INSPECTION AND CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED CLIENT AND PUTATIVE CLASS MEMBER INTERVIEWS (FERRO, LAURA) Modified to edit title on 9/15/2020 (rcb). Modified on 9/25/2020 to terminate this document - it is not a motion. (kjw) (Entered: 09/14/2020)
158 ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS' 149 THIRD MOTION TO COMPEL. Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel, ECF No. 149 , is GRANTED in part and Denied in part. Defendants shall respond to ROGs 4, 5, and 7 to Defendant FDC within thirty (30)days of the issuance of this Order. Defendants shall produce responsive documents to RFPs 1 and 2 to Defendant Inch within thirty (30) days of the issuance of this Order. The parties shall negotiate the notify this Court about their proposed solution to notify former inmates concerning their educational records within fifteen (15) days of the issuance of this Order.Defendants shall produce responsive documents to RFPs 353 and 355 to Defendant Inch within thirty (30) days of the issuance of this Order. Defendants shall file a motion responding to Plaintiffs assertion that additional responsive documents exist within fifteen (15) days of this Order. The parties are, of course, encouraged to meet and confer to resolve this issue. If the parties resolve the issue, they may file a notice within fifteen (15)days of this Order explaining that the need to provide a search affidavit is moot. Plaintiffs' motion as it relates to RFPs 4851 and 59 to Defendant FDC is DENIED. Defendants shall provide the responsive spreadsheet to RFP 54 to Defendant FDC within thirty (30) days of the issuance of this Order. Defendants shall produce all responsive documents to RFP 62 to Defendant FDC within thirty (30) days of issuance of this Order. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 9/17/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 09/17/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Defendants response to ROG's 4,5 and 7 to Defendant FDC due by 10/19/2020. Defendants shall produce responsive documents to RFPs 1 and 2 to Defendant Inch due by 10/19/2020. Educational records due by 10/2/2020. Produce responsive documents to RFPs 353 and 355 to Defendant Inch within due by 10/19/2020. Defendants motion responding to Plaintiffs assertion 10/2/2020. Parties resolution notice by 10/2/2020. Defendants responsive spreadsheet to RFP 54 to Defendant FDC Replies due by 10/19/2020. Defendants responsive documents to RFP 62 to Defendant FDC by 10/19/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 09/17/2020)
159 DEFENDANTS' NOTICE OF ADDITIONAL APPEARANCE OF COUNSEL (MARSEY, JOHN) Modified to edit title on 9/25/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 09/24/2020)

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160 UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO WITHDRAW LISA GRAYBILL AND SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL AS COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS (SALEH, SUMAYYA) Modified to edit title on 9/29/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 09/28/2020)
161 ORDER GRANTING 160 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL. This 160 motion is, therefore, GRANTED. The Clerk shall disconnect Ms. Graybill and Ms. Agarwal from CM/ECF on this matter. Attorney SHALINI GOEL AGARWAL and LISA S GRAYBILL terminated Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 9/29/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 09/29/2020)
162 NOTICE OF PARTIAL COMPLIANCE REGARDING ORDER ON THIRD MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 10/5/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 10/02/2020)
163 JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY SCHEDULING ORDER (ECF 44 ) (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 10/9/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 10/08/2020)
164 AMENDED JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY SCHEDULING ORDER (ECF 44 ) (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 10/9/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 10/09/2020)
165 ORDER GRANTING 164 JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY SCHEDULING ORDER. This Court has considered, without hearing, the parties Amended Joint Motion to Modify Scheduling Order. ECF No. 164 . For the reasons provided in the motion, the motion is GRANTED. An amended scheduling order will follow this Order. Additionally, because the parties filed an amended motion, the Joint Motion to Modify Scheduling Order, ECF No. 163 , is DENIED as moot. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/09/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 10/09/2020)
166 AMENDED SCHEDULING AND MEDIATION ORDER. This Court amends the Scheduling and Mediation Order of September 9, 2019, ECF No. 44 , by accepting the proposed deadlines as set forth below. Class Certification Motion April 28, 2021. Defendants Response July 28, 2021. Plaintiffs Reply August 18, 2021. Parties Expert Reports November 18, 2021. Parties Rebuttal Reports February 18, 2022. Close of Discovery March 31, 2022. Summary Judgement Motions April 29, 2022. Daubert Motions May 7, 2022. Trial September 2022. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/13/2020. (rcb). (Entered: 10/13/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Summary Judgment Motions to be filed by 4/29/2022. Class Certification Motions due by 4/28/2021. Close of Discovery due by 3/31/2022. Defendant's Response 7/28/2021. Plaintiff's Reply due by 8/18/2021. Parties' Expert Reports due by 11/18/2021. Parties' Rebuttal Reports due by 2/18/2022. Daubert Motion on 5/7/2022. (rcb) (Entered: 10/13/2020)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: Set Deadlines/Hearings: Status Report due 10/12/2020 (rcb)**September Status Report not filed by 10/12/2020** (Entered: 10/13/2020)
167 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 10/15/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 10/14/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 11/13/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 10/15/2020)
168 Letter with attachments from Aaron Thompson (Non-Party) (rcb) (Entered: 10/20/2020)
169 Objections from Antwan Jackson (Non-Party) (rcb) (Entered: 10/20/2020)
170 NOTICE OF INTENT TO COMPLY WITH COURT ORDERS by Raymond Perry (rcb) (Entered: 10/25/2020)
171 Letter from Jeremey G. (nonparty) (rcb) (Entered: 10/27/2020)
172 ORDER DENYING 171 PRO SE MOTION TO JOIN CLASS. Jeremey G.'s motion, ECF No. 171 , is DENIED. The Clerk shall forward plaintiffs attorneys contact information to Jeremey G. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 10/28/2020. (rcb) ***Plaintiff's Attorney Contact Information to Jeremy G as directed** (Entered: 10/28/2020)
173 NOTICE OF TELEPHONIC HEARING: Telephonic Status Conference set for 11/3/2020 01:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER.
ALL PARTIES are directed to call the AT&T Conference Line (see below)
Conference Call Information
You may dial into the conference call up to five minutes before start time. Call in number: 888-684-8852 When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136# If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 4565# Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call. Remember to mute your phone when you are not speaking. The Court also asks that counsel NOT use cell phones or speaker phones during the call as the quality of the audio connection is comprised by these devices.
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as a hearing impairment, please contact Victoria Milton McGee at 850-521-3510 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk 
(vkm) (Entered: 10/30/2020)
174 NOTICE OF CANCELLED HEARING: As the parties called to notify the Court their issue has been resolved, the Telephonic Status Conference set for 11/3/2020 01:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER is CANCELLED. (vkm) (Entered: 11/02/2020)
175 Plaintiff Raymond Perry Pro Se Objection (rcb) (Entered: 11/10/2020)

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176 PLAINTIFFS' EMERGENCYMOTION FOR AN EXPEDITED TELEPHONIC HEARINGREGARDING RULE 34 INSPECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 17 AND 18, 2020 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A: Email from Michael Lee, # 2 Exhibit B: Armstrong v. Newsom Stipulation and Order Regarding Depositions, etc.) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 11/12/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 11/12/2020)
177 ORDER FOR EXPEDITED RESPONSE AND SETTING EMERGENCY HEARING - Defendants must file an expedited response to Plaintiffs' 176 motion by close of business on 11/13/2020. The Clerk is directed to set this matter for a hearing on Monday, November 16, 2020, at 12:30 p.m. ET. The lawyers must make themselves available. This Court will be in a jury trial and has no other available time slots. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/12/2020. (vkm) (Entered: 11/12/2020)
178 NOTICE OF TELEPHONIC HEARING RE: 176 Emergency MOTION for Hearing (Telephonic) Regarding Rule 34 Inspections Scheduled For November 17 and 18, 2020: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 11/16/2020 12:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER.
ALL PARTIES are directed to call the AT&T Conference Line (see below)
Conference Call Information
You may dial into the conference call up to five minutes before start time. Call in number: 888-684-8852 When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136# If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 4565# Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call. Remember to mute your phone when you are not speaking. The Court also asks that counsel NOT use cell phones or speaker phones during the call as the quality of the audio connection is comprised by these devices.
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as a hearing impairment, please contact Victoria Milton McGee at 850-521-3510 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk 
(vkm) (Entered: 11/12/2020)
179 DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' EMERGENCY MOTION FOR AN EXPEDITED TELEPHONIC HEARING REGARDING RULE 34 INSPECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 17 AND 18, 2020 (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit Kirkland, # 2 Affidavit Sexton, # 3 Affidavit Ling) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 11/16/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 11/13/2020)
180 ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS' 176 EMERGENCY MOTION. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/15/2020. (vkm) (Entered: 11/15/2020)
181 NOTICE OF CANCELLED HEARING: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 11/16/2020 12:30 PM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER is CANCELLED. (vkm) (Entered: 11/15/2020)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: Set Deadlines-Status Report due by 11/13/2020 (rcb)*** Status Report not filed by 11/13/2020***. (Entered: 11/16/2020)
182 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 11/17/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 11/16/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 2/15/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 11/17/2020)
183 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Costello Declaration, # 2 Exhibit Saleh Declaration, # 3 Exhibit Grantley Declaration, # 4 Exhibit Milo Declaration, # 5 Exhibit Broadnax Declaration, # 6 Exhibit Williams Declaration, # 7 Exhibit Eriksson Declaration, # 8 Exhibit Lowery Declaration, # 9 Exhibit Simmons Declaration, # 10 Exhibit Lee Declaration, # 11 Exhibit Gresham Declaration, # 12 Exhibit Johnson Declaration, # 13 Exhibit Pacholke Declaration, # 14 Exhibit Llosa Declaration, # 15 Exhibit Cruz Declaration, # 16 Exhibit Lethco Declaration, # 17 Exhibit McDaniel Declaration, # 18 Exhibit Littles Declaration, # 19 Exhibit Knapp Declaration, # 20 Exhibit Gilday Declaration) (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 11/24/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 11/23/2020)
190 NOTICE TO THE COURT by Raymond Perry (Non-party) (rcb) (Entered: 12/02/2020)
191 NOTICE OF COMMENT AND OBJECTION. (rcb) (Entered: 12/02/2020)
184 ORDER DIRECTING EXPEDITED RESPONSE AND PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE. Defendants to file an expedited response on or before 11/30/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/24/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 11/24/2020)
185 DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER AND MOTION TO STRIKE FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL RULES. (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 11/25/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 11/24/2020)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 185 . (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 12/9/2020). (rcb) (Entered: 11/25/2020)
186 ORDER GRANTING 185 EXTENSION AND DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE. This Court accepts Defendants' motion as recognition that Defendants oppose Plaintiffs' 183 motion for protective order. This Court will not strike Plaintiffs' motion for noncompliance but will grant Defendants' 185 request for an extension to respond. The deadline to respond to Plaintiffs' 183

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motion for protective order is now Monday, 12/14/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 11/25/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 11/25/2020)
187 JOINT STIPULATION OF DISMISSAL OF PLAINTIFF ANGEL MEDDLER WITHOUT PREJUDICE (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 12/2/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/01/2020)
188 ORDER DISMISSING PLAINTIFF ANGEL MEDDLER'S CLAIMS WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The Clerk shall enter judgment stating, "Plaintiff Angel Meddler's claims against Defendants are dismissed without prejudice." All other claims shall remain pending and thus the file will remain open. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/01/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
189 CLERK'S JUDGMENT re 188 ORDER DISMISSING PLAINTIFF ANGEL MEDDLER'S CLAIMS WITHOUT PREJUDICE. (rcb) (Entered: 12/02/2020)
192 JOINT MOTION FOR TELEPHONIC STATUS CONFERENCE RE: PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (ECF 183 ) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 12/3/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/02/2020)
193 ORDER ON PARTIES' 12 MOTION FOR TELEPHONIC CONFERENCE. The 12 motion is DENIED without prejudice. Defendants' response is due on 12/14/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/03/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/03/2020)
194 NOTICE of Filing of Curriculum Vitae of Dan Pacholke by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. re 183 MOTION for Protective Order (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 12/04/2020)
195 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE BY KARA WALLIS, CONSENT TO DESIGNATION, AND REQUEST TO ELECTRONICALLY RECEIVE NOTICES OF ELECTRONIC FILING.( Filing fee $ 208 receipt number AFLNDC-5822689.) by JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit NYS Certificate of Good Standing - Wallis, Kara - Nov. 24, 2020) (WALLIS, KARA) Modified to edit title on 12/10/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/09/2020)
196 ORDER ADMITTING KARA WALLIS PRO HAC VICE. The 195 motion is GRANTED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/09/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/09/2020)
197 MOTION to Withdraw as Attorney by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., ANGEL MEDDLER. (SALEH, SUMAYYA) (Entered: 12/10/2020)
198 ORDER GRANTING 197 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL. This 197 motion is, therefore, GRANTED. The Clerk shall disconnect Ms. Saleh from CM/ECF on this matter. Attorney SUMAYYA SALEH terminated. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/10/2020. (rcb) ***Ms. Saleh disconnected from CM/ECF as directed** (Entered: 12/10/2020)
199 DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER AND MEMORANDUM OF LAW filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Kirkland Declaration, # 2 Grantley Report, # 3 Broadnax Report, # 4 Milo MM Report, # 5 Milo CM Report, # 6 Alexander Declaration, # 7 Fowler Declaration, # 8 Cannon Declaration, # 9 Smith Declaration, # 10 Leavins Declaration, # 11 Richter Declaration, # 12 McCranie Declaration, # 13 Barlow Declaration, # 14 Cade Declaration, # 15 Burns Declaration, # 16 Pugh Declaration, # 17 Lee Records, # 18 Johnson Records, # 19 Manners Declaration, # 20 Raben Declaration, # 21 Brown Declaration, # 22 Botticello Declaration, # 23 Jorgensen Declaration) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 12/15/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/14/2020)
205 Letter from RAYMOND PERRY to Attorney Hard (rcb) (Entered: 12/18/2020)
200 ORDER REFERRING 183 MOTION TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE. This Court finds its prudent to refer this motion to Magistrate Judge Fitzpatrick. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/15/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/15/2020)
ACTION REQUIRED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE: Chambers of MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK notified that action is needed Re: 200 Order. Referred to MARTIN A FITZPATRICK. (rcb) (Entered: 12/15/2020)
201 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 12/16/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/15/2020)
202 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE REPLY TO DEFENDANTS RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER, ECF 199 by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 12/16/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/15/2020)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 202 . (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 12/30/2020). (rcb) (Entered: 12/16/2020)
ACTION REQUIRED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE: Chambers of MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK notified that action is needed Re: 202 MOTION for Leave to File Reply to Defendants' Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Protective Order. Referred to MARTIN A FITZPATRICK. (rcb) (Entered: 12/16/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 1/15/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 12/16/2020)
ACTION REQUIRED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE: Chambers of MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK notified that action is needed Re: 183 MOTION for Protective Order . Referred to MARTIN A FITZPATRICK. (rcb) (Entered: 12/16/2020)

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203 ORDER GRANTING 202 MOTION TO REPLY. The 202 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file a reply on or before 12/21/2020. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 12/16/2020. (rcb) (Entered: 12/16/2020)
204 ORDER. Plaintiffs' motion requesting leave to file a reply, ECF No. 202 , is DENIED. No later than January 3, 2021, counsel must contact the undersigned's courtroom deputy to schedule an evidentiary hearing. Counsel must simultaneously provide an estimate of how many days will be required for the hearing which must be completed by January 22, 2021. Should writs be necessary to secure the appearance of any inmates at the hearing, appropriate motions must be filed no later than January 6, 2021. Ruling on Plaintiffs' motion for a protective order, ECF No. 183 , is DEFERRED. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 12/17/2020. (rcb) Modified to edit docket language (paragraph 1) on 12/22/2020 (rcb). (Entered: 12/17/2020)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Counsel must contact the undersigned's courtroom deputy to schedule evidentiary hearing by 1/3/2021, Motions due by 1/6/2021 & Counsel must provide estimate of days for hearing by 1/22/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 12/17/2020)
206 Letter from YVON MONCHER (Nonparty) (rcb) (Entered: 12/18/2020)
207 Letter from YVON MONCHER (Nonparty) (rcb) (Entered: 12/18/2020)
208 NOTICE of Appearance by LEONARD J LAURENCEAU on behalf of All Plaintiffs (LAURENCEAU, LEONARD) (Entered: 12/23/2020)
209 NOTICE OF HEARING: Evidentiary Hearing set for 1/11/2021 9:30 AM in U.S. Courthouse Tallahassee before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK. United States Courthouse, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301. (5 days reserved)
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as, a hearing impairment that requires a sign language interpreter or a wheelchair restriction that requires ramp access, please contact Angie Maxwell at 850-521-3516 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Angie Maxwell Courtroom Deput
y Clerk (amm) (Entered: 12/30/2020)
210 ORDER. Plaintiffs' have until 1/7/2021, in which to file a reply, ECF No. 202 , as requested, and granted. ECF No. 203 . Should writs be necessary to secure the appearance of any inmates for the hearing, appropriate motions must be filed no later than 1/6/2021. Ruling on Plaintiffs' motion for a protective order, ECF No. 183 , remains DEFERRED. Should the parties agree to a stipulation prohibiting retaliation which moots Plaintiffs' motion, an appropriate notice must be immediately filed. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 1/4/21. (blb) (Entered: 01/04/2021)
211 NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE REPLY TO DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER (ECF 202 ) by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. (COSTELLO, ANDREA) Modified Title on 1/7/2021 (blb). (Entered: 01/06/2021)
212 NOTICE of Withdrawal of Declaration of Mack Simmons From Plaintiffs' Motion for Protective Order by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. re 183 MOTION for Protective Order (COSTELLO, ANDREA) (Entered: 01/06/2021)
213 NOTICE of Withdrawal of Declaration of Simone Littles From Plaintiffs' Motion for Protective Order by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. re 183 MOTION for Protective Order (COSTELLO, ANDREA) (Entered: 01/07/2021)
214 First MOTION for Writ of Habeas Corpus ad testificandum by JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order) (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) (Entered: 01/07/2021)
215 ORDER. The joint motion for issuance of writs of habeas corpus ad testificandum, ECF No. 214 , is GRANTED. Ruling on Plaintiffs' motion for a protective order, ECF No. 183 , remains DEFERRED. Should the parties agree to a stipulation prohibiting retaliation which moots Plaintiffs' motion, ECF No. 183 , an appropriate notice must be immediately filed. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 1/7/21. (blb) (Entered: 01/07/2021)
216 NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF DECLARATIONS OF ANDREA COSTELLO, SUMAYYA SALEH, AMBER ERIKSSON, AND MICHELLE LLOSA FROM MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER by JEROME BURGESS (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) (Entered: 01/07/2021)
217 WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AD TESTIFICANDUM re 214 First MOTION for Writ of Habeas Corpus ad testificandum filed by JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 1/7/2021. (amm) (Entered: 01/08/2021)
ACTION REQUIRED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE: Chambers of MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK notified that action is needed Re: 214 First MOTION for Writ of Habeas Corpus ad testificandum, 213 Notice, 216 Notice. Referred to MARTIN A FITZPATRICK. (blb) (Entered: 01/08/2021)
218 NOTICE of Hearing on 183 MOTION for Protective Order: Motion Hearing set for 1/11/2021 9:30 AM in U.S. Courthouse Tallahassee before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK.United States Courthouse, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301.
For the public who wishes to listen to the hearing remotely, you may call into the hearing by: Dialing +16692545252, then input Meeting ID #: 1602379872# US (West Coast) or Dialing +16468287666,then input Meeting ID #: 1602379872# US (East Coast). You must mute your phone when connected to the hearing.

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s/ Angie Maxwell Courtroom Deputy Clerk (amm) (Entered: 01/10/2021)
219 STIPULATION AND REQUEST FOR ENTRY OF ORDER RELATED TO EXTENSION OF TIME FOR SUBMISSION OF DEPOSITION ERRATA FORMS FOR PLAINTIFFS J.H., JAMES KENDRICK, JAC'QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, AND JEROME BURGESS (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 1/11/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 01/10/2021)
220 PLAINTIFF'S MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE (REDACTED) AND THE DETAILS ABOUT THE WITNESSES' DISCIPLINARY HISTORIES FROM EVIDENTIARY HEARING. (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 1/11/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 01/10/2021)
221 Sealed Document - (UNREDACTED) PLAINTIFF'S MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE AND THE DETAILS ABOUT THE WITNESSES' DISCIPLINARY HISTORIES FROM EVIDENTIARY HEARING 220 (amm) (Entered: 01/11/2021)
222 Minute Entry for proceedings held before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK: Day 1 Evidentiary Hearing held on 1/11/2021. Court denies Plaintiffs Motion in Limine (ECF 220 ) without prejudice. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (amm) (Entered: 01/12/2021)
224 Minute Entry for proceedings held before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK: Day 2 Evidentiary Hearing held on 1/12/2021. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (amm) (Entered: 01/13/2021)
223 DEFENDANTS' MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE PLAINTIFFS' WITNESS DAN PACHOLKE AND TO EXCLUDE A DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 1/14/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 01/13/2021)
225 Minute Entry for proceedings held before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK: Day 3 Evidentiary Hearing held on 1/13/2021. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (amm) (Entered: 01/14/2021)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 223 DEFENDANTS' MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE PLAINTIFFS' WITNESS DAN PACHOLKE AND TO EXCLUDE A DEPARTMENT OFJUSTICE REPORT AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 1/28/2021). (rcb) (Entered: 01/14/2021)
227 Minute Entry for proceedings held before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK: Day 4 Evidentiary Hearing held on 1/14/2021. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (amm) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
226 ORDER. It is ORDERED that the Defendants' motion in limine, ECF No. 223 , is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 1/15/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
228 NOTICE of Withdrawal of Declaration of Michael Lowery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. re 183 MOTION for Protective Order (COSTELLO, ANDREA) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
229 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of *EXCERPT* Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 1 held on 1/11/2021, before Judge Martin E. Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 1/22/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/22/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
230 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 2 held on 1/12/2021, before Judge Martin E. Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 1/22/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/22/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
231 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 3 held on 1/13/2021, before Judge Martin E. Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 1/22/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/22/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
232 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 4 held on 1/14/2021, before Judge Martin E. Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 1/22/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/22/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
236 Minute Entry for proceedings held before MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK: Day 5 Evidentiary Hearing held on 1/15/2021. Parties can submit any additional written materials by close of business Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (Attachments: # 1 Court Exhibit List) (amm) (Entered: 01/19/2021)

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233 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of *EXCERPT* of Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 5 held on 1/15/2021, before Judge Martin Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan A. Hague, Telephone number 8504220011.
Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER.
Redaction Request due 1/25/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/23/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/16/2021)
234 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of *EXCERPT* of Evidentiary Proceedings - Day 5 held on 1/15/2021, before Judge Martin Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan A. Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 1/25/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 4/23/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/16/2021)
235 STATUS REPORT Joint On Discovery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 01/18/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 2/15/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 01/19/2021)
237 DEFENDANTS' NOTICE OF FILING PROPOSED REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Report and Recommendation) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 1/21/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 01/20/2021)
238 PLAINTIFFS NOTICE OF FILING OF PROPOSED PROTECTIVE ORDER (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order) (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 1/21/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 01/20/2021)
239 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of *EXCERPT* of Evidentiary Proceedings - Closing Arguments held on 1/15/2021, before Judge Martin Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 2/8/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 5/10/2021. (mah) (Entered: 01/31/2021)
240 **VACATED PER 279 **ORDER. Plaintiffs' motion for a protective order, ECF No. 183 , is GRANTED. Signed by MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARTIN A FITZPATRICK on 02/08/2021. (rcb) Modified to edit docket text on 4/8/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/08/2021)
241 PLAINTIFFS' EMERGENCY MOTION FOR AN EXPEDITED TELEPHONIC HEARING REGARDING RULE 34 INSPECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 9 12, 2021 by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 2/9/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/09/2021)
242 DEFENDANTS' EMERGENCY MOTION FOR ENTRY OF A PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING UPCOMING INSPECTIONS AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 2/9/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/09/2021)
243 NOTICE of Telephonic Hearing on 241 PLAINTIFFS' EMERGENCY MOTION FOR AN EXPEDITED TELEPHONIC HEARING REGARDING RULE 34 INSPECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 9 12, 2021 and 242 Defendants Emergency MOTION for Protective Order Regarding Upcoming Inspections: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 2/9/2021 10:35 AM in U.S. Courthouse Tallahassee before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER. United States Courthouse, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301.
You may dial into the conference call as early as 10:35 am ET. Call in number: 888-684-8852. When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136#. If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 1397#. Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call.
s/ Angie Maxwell Courtroom Deput
y Clerk (amm) Modified on 2/9/2021 (amm). (Entered: 02/09/2021)
244 Amended NOTICE of Telephonic Hearing on 241 PLAINTIFFS' EMERGENCY MOTION FOR AN EXPEDITED TELEPHONIC HEARING REGARDING RULE 34 INSPECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 9 12, 2021 and 242 Defendants Emergency MOTION for Protective Order Regarding Upcoming Inspections: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 2/9/2021 10:35 AM in U.S. Courthouse Tallahassee before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER. United States Courthouse, 111 North Adams St., Tallahassee, Florida 32301.
You may dial into the conference call as early as 10:35 am ET. Call in number: 888-684-8852. When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136#. If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 4565#. Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call.
s/ Angie Maxwell Courtroom Deput
y Clerk (amm) Modified on 2/9/2021 (amm). (Entered: 02/09/2021)
245 ORDER ON PARTIES' EMERGENCY 241 & 242 MOTIONS. Plaintiffs' Emergency Motion, ECF No. 241 , and Defendants' Emergency Motion, ECF No. 242 . For the reason provided on the record, the motions are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The Magistrate Judge's Order, ECF No. 240 , is stayed for fourteen days. If, at the end of the fourteen-day period, the parties do not file any objections to the Order, the stay shall be lifted and both parties will be subject to the Order. If, however,

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either party files an objection, the stay will remain in place pending a review by this Court. the two scheduled Rule 34 InspectionsHamilton and Union Correctional Institutionshall move forward as planned except the start time at Hamilton will be delayed. For these inspections, the parties are bound by their stipulation, ECF No. 157 , and not the Magistrate Judges Order. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 02/09/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 02/09/2021)
246 Minute Entry for proceedings held before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER: Telephonic Motion Hearing held on 2/9/2021 re 242 Defendants Emergency MOTION for Protective Order Regarding Upcoming Inspections and 241 Plaintiffs Emergency MOTION to Compel Rule 34 Inspections and Request for an Expedited Telephonic Hearing. (Court Reporter Megan Hague.) (amm) (Entered: 02/09/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Miscellaneous Deadline (Parties Objections) Re: 245 - by 2/23/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 02/10/2021)
247 NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of *Excerpt* Proceedings - Day 1 AM held on 1/11/2021, before Judge Martin Fitzpatrick. Court Reporter/Transcriber Megan Hague, Telephone number 8504220011. 
 Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. 
 Redaction Request due 2/22/2021. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 5/24/2021. (mah) (Entered: 02/15/2021)
248 Sealed Document. Transcript of Motion in Limine held on 1/11/2021 in front of Judge Martin Fitzpatrick, reported by Megan A. Hague - 850-422-0011 (mah) (Entered: 02/15/2021)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: Set Deadlines/Hearings: 2/15/2021 Status Report Deadline (rcb)***Status Report due by 2/15/2021 not filed*** (Entered: 02/16/2021)
249 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 2/17/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/16/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 3/19/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 02/17/2021)
250 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR LEAVE FOR LORI RIFKIN TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE, CONSENT TO DESGINATION, AND REQUEST TO ELECTRONICALLY RECEIVE NOTICES OF ELECTRONIC FILING. (RIFKIN, LORI) Modified to edit title on 2/18/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/17/2021)
251 ORDER ADMITTING LORI RIFKIN PRO HAC VICE.The 250 motion is GRANTED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 02/18/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 02/18/2021)
252 DEFENDANTS' UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXCEED WORD LIMIT. (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) Modified to edit title on 2/19/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/18/2021)
253 ORDER GRANTING 252 IN PART MOTION TO EXCEED WORD LIMIT. This Court will therefore GRANT in part 252 Defendants' motion and increase the word limit to 13,000. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER. (rcb) (Entered: 02/19/2021)
254 DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM, AND OBJECTIONS TO, THE MAGISTRATE'S ORDER [D.E. 240 ] AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 2/23/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/22/2021)
255 NOTICE OF TELEPHONIC HEARING RE: 254 MOTION for Relief from and Objections to Magistrate's Order: Telephonic Motion Hearing set for 2/23/2021 11:00 AM before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER.
ALL PARTIES are directed to call the AT&T Conference Line (see below)
Conference Call Information
You may dial into the conference call up to five minutes before start time. Call in number: 888-684-8852 When prompted for an access code, enter: 3853136# If you are asked to join as the host, just ignore and wait until you are asked for a security code. When asked for a security code, enter: 4565# Say your name, when prompted. You are now in the conference call. Remember to mute your phone when you are not speaking. The Court asks that counsel NOT use cell phones or speaker phones during the call as the quality of the audio connection is comprised by these devices.
NOTE: If you or any party, witness or attorney in this matter has a disability that requires special accommodation, such as a hearing impairment, please contact Victoria Milton McGee at 850-521-3510 in the Clerk's Office at least one week prior to the hearing (or as soon as possible) so arrangements can be made.
s/ Victoria Milton McGee Courtroom Deputy Clerk 
(vkm) (Entered: 02/22/2021)
256 DEFENDANTS' AMENDED MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM, AND OBJECTIONS TO, THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S ORDER [D.E. 240 ] AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 2/23/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 02/23/2021)
257 Minute Entry for proceedings held before CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER: Telephonic Scheduling Conference held on 2/23/2021. Parties discuss schedule re 240 Order. Order to follow (Court Reporter Megan Hague). (vkm) (Entered: 02/23/2021)
258 ORDER DENYING MOTION AS MOOT. Defendants' Motion for Relief from, and Objections to, the Magistrate Judge's Order, ECF No. 254 , is DENIED as moot. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 02/23/2021. (rcb) (Entered:

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259 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply to Defendants' Amended Motion for Relief From, and Objections to, the Magistrate Judge's Order by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 03/08/2021)
260 ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME. This Court has considered, without hearing, Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File a Response. ECF No. 259 . The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file a response on or before 3/12/2021. The deadlines to file a reply and a sur-reply remain the same, seven days after the response and reply, respectively. ECF No. 253 . Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 3/8/21. Reply due by 3/19/2021. (blb) (Entered: 03/08/2021)
261 NOTICE of Appearance by JOSHUA D LERNER on behalf of FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK INCH (LERNER, JOSHUA) (Entered: 03/08/2021)
262 MOTION FOR JOINDER. (rcb) (Entered: 03/10/2021)
263 ORDER DENYING 262 MOTION FOR JOINDER. Mr. Thompson's 262 motion is DENIED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/12/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 03/12/2021)
264 PLAINTIFFS' RESPONSE TO DEFENDANTS' OBJECTIONS TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 3/15/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/12/2021)
265 DEFENDANTS' REPLY IN SUPPORT OF THEIR AMENDED MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM THE MAGISTRATE JUDGES ORDER [D.E. 256 ]. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 3/22/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/19/2021)
266 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 3/22/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/19/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 4/21/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 03/22/2021)
267 PLAINTIFFS' UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE A SUR-REPLY TO DEFENDANTS' AMENDED MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM, AND OBJECTIONS TO, THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S ORDER (ECF No. 256 ). (THYPIN-BERMEO, SAM) Modified to edit title on 3/24/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/23/2021)
268 ORDER GRANTING 267 EXTENSION OF TIME. The 267 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file a sur-reply on or before 3/31/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/23/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 03/23/2021)
269 NOTICE of Appearance by MARTA VENESSA JASZCZOLT on behalf of All Plaintiffs (JASZCZOLT, MARTA) (Entered: 03/26/2021)
270 PLAINTIFFS' UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1: Second Amended Complaint) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 3/29/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/29/2021)
271 JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY CLASS CERTIFICATION DEADLINES (ECF NO. 166 ). (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 3/29/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/29/2021)
272 ORDER GRANTING JOINT 271 MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINES. The 271 motion is GRANTED. The deadlines are changed as follows, (1) Plaintiffs Class Certification Motion, presently set for April 28, 2021, is now due on or before 5/28/2021; (2) Defendants Response, presently set for July 28, 2021, is now due on or before 9/27/2021; and (3) Plaintiffs' Reply, presently set for August 18, 2021, is now due on or before 10/18/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/29/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 03/29/2021)
273 ORDER GRANTING 270 LEAVE TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT. The 270 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs' shall file the Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 270-1, as a separate docket entry on or before 3/31/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 03/29/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 03/29/2021)
275 Letter from Akeem Muhammad-No Action Required (rcb) (Entered: 03/31/2021)
274 SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT against All Defendants All Defendants., filed by JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., J H, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JEROME BURGESS. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 03/30/2021)
276 PLAINTIFFS' SUR-REPLY IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS' AMENDED MOTION (ECF NO. 256 ) FOR RELIEF FROM PROTECTIVE ORDE filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 4/1/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 03/31/2021)
277 PLAINTIFFS' UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE FOR JENNIFER M. PAINTER TO WITHDRAW AS CO-COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS. (PAINTER, JENNIFER) Modified to edit title on 4/2/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 04/01/2021)
278 ORDER GRANTING 277 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL. This 177 motion is, therefore, GRANTED. The Clerk shall disconnect Ms. Painter from CM/ECF on this matter. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/01/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/02/2021)
279 ORDER VACATING 240 MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S ORDER. This Court vacates the Magistrate Judge's order because it is contrary to the law and GRANTS Defendants' motion, ECF No. 256 . Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/07/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/07/2021)
280 DEFENDANT FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' MOTION FOR RULE 35 MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATIONS OF NAMED PLAINTIFFS BASED ON GOOD CAUSE SHOWN AND ATTACHED MEMORANDUM

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OF LAW. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Plaintiffs' Interrogatory Responses, # 2 Exhibit Letter to Knapp, # 3 Exhibit Letter to Lerner, # 4 Affidavit Declaration Lerner, # 5 Affidavit Declaration Saathoff) (SMITH, NICOLE) Modified to edit title on 4/12/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 04/09/2021)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 280 MOTION to Compel Rule 35 Mental Health Examinations of Named Plaintiffs. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 4/26/2021). (rcb) (Entered: 04/12/2021)
281 DEFENDANTS' ANSWER, DEFENSES, AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO PLAINTIFFS SECOND AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 4/13/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 04/12/2021)
282 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Deposition Errata Forms for Kirkland by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) (Entered: 04/20/2021)
283 ORDER GRANTING 282 EXTENSION OF TIME. The 282 motion is GRANTED. Defendant shall submitted the errata forms on or before 5/13/2021 and 5/14/20211, for days one and two of the deposition respectively. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/20/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/20/2021)
284 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 4/22/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 04/21/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 5/21/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/22/2021)
285 MOTION to Extend Time or Accept Plaintiffs' Response to Defendants' Motion for Rule 35 Examinations as Timely Filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 04/26/2021)
286 ORDER GRANTING 285 EXTENSION. The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs may file their response to Defendant's motion for Rule 35 examinations today, 4/26/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/26/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/26/2021)
287 PLAINTIFFS' RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' MOTION FOR RULE 35 MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATIONS OF NAMED PLAINTIFFS (ECF No. 280 ) (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Kelly Knapp, # 2 Declaration of Kathryn A. Burns, # 3 Deposition of Dean Aufderheide Excerpt, # 4 Health Services Bulletin 15.05.19) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 4/27/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 04/26/2021)
288 MOTION for Leave to File re 287 Response in Opposition to Motion, a Reply to Plaintiff's Response by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) (Entered: 04/29/2021)
289 ORDER GRANTING 288 LEAVE TO FILE REPLY AND REQUIRING SUR-REPLY. The 288 motion is GRANTED. The parties shall confer and determine a suitable timetable to file a reply and a sur-reply and notify this Court on or before 4/30/2021. This Court, of course, encourages the parties to revisit the discovery disputes before filing the reply and sur-reply. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 04/29/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 04/29/2021)
290 NOTICE of Jointly Proposed Timetable for Reply and Sur-reply by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK INCH re 289 Order,, Set Deadlines/Hearings, (SMITH, NICOLE) (Entered: 04/30/2021)
291 ORDER ADOPTING PROPOSED TIMETABLE. This Court adopts their timetable. Defendants shall file a reply on or before 5/7/2021; Plaintiffs shall file a sur-reply on or before 5/14 /2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/03/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/03/2021)
292 JOINT MOTION TO INCREASE WORD LIMIT FOR THE PARTIES' RULE 35 REPLY AND SUR-REPLY. (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) Modified to edit title on 5/5/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/05/2021)
293 NOTICE of Appearance by RACHEL MALKOWSKI ORTIZ on behalf of All Plaintiffs (ORTIZ, RACHEL) (Entered: 05/05/2021)
294 ORDER GRANTING 292 INCREASE OF WORD LIMIT. The 292 motion is GRANTED. The reply and the sur-reply shall not exceed 5,000 words. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/05/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/05/2021)
295 Letter from JENNIFER GARCIA (rcb) (Entered: 05/06/2021)
296 DEFENDANT FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' REPLY IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION FOR RULE 35 MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATIONS. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Declaration of Saathoff, # 2 Exhibit AAP Guidelines) (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) Modified to edit title on 5/10/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/07/2021)
297 MOTION FOR LEAVE BY AIMEE LIM TO WITHDRAW AS CO-COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS (COSTELLO, ANDREA) Modified to edit title on 5/10/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/07/2021)
298 ORDER GRANTING 297 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL. This Court has considered, without hearing, the Motion to Withdraw Aimee Lim as counsel for Plaintiffs. ECF No. 297 . Plaintiffs continue to be represented by counsel, and representation will continue uninterrupted. This 297 motion is, therefore, GRANTED. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/10/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/10/2021)
299 PLAINTIFFS' SUR-REPLY IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MOTION FOR RULE 35 MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATIONS OF NAMED PLAINTIFFS (ECF No. 280 ). (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit, # 4 Exhibit, # 5 Exhibit, # 6 Exhibit) (COSTELLO, ANDREA) Modified to edit title on 5/17/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/14/2021)
300 AFFIDAVIT FROM DILLON GRESHAM. (rcb) (Entered: 05/17/2021)
301 MOTION to Extend Time to Submit Errata Forms of Dr. Dean Aufderheide by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF

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06/01/2021 06/01/2021 06/08/2021 06/09/2021 06/09/2021 06/11/2021 06/14/2021 06/14/2021 06/15/2021

CORRECTIONS. (DUKE, SAMANTHA) (Entered: 05/17/2021)
302 ORDER GRANTING 301 EXTENSION OF TIME. The motion is GRANTED. Defendant shall submit the errata forms on or before 5/26/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/18/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/18/2021)
303 PLAINTIFFS' UNOPPOSED MOTION TO INCREASE WORD LIMIT. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 5/21/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/20/2021)
304 ORDER GRANTING 303 INCREASE OF WORD LIMIT. The 303 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs' motion for class certification shall not exceed 13,000 words. Additionally, given the complexity of the issue, Defendants response can also be 13,000 words. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/21/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/21/2021)
305 STATUS REPORT Joint On Discovery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 05/21/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 6/23/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/24/2021)
306 PLAINTIFFS' UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE PROPOSED THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Third Amended Complaint) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 5/27/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/26/2021)
307 ORDER GRANTING 306 LEAVE TO FILE THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT. The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs' shall file the Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 306 -1, as a separate docket entry on or before 5/28/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/27/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/27/2021)
308 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE DEPOSITION ERRATA FORM FOR PLAINTIFF JUAN ESPINOSA. (COSTELLO, ANDREA) Modified to edit title on 5/27/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/27/2021)
309 THIRD AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 5/28/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/27/2021)
310 ORDER GRANTING 308 EXTENSION OF TIME. The 308 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall submit the errata forms on or before 6/14/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 05/27/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 05/27/2021)
311 PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 6/11/2021). (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Admire Harvard, # 2 Declaration of Johnny Hill, # 3 Declaration of Amy Ferguson, # 4 Declaration of James Kendrick, # 5 Declaration of Juan Espinosa, # 6 Declaration of Jeremiah Hill, # 7 Declaration of Jerome Burgess, # 8 Declarations of Putative Class Members, Exhibit A (A-1 to A-31, # 9 Declaration of Dr. Craig Haney, # 10 Declaration of Dr. Kathryn Burns, # 11 Declaration of Dr. Homer Venters, # 12 Declaration of Dr. Louis Kraus, # 13 Declaration of Dan Pacholke, # 14 Declaration of Kelly Knapp, # 15 Declaration of Marcel Lilavois, # 16 Exhibit B (B-1 to B-11 Filed Under Seal), # 17 Exhibit C (C-1 to C-10), # 18 Exhibit D (D-1 to D-3), # 19 Exhibit E (E1 to E6), # 20 Exhibit F (F1 to F5), # 21 Exhibit G (G1 to G13)) (KNAPP, KELLY) Modified to edit title on 6/1/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 05/28/2021)
Set Deadline Re: 272 Defendants' Response 9/27/2021 & Plaintiffs' Reply 10/18/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 06/01/2021)
312 DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO LIMIT RULE 34 FACILITY INSPECTIONS AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - April 13, 2020 letter from FJI to A Dixon) (DUKE, SAMANTHA) Modified to edit title on 6/10/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 06/01/2021)
313 NOTICE of Appearance by KRISTA ANN DOLAN on behalf of All Plaintiffs (DOLAN, KRISTA) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
314 DEFENDANTS' ANSWER, DEFENSES, AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO PLAINTIFFS THIRD AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT. (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) Modified to edit title on 6/10/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 06/09/2021)
317 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF (rcb) (Entered: 06/14/2021)
315 Second MOTION to Extend Timeto File Deposition Errata Sheet for Plaintiff Juan Espinosa by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (COSTELLO, ANDREA) (Entered: 06/11/2021)
316 ORDER GRANTING 315 EXTENSION OF TIME. The 315 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall submit the errata form on or before 6/18/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 06/14/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 06/14/2021)
318 ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE 117 PRO SE MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS BRIEF. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 6/14/2021. (vkm)***MAILED TO SHANNON COPELAND*** (Entered: 06/14/2021)
319 MOTION for Sanctions Civil Contempt and Sanctions for Witness Interference by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 2 Exhibit 2 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 3 Exhibit 3 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 4 Exhibit 4 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 5 Exhibit 5 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 6 Exhibit 6 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 7 Exhibit 7 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 8 Exhibit 8 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 9 Exhibit 9 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 10 Exhibit 10 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 11 Exhibit 11 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 12 Exhibit 12 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 13 Exhibit 13 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 14 Exhibit 14 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 15 Exhibit 15 in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 16 Affidavit of Johnny Hill in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 17 Affidavit of Tracey Dean in

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06/30/2021
07/01/2021
07/01/2021 07/01/2021 07/02/2021 07/02/2021

Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 18 Affidavit of James Kendrick in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 19 Affidavit of Derrick Grantley in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions, # 20 Affidavit of Jyrone Lumpkin in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Contempt and Sanctions) (RIFKIN, LORI) (Entered: 06/15/2021)
320 RESPONSE in Opposition re 312 MOTION TO LIMIT RULE 34 FACILITY INSPECTIONS AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1: "Logistical Challenges", # 2 Exhibit 2: "Staff Interference", # 3 Exhibit 3: Declaration of Ambrose Dixon, # 4 Exhibit 4: Response to Request for Production No. 640) (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 06/15/2021)
321 NOTICE of Appearance by ALEXIS NICOLE ALVAREZ on behalf of All Plaintiffs (ALVAREZ, ALEXIS) (Entered: 06/16/2021)
ACTION REQUIRED BY DISTRICT JUDGE: Chambers of CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER notified that action is needed Re: 316 ORDER GRANTING 315 EXTENSION OF TIME (rcb)**Plaintiff's errata form not filed by 6/18/2021** (Entered: 06/21/2021)
322 NOTICE of Supplemental Authority by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR. (Attachments: # 1 Class Certification Order in Davis v Baldwin) (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 06/21/2021)
Set Deadlines- Mediation Report due by 5/12/2022 Re: ECF 166 . (rcb) (Entered: 06/22/2021)
323 STATUS REPORT Joint On Discovery by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) (Entered: 06/23/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 7/26/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 06/24/2021)
324 NOTICE of Appearance by REBECCA RENEE KLONEL on behalf of All Plaintiffs (KLONEL, REBECCA) (Entered: 06/24/2021)
Set/Reset Deadlines as to 319 MOTION for Sanctions Civil Contempt and Sanctions for Witness Interference. (Internal deadline for referral to judge if response not filed earlier: 7/9/2021). (rcb) (Entered: 06/25/2021)
325 RESPONSE in Opposition re 319 MOTION for Sanctions Civil Contempt and Sanctions for Witness Interference , RESPONSE to Motion filed by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK INCH. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibit 1 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 2 Exhibit Exhibit 2 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 3 Exhibit Exhibit 3 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 4 Exhibit Exhibit 4 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 5 Exhibit Exhibit 5 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 6 Exhibit Exhibit 6 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 7 Exhibit Exhibit 7 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 8 Exhibit Exhibit 8 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 9 Exhibit Exhibit 9 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 10 Exhibit Exhibit 10 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 11 Exhibit Exhibit 11 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 12 Exhibit Exhibit 12 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 13 Exhibit Exhibit 13 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 14 Exhibit Exhibit 14 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 15 Exhibit Exhibit 15 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 16 Exhibit Exhibit 16 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 17 Exhibit Exhibit 17 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 18 Exhibit Exhibit 18 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt, # 19 Exhibit Exhibit 19 in Support of Defendants' Response to Motion for Civil Contempt) (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) (Entered: 06/29/2021)
326 REQUEST to File Supplemental Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Civil Contempt and Sanctions (construed as a Motion to File Supplemental Brief in Support of the 319 Motion for Civil Contempt and for Sanctions per 327 Order) filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (Attachments: # 1 Supplemental Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Civil Contempt and Sanctions) (RIFKIN, LORI) Modified on 7/1/2021 (kjw). (Entered: 06/30/2021)
327 ORDER GRANTING REQUEST TO FILE SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF AND SETTING DEADLINE FOR DEFENDANT TO RESPOND. This Court has considered, without hearing, Plaintiff's "request to file supplemental brief," ECF No. 326 , which this Court construes as a motion to file supplemental brief in support of their motion for civil contempt and for sanctions. The motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs must file their supplemental brief as a separate docket entry on or before July 2, 2021. Defendant may respond to the supplemental brief on or before July 12, 2021, at which point this Court will take the matter under advisement. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 7/1/2021. (kjw) (Entered: 07/01/2021)
Set Deadlines: Plaintiffs' supplemental brief due by 7/2/2021. Defense response, if any, due by 7/12/2021. (kjw) (Entered: 07/01/2021)
328 MEMORANDUM in Support re 319 MOTION for Sanctions Civil Contempt and Sanctions for Witness Interference , Supplemental Brief filed by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (RIFKIN, LORI) (Entered: 07/01/2021)
329 Joint MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 272 Order,,, Set Deadlines/Hearings,, by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 07/02/2021)
330 ORDER 329 GRANTING MOTION TO MODIFY DEADLINE. The 329 motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs shall file their reply on or before 11/30/2021. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 07/02/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 07/02/2021)

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331 RESPONSE by FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, MARK INCH re 328 Memorandum in Support of Motion, . (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exh 1 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 2 Exhibit Exh 2 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 3 Exhibit Exh 3 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 4 Exhibit Exh 4 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 5 Exhibit Exh 5 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 6 Exhibit Exh 6 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 7 Exhibit Exh 7 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief, # 8 Exhibit Exh 8 to Dfs' Response to Pls' Supplemental Brief) (GROSHOLZ, JEFFREY) (Entered: 07/12/2021)
332 STIPULATION of Dismissal of Plaintiff Amy Ferguson Without Prejudice by JEROME BURGESS, JUAN ESPINOSA, J H, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (KNAPP, KELLY) (Entered: 07/13/2021)
333 ORDER ON STIPULATED DISMISSAL. The parties have filed a stipulation dismissing Plaintiff Amy Ferguson's claims without prejudice. ECF No. 332 . The notice is effective without an order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii); Anago Franchising, Inc. v. Shaz, LLC, 677 F.3d 1272, 1278 (11th Cir. 2012). All other claims remain pending. The Clerk must terminate Ferguson as a plaintiff. Signed by CHIEF JUDGE MARK E WALKER on 07/14/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 07/14/2021)
334 MONTHLY JOINT STATUS REPORT ON DISCOVERY by by JEROME BURGESS, TRACEY DEAN, JUAN ESPINOSA, JACQUANN MARQUIS HARVARD, JEREMIAH HILL, JOHNNY HILL, JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.. (LILAVOIS, MARCEL) Modified to edit title on 7/27/2021 (rcb). (Entered: 07/26/2021)
Set Deadlines/Hearings Status Report due by 8/26/2021. (rcb) (Entered: 07/27/2021)

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 Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS Document 1 Filed 05/08/19 Page 1 of 90

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD; J.H., a minor, by and through his parent and natural guardian, Valentine Robinson; ANGEL MEDDLER; JUAN ESPINOSA; JEROME BURGESS (a/k/a SHAM’LA GOD ALLAH); and JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs
v.
MARK INCH, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, an Agency of the State of Florida
Defendants.

Case No.: 19-cv-212
CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS Document 1 Filed 05/08/19 Page 2 of 90
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ____________________________________________ 1
II. JURISDICTION _____________________________________________ 5
III. VENUE ___________________________________________________ 5
IV. PARTIES__________________________________________________ 5 A. Plaintiffs ___________________________________________________ 5 i. Admire Harvard____________________________________________________________________________________5 ii. J.H. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________8 iii. Angel Meddler _____________________________________________________________________________________9 iv. Juan Espinosa _____________________________________________________________________________________ 11 v. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah) _________________________________________ 14 vi. James W. Kendrick, Jr. _______________________________________________________________________ 16 B. Defendants ________________________________________________ 18
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS __________________________________ 19 A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation _______________________________ 21 B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation ____________________________________ 32 C. Conditions in Isolation Cells __________________________________ 36 D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact __________________________ 39 E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation________________________ 44 F. Deprivation of Exercise ______________________________________ 47 G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures __________________ 49 H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference_____________________________ 55 I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose _____________________________ 63 J. Disability Discrimination _____________________________________ 66
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS ___________________________ 72 A. Plaintiff Class ______________________________________________ 72 B. Disability Subclass __________________________________________ 75
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF_____________________________________ 78 A. First Cause of Action ________________________________________ 78 B. Second Cause of Action ______________________________________ 80 C. Third Cause of Action _______________________________________ 82
VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF ____________________________________ 84

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I. INTRODUCTION 1. Solitary confinement, also known as “isolation,” is increasingly recognized by medical and mental health professionals, scholars, scientists, and advocates throughout the United States and around the world as torture. Individuals subject to isolation are more likely to exhibit anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality.1 These effects begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation for months or years. Isolation inflicts devastating harm on the individuals who experience it, places them and their families and communities at risk when they are released, is inordinately expensive when appropriately staffed, and does not reduce prison violence or promote public safety. 2. Nearly one out of every seven individuals in isolation in the United States is in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”). Every day, FDC isolates approximately 10,000 people in tiny, cramped cells for nearly 24 hours a day; many endure these conditions for months or years at a time. FDC separates all 10,000 of these individuals from the general prison population, and
1 Craig Haney, Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and “Supermax” Confinement, 49 CRIME & DELINQ. 124, 130-131 (2003).
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severely restricts their access to normal human contact, exercise, rehabilitative programs, and mental stimulation. The United States Department of Justice and correctional experts refer to this practice as “isolation” or “solitary confinement” because people in these conditions are isolated from the general prison population, confined in a small cell at least 22 hours a day, subjected to the highest security measures, and deprived of basic human needs. FDC uses different names for isolation in its facilities such as close management or confinement, but no matter the name, the practice violates constitutional standards.
3. Many states are significantly reducing or abandoning the use of isolation in correctional systems because it has proven ineffective at modifying behavior and has harmful health consequences. For these reasons, psychological, correctional, legal, and human rights professionals have recognized that isolation should not be used or used only sparingly with stringent procedural safeguards.
4. FDC, in contrast, refuses to reduce its use of isolation, rendering Florida an outlier in correctional systems in the United States. FDC uses isolation to manage 10% of its total prison population which is more than twice the national average for prison systems using isolation. It uses isolation indiscriminately as a catch-all punishment for people with behavior problems ranging from minor to severe, including individuals whose behavior is a manifestation of their disability. Each day, people in FDC’s custody suffer from mental and physical health
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consequences due to its isolation policies and practices. Since 2013, a majority of the suicides in Florida prisons have occurred in isolation—where only 10% of the prison population is housed.
5. FDC knows that the cumulative effect of the deprivations in isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm. It knows that its isolation policies and practices are draconian and outdated. It also knows that people in its custody are suffering from harmful health consequences caused by isolation. Yet, it has failed to take appropriate action to prevent this harm. It fails to consistently monitor people for signs of declining mental and physical health, or to meaningfully respond to those who are obviously suffering from the damaging effects caused by isolation. Unlike many other states, FDC isolates people who suffer from a heightened risk of harm, such as teenagers, people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities, and people with physical disabilities, even though it is aware of the heightened risk to these populations.
6. FDC also fails to limit the amount of time people spend in isolation and subjects people to this increasing risk of harm for months or years after any emergency or serious threat has abated, if there ever was one. This excessive and prolonged use of isolation includes hundreds of people who have been in isolation for six to twenty years.
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7. FDC’s isolation policies and practices are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices that are not supported by any legitimate penological purpose.
8. FDC, through policy and practice, also discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability; it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have equal access to programs, services, and activities; and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs.
9. Defendants Mark Inch and FDC have acted, and are acting, under color of state law to deprive Plaintiffs and Class Members of their constitutionally protected right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. They have also acted, and are acting, under color of state law to discriminate against Plaintiffs and Class Members with disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Plaintiffs and Class Members seek declaratory and injunctive relief to address these violations of their constitutional and statutory rights.
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II. JURISDICTION 10. The claims alleged herein arise under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq.; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794. 11. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2201, and 2202, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
III. VENUE 12. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Florida under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims brought by Plaintiffs and the class have occurred in this District and Defendants are in this District.
IV. PARTIES A. Plaintiffs
i. Admire Harvard 13. Jac’Quann (“Admire”) Harvard is a 28-year-old black transgender
woman in isolation at Florida State Prison, a men’s prison. She is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, gender dysphoria, and hypertension. Defendants have subjected her to isolation for nearly ten years, starting when she was 18 years old.
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She remains in Disciplinary Confinement to date and has also been concurrently in Close Management I since 2010.
14. Defendants initially placed Ms. Harvard in isolation for the offense of “lying to staff” when she allegedly asked for a “high calorie” meal in the dining hall after she had been in prison for only two months. Although Ms. Harvard was only 18 years old, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and prescribed anti-anxiety medications, Defendants sentenced her to 60 days in Disciplinary Confinement for this infraction. Within her first three months of isolation, Defendants found her guilty of nine new disciplinary infractions, adding an additional 270 days in isolation, for one fight with her cellmate, yelling, kicking her cell door, and disrespecting staff. Within that same period, Defendants began prescribing her powerful mood-stabilizing and anti-psychotic medications and noted that due to her mental illness she suffered from anxiety and impulsivity, among other symptoms.
15. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Ms. Harvard’s disability and protect her from harm caused by isolation. Over the last nine years, Ms. Harvard has suffered from ongoing severe mental health symptoms in isolation, including hallucinations, delusions, and suicidality. Defendants have hospitalized her for psychiatric reasons approximately 20 times. They have placed her in a suicide-watch cell more than
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50 times. She has cut or otherwise injured herself at least 40 times. After each psychiatric hospitalization or time in a suicide-watch cell, where Defendants also frequently subjected her to isolation, Defendants returned Ms. Harvard directly to Close Management and Disciplinary Confinement.
16. Defendants have found Ms. Harvard guilty of at least 127 disciplinary infractions, the vast majority for non-violent behaviors related to her mental health symptoms. They have also repeatedly left her in a bare cell with nothing but her underwear for several days at a time as punishment. Despite the obvious harm to Ms. Harvard, Defendants extend her time in Disciplinary Confinement for each disciplinary infraction, amounting to a term of more than 11 consecutive years, and hold her in indefinite isolation in Close Management I. Defendants have never provided Ms. Harvard with personal visits, reading materials other than religious texts, education, or exercise outside of a cage. During all her time in Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management, Defendants have permitted her only one phone call when a family member died.
17. Ms. Harvard has filed several grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination she suffers from isolation. She has exhausted available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
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ii. J.H. 18. J.H. is a 17-year-old black teenager in isolation at Florida State
Prison. He arrived in Defendants’ custody as a 14-year-old on July 6, 2016. Since that time, Defendants have cycled him in and out of isolation in response to behaviors related to his immaturity and difficulty adapting to prison at such a young age. In October 2018, at Suwannee Correctional Institution, Defendants removed him from a housing unit with other teenage boys to serve 90 days in Disciplinary Confinement. He was 16 years old. Defendants transferred him to indefinite isolation at Florida State Prison, an adult prison, where he remains, and is one of only two teenagers there.
19. Since his arrival at Florida State Prison in December 2018, Defendants have kept J.H. separated from all other incarcerated people and rarely let him out of his cell. In the last five months, they have taken him to the exercise cages once and dayroom twice, each time completely alone. They take him out to the shower cell, alone, only two or three times a week for no more than ten minutes each time. They provide him with minimal anger management counseling through the cell door and no mental health services. Most of the time, he has nothing to do in his cell. Despite recently changing his status from Close Management II to
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Close Management III, Defendants still subject J.H. to the same severe restrictions on his out-of-cell time, in-cell activities, and contact with other people.
20. J.H. would like to continue his education, but this is nearly impossible in isolation. A teacher infrequently speaks to J.H. through his cell door and gives him worksheets to complete. During these brief interactions, the teacher provides no individualized instruction and the worksheets do not help him meet G.E.D. requirements.
21. As a result of the severe deprivations of exercise, mental stimulation, and normal social contact over the last several months, J.H. has no release for his adolescent energy and his mental health is beginning to deteriorate. He often thinks about death, and cycles through feelings of agitation, frustration, depression, and extreme restlessness.
22. J.H. has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted available administrative remedies. He appears in this action through his mother and natural guardian, Valentine Robinson. iii. Angel Meddler
23. Angel Meddler is a 21-year-old black woman in isolation at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex. Since she arrived at FDC, Defendants have diagnosed her with asthma, as well as anxiety and mood disorders. Despite these
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diagnoses and her young age, Defendants have continuously isolated her for over three years.
24. Within three days of her arrival at FDC, on November 11, 2015, Defendants isolated Ms. Meddler for 30 days in Disciplinary Confinement because she refused to do push-ups as ordered by a correctional officer. She was only 17 at the time. Four months later, she was still in isolation after receiving new disciplinary infractions for yelling, banging on her cell door, using “threatening speech,” and being disrespectful to staff. Defendants then placed her in Close Management I after a correctional officer accused her of battery—an infraction of which Defendants found her not guilty. Defendants have continued her isolation for a variety of disciplinary infractions that are mostly non-violent and related to her immaturity and disability. Recently, after a long period without any major disciplinary infractions, Ms. Meddler became agitated after Defendants refused to take her to the exercise cage for the third week in a row. Defendants gave her two new disciplinary infractions after her agitation resulted in a verbal altercation with a correctional officer. She is currently in both Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management III.
25. In isolation, Ms. Meddler has repeatedly experienced suicidal ideation and tied a sheet around her neck several times as a plea for help. Defendants hospitalized her for suicidality for approximately one month in 2016. They have
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also placed her in a suicide watch cell at least twelve times; each time sending her back to isolation without any enhanced mental health treatment. In addition to suicidality, isolation has caused Ms. Meddler to suffer from anxiety, mental agitation, poor impulse control, disturbed sleep, and paranoia.
26. Ms. Meddler is eligible for special education services and wants to receive her G.E.D. But this goal is nearly impossible in isolation as Defendants provide her with no more than a couple hours a week of education services with little to no individualized instruction.
27. Ms. Meddler has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination she suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. She has exhausted available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
iv. Juan Espinosa 28. Juan Espinosa is a 58-year-old Hispanic man in isolation at the
Reception and Medical Center. Defendants have diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. He suffers from anxiety, depression, paranoia, hallucinations, and mood swings. He tried to kill himself at least five times before he was placed in isolation. He also suffers from tumors in his throat that impede his ability to eat and swallow. Defendants have
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referred him to multiple specialists, including an oncologist, and he has undergone multiple surgical procedures since he has been in isolation. The most recent surgical procedure was to remove all his teeth. In January 2019, he permanently and completely lost his voice after a surgical procedure to remove one of the tumors. He can no longer speak.
29. Defendants began isolating Mr. Espinosa in June 2018 after accusing him of spitting at a correctional officer. They first assigned him to Close Management I, and then Close Management II. Defendants take him to the exercise cages only once a week, and deny him access to visits, dayroom time, and phone calls. He has spoken to his family only once since June 2018. Since losing his voice, Defendants have not given him a Text Telephone or other similar device that would allow him to make phone calls. Defendants have failed to escort or transport him to several medical appointments, including to see his specialists, since he has been in isolation.
30. Mr. Espinosa attempts to communicate through handwritten notes, hand gestures, and by mouthing words, but he is difficult to understand. Defendants have refused to provide him with any services to help him learn to communicate effectively without a voice. Healthcare staff who perform infrequent “rounds” in isolation check on his health status only by asking him cursory questions through his cell door, to which he is unable to properly respond.
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Defendants also isolate him in a cell without a call button to alert staff of an emergency.
31. Mr. Espinosa is afraid of dying of cancer and the lack of in-cell activities leave him little else to think about while locked in his tiny cell. He often thinks about suicide. His depression and mood swings have worsened in isolation, prompting Defendants to increase his psychiatric medications but otherwise providing no meaningful mental health services.
32. In December 2018, Mr. Espinosa lost his balance and fell while trying to walk escorted by a correctional officer and fully restrained at his hands and feet. The strain of the leg irons during the fall broke three bones in his right foot. After his injury, his doctor ordered crutches for him, but staff refused to provide them, forcing Mr. Espinosa to hop around his tiny cell on one foot for several weeks. When he would leave his cell for medical care, Defendants would chain him to a wheelchair to transport him. He now uses a walking boot, and despite his obvious risk of falls Defendants continue to restrain his hands at his waist with handcuffs, a black box,2 and belly chain when he leaves his cell.
2 The black box is a device used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
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33. Mr. Espinosa has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B). v. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah)
34. Jerome Burgess is a 46-year-old black man isolated at Suwannee Correctional Institution. He uses a wheelchair due to paralysis on the left side of his body and cannot urinate without the assistance of a catheter. He is diagnosed with seizure disorder and major depressive disorder. Defendants have subjected Mr. Burgess to isolation since September 25, 2017. He is currently isolated in Close Management II.
35. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Mr. Burgess’s disabilities and prevent the harm caused by isolation. He is losing mobility and range of motion on his right side because the tiny cell where Defendants isolate him at least 22 hours a day barely leaves him enough space to use his wheelchair and leaves him no space to ambulate. Defendants have also failed to provide him with the accommodations he needs to meaningfully participate in recreation in the exercise cages.
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36. Defendants have failed to implement a system to ensure staff are immediately notified when Mr. Burgess has a seizure and to provide him with prompt medical attention. There is no call button in his cell for him to alert staff if he feels warning signs of a seizure, or for a cellmate to use (when and if he has one) to alert staff if Mr. Burgess is suffering from a seizure. He must rely on other incarcerated people to yell and bang on their doors on his behalf, at risk of receiving “disorderly conduct” or “inciting a riot” disciplinary charges, and for correctional officers to respond quickly and appropriately, which does not always occur.
37. Defendants have also failed to modify their policies and practices to prevent further harm to Mr. Burgess once they are aware that he has had a seizure. On October 23, 2018, for example, staff were unaware that he was seizing in his cell until another incarcerated person in a nearby cell sensed something was wrong with Mr. Burgess and chose to alert them. Staff found Mr. Burgess unresponsive in his cell, placed him in his wheelchair, and fully restrained him, including by chaining his right ankle to his wheelchair despite the risk that he might have another seizure.
38. In isolation, in contrast to general population where he can go to the medical clinic as needed to obtain his medical supplies, Mr. Burgess is dependent on medical staff to deliver catheters to his cell front. Defendants do not
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consistently bring him the right type or quantity, forcing him at times to wash and re-use old disposable catheters without adequate cleaning supplies in his filthy cell. As a result, the blockage in Mr. Burgess’s urinary tract has worsened and he suffers from heavy bleeding and painful urinary tract infections. In recent months, he underwent an invasive procedure to remedy these preventable and painful health consequences.
39. Mr. Burgess has repeatedly notified Defendants, including through the grievance process, of the risk of harm he suffers in isolation, and requested modifications to their isolation policies and practices to accommodate his disabilities. He has exhausted available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
vi. James W. Kendrick, Jr. 40. James W. Kendrick, Jr. is a 39-year-old black man isolated at Florida
State Prison. Defendants have diagnosed him with diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. He has also developed depression in isolation, for which Defendants have recently prescribed him medications. Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in Maximum Management on June 20, 2018, after accusing him of battering a correctional officer. Defendants held Mr. Kendrick in Maximum Management until October 25, 2018, and then moved him to Close Management I. In recent weeks, although he remains assigned as Close Management I, Defendants have
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isolated him in a wing with people assigned to Disciplinary Confinement even though they have not charged him with any new disciplinary infractions. Defendants restrict Mr. Kendrick’s out-of-cell exercise, visits, phone calls, and reading materials under their written Disciplinary Confinement policies and procedures despite his current assignment to Close Management I.
41. Defendants’ isolation practices cause Mr. Kendrick to be at risk of physical harm. He needs regular activity and exercise to avoid heart disease due to his diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, but is unable to do so while locked in his tiny cell. Defendants routinely fail to provide Mr. Kendrick with the limited amount of out-of-cell exercise required under their written policies, but even when they do Mr. Kenrick cannot get the exercise and activity he needs in a small cage for a few hours a week.
42. Defendants attempt to treat Mr. Kendrick’s diabetes at cell-front through the rusty, dirty food slot in his cell door. Specifically, nurses attempt to administer pre-loaded syringes of insulin through the food slot, which often leads them to improperly insert the needle or inject him in an un-sanitized area of his arm. They also fail to appropriately time his insulin delivery with his meals. As a result, Mr. Kendrick is frequently compelled to reject his treatment to avoid infection or passing out.
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43. When Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in June 2018, they determined he had no mental health symptoms. But after months of suffering deprivations of basic human needs in isolation, he has become anxious and depressed and has contemplated suicide. Due to these symptoms, in November 2018, mental health staff began providing him with minimal outpatient mental services, and eventually began giving him psychiatric medications. Despite these services, his depression continues to worsen in isolation.
44. Mr. Kendrick has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
B. Defendants 45. Defendant Mark Inch (“Inch”) is the Secretary of Corrections for the Florida Department of Corrections. He became Secretary of FDC in January 2019. In this capacity, Defendant Inch is responsible for the overall management and operation of the entire adult corrections system in Florida and for protecting the constitutional and statutory rights of all people in FDC custody.3 Additionally,
3 “The secretary is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the corrections system of the state. The secretary shall ensure that the programs and services of the department are
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Defendant Inch is responsible for the policies, procedures, and practices regarding management, personnel, and overall operation of FDC, including the operation of isolation at prisons throughout FDC. Defendant Inch authorizes or ratifies the policy and practice of subjecting people to a substantial risk of serious harm and discrimination based on disability by isolating them from the general population as described herein. Defendant Inch has directly and proximately caused, and continues to cause, the constitutional and statutory violations set forth herein. At all relevant times, Defendant Inch was acting under color of state law and as an official representative of FDC. Defendant Inch is sued in his official capacity for declaratory and injunctive relief.
46. Defendant FDC is the administrative department for the State of Florida responsible for administering and exercising the direct and effective control over penal and corrections institutions throughout the State of Florida. Defendant FDC is an instrumentality of the State of Florida.
47. Defendant FDC receives federal financial assistance.
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 48. Defendants (collectively herein “FDC” or “Defendants”), through their policies and practices, confine and isolate approximately 10,000 people in
administered in accordance with state and federal laws, rules, and regulations, with established program standards, and consistent with legislative intent.” § 20.315(3), Fla. Stat. (2018).
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small cells for at least 22 hours a day for weeks, months, or years at a time in
prisons throughout the State of Florida. The United States Department of Justice
defines “isolation” or “solitary confinement” as “the state of being confined to
one’s cell for approximately 22 hours per day or more, alone or with other prisoners, that limits contact with others.”4 This definition expressly includes
people who are single or double-celled, as practiced by FDC.
49. People in isolation live in cells that are smaller than the 162 square feet of a standard parking space.5 Most of the cells are only 45 to 70 square feet
and fail to meet the American Correctional Association standard of 80 square feet.
They contain one or two steel bed frames, a combined toilet and sink, a property
storage box, and sometimes two shelves, all of which, collectively, leave very
limited room for movement. People often spend 48 straight hours in this tiny space
with only a five-to-ten-minute shower before the next 48 straight hours.
4 U.S. Department of Justice, Investigation of State Correctional Institution at Cresson, at 5 (May 31, 2013), http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/cresson_findings_5-31-13.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); cf. Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209, 214, 224 (2005) (describing isolation as limiting human contact for 23 hours per day); Tillery v. Owens, 907 F.2d 418, 422 (3d Cir. 1990) (21 to 22 hours per day). 5 See, e.g., Columbus, Ohio, Code of Ordinances, Title 33, Zoning Code, § 3312.29 (“A parking space shall be a rectangular area of not less than nine feet by 18 feet …”), https://library.municode.com/oh/columbus/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT33ZOCO_CH 3312OREPALO_3312.29PASP (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); South San Francisco, California, Municipal Code, § 20.330.010 (“The minimum basic dimension for standard parking spaces is 8 ½ feet by 18 feet.”), http://www.qcode.us/codes/southsanfrancisco/view.php?topic=20-iv-i20_330-20_330_010&frames=on (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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50. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices. Through its use of isolation, FDC deprives Plaintiffs and the class members of human contact, exercise, and environmental stimulation. These deprivations of basic human needs, combined with intolerable cell conditions and oppressive safety and security measures, cumulatively pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to their health and subject them to a substantial risk of serious harm. Plaintiffs and members of the class are suffering from psychological and medical symptoms that mirror those reported in the research about individuals subjected to isolation.
A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation 51. Isolation causes painful, severe, and sometimes irreversible harm. There is a substantial body of literature from over the last 200 years6 documenting
6 In 1833, Alexis de Tocqueville said this about isolation: “[I]n order to reform them, they had been submitted to complete isolation; but this absolute solitude, if nothing interrupt it, is beyond the strength of man; it destroys the criminal without intermission and without pity, it does not reform, it kills.” GUSTAVE DE BEAUMONT & ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, ON THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATE: AND ITS APPLICATION IN FRANCE 5 (Philadelphia, Carey, Lea & Blanchard 1833), https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000001152418;view=1up;seq=7 (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). In 1842, Charles Dickens wrote:
I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers; and in guessing at it myself, and in reasoning from what I have seen written upon their faces, and what to my certain knowledge they feel within, I am only the more convinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in which
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the harms of isolation, even for short periods of time. Over a century ago, the
United States Supreme Court noted that:
[People subject to isolation] fell, after even a short confinement, into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them, and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better were not generally reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community. In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160, 168 (1890). The Supreme Court again noted in
2015 that prolonged isolation “exacts a terrible price,” including “common
side-effects … [of] anxiety, panic, withdrawal, hallucinations, self-
mutilation, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.” Davis v. Ayala, 135 S.Ct.
2187, 2210 (Kennedy, J., concurring) (citing Grassian, Psychiatric Effects of
Solitary Confinement, 22 Wash. U.J.L. & Pol’y 325 (2006)).
52. There is broad consensus in the medical and psychiatric communities
on the harms from isolation.7 People in isolation “suffer from a similar range of
none but the sufferers themselves can fathom, and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow creature. . . .
I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body; and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that human ears can hear; therefore the more I denounce it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay.
CHARLES DICKENS, AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION 238-39 (London, Chapman and Hall 1842). 7 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 338 (“By now the potentially catastrophic effects of restricted environmental stimulation have been the subject of voluminous medical literature.”); Ass’n of
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symptoms irrespective of differences in the physical conditions in various prisons
and in the treatment of isolated inmates.”8 Studies also show that some people will
continue to suffer from the consequences of isolation after they are released, with
some suffering from permanent harms.9
53. The most widely documented consequences of isolation are its
psychological effects. As one prison staff psychiatrist stated in 2002, “[i]t’s a
standard psychiatric concept, if you put people in isolation, they will go insane …
Most people in isolation will fall apart.”10 The psychological effects include
anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive
disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality. 11 These effects
begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and
causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation
State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Aiming to Reduce Time-In-Cell, YALE L. SCH., at 22 (2016), https://law.yale.edu/system/files/area/center/liman/document/aimingtoreducetic.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 8 Peter Scharff Smith, The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison Inmates: A Brief History and Review of the Literature, 34 CRIME & JUSTICE 441, 488 (2006), https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/500626?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 9 Craig Haney & Mona Lynch, Regulating Prisons of the Future: A Psychological Analysis of Supermax and Solitary Confinement, 23 N.Y.U. REV. L. & SOC. CHANGE 477, 534-39 (1997); Grassian, supra p. 22, 332-33. 10 Human Rights Watch, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness, at 149 (2003), https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/usa1003.pdf (emphasis omitted) (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 11 Haney, supra note 1, at 130-31.
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for months or years. For some people, isolation “can be as clinically distressing as
physical torture.”12
54. Numerous studies show that people in isolation are more likely to
engage in self-harm, self-mutilation, and suicide than those in the general prison
population.13 For example, one study concluded that people in isolation in New
York City jails were approximately 6.9 times more likely to commit suicide and
self-mutilation than those in the general jail population.14 Another study in Oregon
identified isolation as one of the main risk factors in suicidal thoughts and suicide
attempts.15 In systems where the percentage of people in isolation is 2% to 8%
(i.e., less than Florida’s isolation population of at least 10%), 50% of the suicides
in those systems occurred in isolation.16 From January 2013 to August 2018, at
12 Jeffrey Metzner & Jamie Fellner, Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics, 38 J. AM. ACAD. PSYCHIATRY & L. 104, 104 (2010), http://jaapl.org/content/jaapl/38/1/104.full.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 13 Haney, supra note 1, at 131-32. 14 Fatos Kaba, et. al., Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates, 104(3) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 442, 445 (2014), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953781/pdf/AJPH.2013.301742.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 15 Ildiko Suto, Inmates Who Attempted Suicide in Prison; A Qualitative Study, at 23, 29 (July 27, 2007) (Ph.D. dissertation, Pacific University), https://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=spp (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 16 Stuart Grassian & Terry Kupers, The Colorado Study vs. the Reality of Supermax Confinement, at 11 (Mar. 6, 2012), https://www.probono.net/prisoners/stopsolreports/416638.The_Colorado_Study_vs_the_Reality_of_Supermax_Confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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least 57% of all suicides in Florida prisons occurred in isolation—where only 10% of the population is housed.
55. The research also shows that people in isolation are at risk of physiological consequences. Common physical symptoms include: severe headaches; heart palpitations and increased heart rate; chest, abdominal, neck, and back pain; problems with digestion, diarrhea, and weight loss; loss of appetite; and dizziness and fainting.17 Researchers have observed lower levels of brain function because of isolation, including a decline of electroencephalogram activities after only seven days in isolation.18 Sensory deprivation causes the body to produce increased cortisol, “well-documented to have negative health consequences for both the body and the brain,” and negatively affecting cognition, mood, and wellbeing. 19 The detrimental effects of sensory deprivation occur after as little as two days, and the risk increases the longer an individual is subjected to deprivation.20 Because human brains are designed for social interaction, social isolation also results in neurological changes to the brain, quickly degrading brain function.21
17 Smith, supra note 8, at 489-90. 18 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 335-336. 19 Edward Vessel & Steven Russo, Effects of Reduced Sensory Stimulation and Assessment of Countermeasures for Sensory Stimulation Augmentation, NASA, at 20, 23, 28, 51-52, 65-66 (May 2015), https://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/trs/_techrep/TM-2015-218576.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 20 Id. at 22, 28. 21 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 331.
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56. Although all incarcerated people placed in isolation are at risk of harm, some people are more susceptible to serious health consequences because of their disabilities, age, health conditions, or other characteristics. People with psychiatric or intellectual disabilities are more sensitive and reactive to psychological stressors and emotional pain. As a result, isolation may worsen and intensify pre-existing mental health related symptoms such as depression, paranoia, psychosis, and anxiety, and can cause severe impairment in isolated individuals’ ability to function.22
57. Youth are generally less equipped to manage the psychological stressors of isolation, and it is especially difficult for those with recent histories of trauma, abuse, neglect, or mental disabilities. The risk of permanent damage from isolation is acute for all youths as their brains have not fully developed.
58. People with hearing and vision challenges are even more isolated from human contact and environmental stimulation in isolation, and thus are at heightened risk of physical or mental harm. People with mobility disabilities are also at heightened risk of falls when restrained, and the lack of exercise and movement may result in the loss of physical functioning and ambulation.
22 Human Rights Watch, Callous and Cruel: Use of Force against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons (May 12, 2015), https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/12/callous-and-cruel/use-force-against-inmates-mentaldisabilities-us-jails-and (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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59. People with serious and chronic medical conditions may suffer from exacerbations of their symptoms due to the stress, lack of exercise, reduced access to healthcare, and inability of staff to detect and quickly respond to medical emergencies, including, for example, seizures that could result in fatalities in the absence of an immediate response.
60. Pregnant women suffer from a heightened risk of falls while restrained, and they cannot receive the exercise and movement they need to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Common pre-existing feelings of stress and depression are exacerbated, and higher levels of stress increase the risk of miscarriage and birth complications.
61. Several professional correctional and healthcare organizations recommend, and FDC is aware, that isolation should be used only sparingly, if at all. For example, the American Psychiatric Association advises against isolation of people with mental illness and juveniles.23 The National Commission on Correctional Health Care states that people with mental illness, juveniles, and pregnant women should never be in isolation, and no one should be there for more
23 Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Segregation of Prisoners with Mental Illness (Apr. 2013), https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/2013_04_AC_06c_APA_ps2012_PrizSeg.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019); Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Solitary Confinement (Restricted Housing) of Juveniles (July 2018), https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/About-APA/Organization-DocumentsPolicies/Policies/Position-2018-Solitary-Confinement-Restricted-Housing-of-Juveniles.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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than 15 days.24 The American Public Health Association advises against isolating
juveniles and people with mental illness, and states that no one should be isolated
as a disciplinary sanction. 25 The American Bar Association asserts that isolation
should not be allowed for anyone.26
62. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), in 2016, also recommended
significantly limiting the use of isolation. 27 Specifically, it recommended against
placing juveniles and pregnant women in isolation.28 It also recommended that
absent special circumstances, people with serious mental illness should not be
placed in isolation.29 It said that isolation for “low level” offenses should be
eliminated, and that people should spend less time in isolation for other offenses. 30
When people must be isolated, they should be housed “in the least restrictive
24 Nat’l Comm’n on Corr. Health Care, Solitary Confinement (Isolation) (Apr. 2016), https://www.ncchc.org/solitary-confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 25 See Am. Pub. Health Ass’n, Solitary Confinement as a Public Health Issue, https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policydatabase/2014/07/14/13/30/solitary-confinement-as-a-public-health-issue (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); AM. PSYCHIATRIC ASS’N, PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES (3d ed. 2016). 26 AM. BAR ASS’N, ABA STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE, TREATMENT OF PRISONERS 95 (3d ed. 2011) (“Conditions of extreme isolation should not be allowed regardless of the reasons for a prisoner’s separation from the general population. Conditions of extreme isolation generally include a combination of sensory deprivation, lack of contact with other persons, enforced idleness, minimal out-of-cell time, and lack of outdoor recreation.”), https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminal_justice_standards/Treatmen t_of_Prisoners.authcheckdam.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 27 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing, at 104-16 (Jan. 2016), https://www.justice.gov/archives/dag/file/815551/download (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 28 Id. at 101, 102. 29 Id. at 99-101. 30 Id. at 109-10
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setting necessary” to ensure the safety of all people; that placement be based on specific, “clearly articulate[d] reasons;” and that the placement serve “a specific penological purpose.”31 The then-President of the United States ordered executive departments and agencies to implement these recommendations – “it is critical that DOJ accelerate efforts to reduce the number of Federal inmates and detainees held in restrictive housing and that Federal correctional and detention systems be models for facilities across the United States.”32
63. Human rights organizations and authorities recognize the harms of isolation and advocate for severe limitations on its use. The United States Special Rapporteur on Torture, for example, determined that more than 15 days in isolation amounts to torturous, cruel, and unusual punishment, and should be abolished. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recommended that, due to its potentially hazardous effects, isolation should only be used as punishment in exceptional cases and for the shortest period possible. In 2015, the U.N. General Assembly revised its Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (renamed the “Mandela Rules”) to state that, “[s]olitary confinement shall be used only in exceptional
31 Id. at 94. 32 Presidential Memorandum on Limiting the Use of Restrictive Housing by the Fed. Gov’t from President Barack Obama to the Heads of Exec. Dep’t and Agencies (Mar. 1, 2016), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/01/presidential-memorandumlimiting-use-restrictive-housing-federal (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent
review.” 33 The Mandela Rules forbid indefinite or prolonged use of isolation
(defined as anything more than 15 consecutive days) and restrict its use for people
with mental of physical disabilities.34
64. Other state correctional systems recognize the substantial risk of harm
caused by isolation and have voluntarily implemented measures to dramatically
reduce its use. In Colorado, for example, after subjecting himself to just 20 hours
in isolation, the former Director of Corrections implemented policies that reduced
the population in isolation from over 7% to less than 1% of its prison population.35
Since these reforms began, the rate of assaults on staff have decreased by half.36
Maine enacted reforms that cut its population in isolation by half, and provided
increased programming and environmental stimulation for those that remain in
isolation. There has been no statistically significant rise in violence, and by some
measures the violence in Maine has decreased.37 Mississippi enacted reforms at
33 G.A. Res. 70/175, at 17, U.N. Doc. A/RES/70/175 (Dec. 17, 2015), https://undocs.org/A/RES/70/175 (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 34 Id. 35 Risk Raemisch, Op-Ed., My Night in Solitary, N.Y. Times, Feb. 20, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/opinion/my-night-in-solitary.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); Rick Raemisch & Kellie Wasko, Colo. Dep’t of Corr., Open the Door—Segregation Reforms in Colorado, at 2-3 (2015), https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30yLl0I1yBRY2h2UDBCZ0Q5WlE/view (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 36 Id. at 9. 37 American Civil Liberties Union of Me., Change is Possible: A Case Study of Solitary Confinement Reform in Maine, at 31 (Mar. 2013),
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one institution that cut its population in isolation down from 1000 to 150, and
eventually closed the entire unit.38 Idaho is just beginning its reforms, but it has
already stopped placing women in isolation, and reduced the number of men it
isolates by more than 50%.39 Since 2015, North Dakota has reduced its population
in isolation by 60 to 70%, and has experienced a sharp decline in prison violence.40
Since 2016, New York has reduced its population in isolation by 30%, reduced the
average length of stay in isolation by 31%, and reduced the number of individuals
serving over 365 days in isolation by 72%.41
65. As reflected by these organizations, agencies, and authorities,
isolation is degrading, inhumane, dangerous, and should never be used as
https://www.aclumaine.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_solitary_report_webversion. pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 38 Terry A. Kupers, et al., Beyond Supermax Administrative Segregation: Mississippi’s Experience Rethinking Prison Classification and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs, 36 CRIMINAL JUSTICE & BEHAVIOR 1037, 1041 (2009), https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/asset_upload_file359_41136.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); John Buntin, Exodus: How America’s Reddest State – And Its Most Notorious Prison – Became a Model of Corrections Reform, GOVERNING, Aug. 2010, at 20, 27, https://drjdbij2merew.cloudfront.net/GOV/GOV_Mag_Aug10.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 39 Ass’n of State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Working to Limit Restrictive Housing: Efforts in Four Jurisdictions to Make Changes, YALE L. SCH., at 7 (2018), https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Liman/asca_liman_2018_workingtolimit.pdf, (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 40 Id. at 8; David Kidd, Tender Justice, North Dakota is Conducting a Prison Experiment Unlike Anything Else in the United States, GOVERNING, Aug. 2018, at 46, 50-51, https://archives.erepublic.com/GOV/GOV_Mag_Aug2018.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 41 New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 2018 Annual Update: DOCCS Continues to Improve the Conditions and Reduce the Use of Solitary Confinement in its Facilities, http://www.doccs.ny.gov/DoccsNews/2018/Annual%20Update%20-%202018.pdf, (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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punishment. If it’s ever used, it should be used only as a last resort for the shortest duration possible to remedy a current and serious threat to safety and security. It is a form of psychological torture, inflicts psychological and physical pain, and exposes everyone to a substantial risk of serious harm. These authorities also demonstrate that it violates contemporary standards of decency in a civilized society to expose prisoners in isolation in Florida to such a risk.
B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation 66. Despite the well-known risk of harm, FDC confines and isolates people in their cells for an average of 22 or more hours a day in nearly all FDC prisons throughout the state. Although it uses different labels for isolation throughout the prison system—Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, and Administrative Confinement—FDC subjects people in each of these to deprivations of human contact, environmental stimulation, and exercise, layered with oppressive and unnecessary security measures. No matter what label FDC chooses, the cumulative effect of the deprivations and conditions in these isolation cells subjects people to a substantial risk of serious psychological and physiological harm. 67. As of March 1, 2019, there were 10,557 people assigned to Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, and/or Administrative Confinement, which is more than 10% of FDC’s total population.
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68. The typical path for people in isolation is to begin in Administrative Confinement while FDC investigates allegations of safety and security risks or pending disciplinary charges; people remain there for weeks or months. FDC also isolates people when they seek protective custody and request to “check in” to Administrative Confinement; they can be in isolation for months while FDC determines whether they require such protection. The deprivations that a person suffers are the same regardless of whether FDC has placed the person in Administrative Confinement to investigate pending disciplinary charges or the person has “checked in” to Administrative Confinement seeking protection.
69. FDC assigns people it finds guilty of disciplinary charges to Disciplinary Confinement. Each guilty charge leads to at least one specific term in isolation, but there is no limit to the number of terms for which a person can be sentenced even for the same incident. The terms are almost always served consecutively. For example, when Plaintiff Meddler, who has a history of mental illness, was 17 years old, FDC placed her in isolation for refusing to do push-ups as ordered by the correctional staff. After nearly six weeks in isolation, she became agitated and yelled obscenities and banged on the door of her cell. For this one incident, FDC isolated her an additional 30 days in confinement for “disobeying a verbal order,” another 30 days for “threatening speech,” and another 30 days for “creating, participating in or inciting a major disturbance,” to be served
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consecutively. This stacking of charges resulting in prolonged isolation is typical of what happens to members of the class.
70. Although the maximum number of days for one disciplinary type of charge is 60 days, there are people who have enough consecutive terms to be in isolation for the next twenty years. Many people, especially those suffering from mental illness, are trapped in a perpetual, vicious cycle of isolation in Disciplinary Confinement. Disciplinary charges lead people suffering from mental illness to spend weeks in isolation, which exacerbates their mental health symptoms, causing them to become agitated and act out, leading to more disciplinary charges and more time in isolation with seemingly no end in sight.
71. Under FDC’s policy, people are assigned to Close Management when FDC determines they have “demonstrated an inability to live in the general population without abusing the rights and privileges of others.”42 The assignment to Close Management does not require a formal disciplinary charge. There are three levels of Close Management (CM I, II, and III), with Level I being the most restrictive and Level III being the least restrictive. There are no time limits for any of these levels; FDC can, and does, isolate people in Close Management indefinitely. While the average duration for someone in CM is one to three years,
42 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.800(1)(d). 34

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there are several hundred people who have been there for more than six years, and
many for almost twenty years.43
72. FDC assigns people whom it has deemed “extreme security risk[s]” to
Maximum Management, with or without a guilty disciplinary finding.44 Although
it is supposed to be a “temporary status,” there is no time limit for Maximum
Management.45 On information and belief, the average duration for someone in
Maximum Management is six months.
73. Based on policy and practice, FDC subjects people in each type of
isolation to cell searches, restraints, strip searches, and “property restriction.”46 It
also restricts access to personal visits, phone calls, exercise, dayroom time to
socialize with others, reading materials, canteen, hygiene items, and personal
property (“privileges”). Under FDC’s written policies, the level of restrictions
differs in each type of isolation only by a matter of degree. But despite FDC’s
written policies, in practice it determines restrictions by staffing availability,
housing location, whether someone is in more than one type of isolation at the
43 FDC has designated six prisons to house people assigned to Close Management, but it does not have enough beds for this population at these prisons. As of March 1, 2019, there were hundreds of people waiting in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement cells throughout the state who were supposed to be in Close Management at those six prisons. While they wait, typically for several months, FDC restricts them according to the Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement policies. 44 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b). 45 See Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b). 46 “Property restriction,” discussed in more detail in Paragraphs 110 – 111, refers to FDC’s policy and practice of removing all property in someone’s cell—including their clothes and bedding—for a period of 72 hours, and sometimes longer.
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same time, and other arbitrary reasons. Mr. Kendrick, for example, due to his housing location, is currently restricted as if he were assigned to Disciplinary Confinement although he is solely assigned to Close Management I. And even if FDC followed its own written policies, which it frequently does not, the paltry amount of “privileges” and out-of-cell time in these written policies does not prevent the substantial harm caused by isolation.
74. No matter what the label, FDC knowingly subjects people to an objective risk of harm and inhumane treatment by isolating them in small cells at least 22 hours a day, under the highest security measures, while depriving them of basic human needs.
C. Conditions in Isolation Cells 75. The deprivations of basic human needs, cell conditions, severe restrictions, and oppressive security measures, collectively, subject people in FDC’s care to a substantial risk of serious health consequences. 76. The tiny isolation cells where people spend nearly 24 hours a day for prolonged periods are generally composed of monotone concrete walls, a concrete floor and ceiling, and a steel door. The steel door typically has a small, approximately one-foot square plexiglass window. The door also has a steel flap for passing all objects in and out of the cell, including food trays, medications, mail, or filthy mops. It is also used to apply and remove handcuffs, and to use
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pepper spray on people inside the cell. If there is a window to the outdoors, in many units it is painted over or partially covered with steel, allowing in minimal natural light or view of the outdoors. People typically cannot open these windows for fresh air, although some are broken allowing in a steady stream of cold air during the winter. Almost none of the cells are air conditioned despite the sweltering Florida summer heat. The only ventilation of these cells happens via an exhaust fan that recirculates stifling air throughout the unit with a loud and constant whirring noise.
77. Many of the cells were built well over 50 years ago and are antiquated, dirty, and in disrepair. There is no way for staff to see inside the cells unless they stand directly in front of the cell door. There are no call buttons or intercoms inside the cells for people to notify staff of emergencies. These cells were not designed for prolonged isolation. Instead, they were designed for sleeping and to allow people to walk in and out of their cells into the common area and beyond during waking hours. In contrast, in other prison systems, cells specifically designed for prolonged isolation include more square footage, call buttons and intercoms, desks for writing and eating, and cameras for staff to view inside the cells.
78. Confinement units are loud, 24 hours a day. Adding to the exhaust fans, prison staff slam doors and knock metal restraints and keys on steel
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throughout the unit. They yell at people and people yell back. Automatic door locks pop loudly and frequently. Chains rattle as people in full restraints shuffle through the unit. People suffering from mental health symptoms howl, scream, and talk to themselves or anyone who will listen. People pound on their doors to get the attention of staff for legitimate concerns, or as an emotional release. There is more yelling and commotion when teams of guards in riot gear use pepper spray or forcibly enter a cell to “extract” or use other force against someone, a common occurrence. Gunfire from FDC shooting ranges punctuate the sounds from within the units.
79. Prison staff control the lights inside cells. Lights are turned off late at night and back on early in the morning for a period of darkness totaling only four to six hours. On the weekends, staff sometimes do not bother to turn the lights on at all. Staff prohibit people from hanging any personal items, such as photographs or drawings, on the walls. Most cells do not have mirrors for people to see themselves. There are no clocks.
80. Unlike people in general population, people in isolation must eat, sleep, and defecate in their small, barren cells. Instead of eating communally in dining halls, they must wait for their food to be delivered on a tray through the slot in the door. They must eat on their beds or the floor, mere inches from their toilet. In many cells, the toilet flushes are timed and controlled by correctional officers.
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Thus, people must often eat their meals accompanied by the smell of feces and urine stagnating in their unflushed toilets.
D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact 81. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately deprives people in isolation of normal human contact. In the general population, people have many opportunities to communicate with other incarcerated people, correctional officers, family members, healthcare staff, religious clergy, teachers, and work supervisors. They can engage in such communications without mechanical restraints or physical barriers between them. In contrast, people in isolation rarely if ever have these opportunities. Staff punish people for trying to communicate with incarcerated people in other cells—shouting is prohibited by rule, and staff frequently enforce “no-talking” rules, punishable by disciplinary reports leading to more time in isolation, pepper spray, property restrictions, cell extraction, or even more extreme denial of privileges. During the limited occasions FDC permits people in isolation to communicate with people outside of their cells, it almost always occurs while shackled at the hands and feet, usually through glass, fencing, steel mesh, or doors. 82. FDC does not eliminate the risk of harm from isolation by confining two people in the same cell. People forced to live together in the same isolation cell for 22 hours or more a day do not have normal social interactions. Indeed, it is
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next to impossible to have normal interactions with a stranger while forced to spend nearly every minute of every day sharing less than 80 square feet. The cells are more cramped, the movement more limited. They must constantly violate each other’s personal space. They must defecate in a toilet that is flushed infrequently and located mere inches from their beds. The stress of living with another human being in this tiny space is relentless. Instead of reducing the pain of isolation, double-celling can intensify the suffering by forcing people to navigate around another person’s habits and tribulations in intolerable conditions. This is why the DOJ’s definition of isolation and solitary confinement expressly includes being confined with another person.
83. Nearly all communication between prison staff and people in isolation occurs through the cell door. During security checks, correctional officers simply look inside each cell, and if they speak at all to the person inside, they do not open the cell door. Medical staff who deliver medications do not stop at every cell, and when they do stop at a cell, the interaction is limited to a few words said from outside the cell door when the medication is passed through the slot in the door. If healthcare staff make “rounds” to check on people, they yell just a few cursory questions, also through the cell door, if there is any interaction at all. Many people in isolation refuse to have frank discussions through a heavy solid door, in part
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because they do not want to shout personal information that can be heard by other incarcerated people and correctional staff.
84. Conversations with mental health counselors and psychiatrists, who generally only speak to people diagnosed with mental illness, are not therapeutic or normal in any sense. Often, their sole attempts to speak to their patients are through the cell door. If they want to speak to their patients outside of their cells, they must ask correctional officers to remove them. In many instances, correctional officers refuse. If they remove them, the patients must submit to strip searches, cell searches, and full hand and leg restraints. In some isolation units, correctional staff bring the patient to the shower for the “therapeutic” contact. The shower is in the middle of the common area, with no visual or auditory confidentiality. The patient stands in the shower, fully restrained, while attempting to talk to the clinician through the bars in the shower door. If not the shower, correctional staff frequently lock the patient in a phone booth-sized cage, where the patient must stand or awkwardly sit on a narrow bench, fully restrained, and speak to the clinician through steel mesh. Correctional officers often intentionally position themselves within earshot of the conversation.
85. Clinicians speak to their patients in isolation no more than once a week for the most acutely ill, but typically only once every 30 to 90 days. Clinicians also conduct group therapy once a week for only those diagnosed with
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serious mental illness. For the fraction of people in isolation who do receive group therapy, it is conducted in the dayroom, in the presence of other prison staff, while people are shackled at hands and feet and sometimes locked in individual cages.
86. At Suwannee and Union Correctional Institutions, during group therapy, correctional officers restrain people, lock them in individual cages or separate them by partitions, and the clinicians speak to their patients from another room through a microphone and speaker. For many in these conditions, they cannot hear or understand what the clinicians and other incarcerated people are saying. Clinicians do not consistently provide therapeutic support to manage psychological stressors, instead loosely facilitating chats about random topics. Many people refuse to divulge personal and sensitive information to their clinicians in these conditions in either group or individual therapy.
87. Due to FDC’s policies and practices restricting access to personal visits and phone calls, many people go for years without seeing or speaking to their friends and family. For example, FDC denied one person the opportunity to see or talk to his twin brother for at least 16 years, or to meet his twin brother’s children.
88. For those infrequently permitted to receive personal visits, FDC confines the incarcerated person alone in a visiting booth, separated from his or her loved ones by thick glass. Staff add another level of humiliation because they do not remove the person’s restraints after confining him or her in the booth even
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though it would be possible to do so through a slot in the door, and there is no way to harm or receive contraband from the visitors on the other side of the glass. They must speak loudly to their loved ones through a metal grate that garbles their voices and makes it difficult to communicate.
89. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately denies people in isolation the basic human need of normal physical touch. They are generally never in proximity to other incarcerated people unless restrained or separated by physical barriers. Parents cannot hug or touch their children during visits. People in isolation cannot even shake their visitors’ hands. One person in long-term isolation no longer trusts his own sense of when it is appropriate to shake another person’s hand because it has been so many years since he’s had the opportunity to do so. Recently, another person’s first normal human touch since 2008 was his attorney’s handshake during a legal visit. The only human touch that people in isolation experience is from correctional officers during strip searches, when placed in or removed from restraints, during escorts, and from medical staff during examinations. These types of clinical and security contacts do not make up for the deprivation of normal human conversations and normal human touch.
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E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation 90. FDC has a policy and practice of forced idleness for people in isolation. It refuses to provide meaningful rehabilitative programming and severely limits people’s activities in their cells. 91. FDC partially or completely covers or obscures the windows to the outdoors in isolation cells, denying many people the opportunity to look at the sky, birds, trees, and grass. It punishes people if they stand and look out their cell doors or windows for more than a few minutes. 92. FDC prohibits televisions and tablets in isolation cells. It also prohibits radios for those isolated in Disciplinary Confinement and Administrative Confinement. It allows radios only in Close Management, and in Maximum Management after the first 12 months, if people have the funds to buy them. Many people do not have such funds, including for the batteries to operate the radios, especially because FDC prohibits them from prison jobs and isolates them from their families. 93. FDC severely limits people’s access to reading materials. Based on the written policies, FDC prohibits people in Maximum Management from possessing non-religious books for the first six months, and people in Disciplinary Confinement from possessing any non-religious materials at all, even people who have enough minor disciplinary infractions to be in disciplinary confinement for
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decades. The written policies limit reading materials for those in Close Management to only three non-religious books at a time each week and five periodicals. They permit people in Administrative Confinement to possess only one book at a time each week. When FDC follows its written policies, due to the absence of other in-cell activities, most people finish their reading materials quickly and have nothing to read for most of the week, and few people can pass every waking hour, for weeks, months, or years at a time, reading. Frequently, FDC fails to follow its written policies, and people have no access to any reading materials, forcing them to sit idle in their cells staring at the walls.
94. FDC prohibits people in isolation from participating in any form of communal worship or prayer. Their only outlet for religious expression is solitary expression in their cells, with infrequent visits by a Christian chaplain, regardless of their faith, who speaks to them briefly through the cell door.
95. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from meaningfully participating in their education, including juveniles, people with disabilities under age 21 enrolled in special education classes, and others who are working towards their G.E.D.s. For the vast majority of those in isolation, at most, a teacher comes to the cell door every few days or weeks and slips them a few worksheets that they may have difficulty completing on their own, or that do not further their degree/certificate requirements. Any interaction with a teacher is very brief,
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through the cell door. The teacher provides no individualized assistance with the worksheets. If people are able to finish the worksheets, once they do they have no other learning materials to keep their minds occupied.
96. FDC takes a very limited number of people in isolation to a classroom, including Plaintiff Meddler, for instruction no more than a couple hours once a week, where they are chained to desks and receive little to no individualized assistance. For countless others in Disciplinary Confinement (including Plaintiff Harvard and others who will be in that status for decades) and Maximum Management, FDC provides no education materials whatsoever. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from participating in any vocational programming.
97. For most people in isolation, the passing of time is measured by meal times, security checks, medication passes, and the few hours when the lights are out at night. Showers, which are supposed to happen three times a week for no more than five to ten minutes, offer little respite, and some people refuse showers because they do not want to suffer the humiliation of restraints and strip and cell searches. To otherwise remain oriented to time, people must rely on staff who are kind enough to tell them the time upon request. For many, the boredom, anxiety, or mental agitation become acute after days on end with nothing to do other than reading whatever materials they have, writing letters, daydreaming, staring at the walls, talking and singing quietly to themselves, and sleeping.
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F. Deprivation of Exercise 98. FDC, through policy and practice, deprives people in each type of isolation of out-of-cell exercise. FDC knowingly violates the American Correctional Association (“ACA”) standard requiring that people in confinement receive “a minimum of one hour of exercise per day outside their cells, five days per week, unless security or safety considerations dictate otherwise.” According to the ACA, the failure to meet this standard “poses a negative impact on the quality of life of inmates in [isolation] … This is especially of concern when coupled with below standard square footage per inmate….” FDC refuses to meet this standard for even the least restrictive form of isolation, Close Management, instead providing at most only two days per week of out-of-cell exercise for three hours each time or one day a week for six hours. Although it is a total of six hours, the ACA explicitly states this schedule is noncompliant with its standard, recognizing that people need to exercise more than once or twice a week to maintain their health and sanity. The people in the other types of isolation, which is at least twothirds of the total solitary population, receive at most only three hours a week of out-of-cell exercise, with many receiving none for stretches of 30 days and longer. 99. FDC’s isolation cells are too small to engage in meaningful exercise. For out-of-cell exercise, FDC moves people to a row of cages, each cage approximately six by ten feet, that resemble outdoor dog kennels. The cages are
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enclosed by fencing on the top and sides, with no shade or cover. FDC typically confines one prisoner in each cage. At some prisons, staff remove a person’s restraints once inside the cage, but at other prisons staff leave the person restrained. There is no toilet. There is no exercise equipment other than pull-up or dip bars. There is nothing to sit on other than the ground. There is no alternative space during inclement weather, which leads staff to cancel exercise time or people to refuse to go stand in the rain, heat, or cold.
100. Many people refuse to go to these exercise cages because they are not much bigger than their cells, there is nothing to do in the cages, and they do not want to experience the indignity of restraints and strip-searches when going to and returning from the cage. Some people cannot sit or stand in the cage for long periods of time due to their disabilities, which FDC refuses to accommodate. People also refuse to go to the exercise cages because staff search their cells during exercise time, sometimes destroying people’s limited belongings such as photographs of loved ones, either intentionally or inadvertently, as they conduct the searches.
101. Although completely inadequate, for many people time in the exercise cage is precious because it offers a very brief respite from their tiny cells and an opportunity to feel the outdoors. However, FDC denies even this brief respite: it frequently cancels exercise due to staffing shortages. FDC also does not have
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enough exercise cages for everyone in isolation. At Florida State Prison, for example, there are only 18 exercise cages available for units with 90 people in isolation, and staff fail to rotate through the cells to ensure everyone gets out. Even when staff attempt to rotate through the cells, the total time for exercise is counted from the time the first person is taken out of his cell to the time the last person is returned to his cell resulting in a drastic decrease in the time an individual is outside and able to exercise compared to what is written in the policies. Staff also search for reasons to deny people their exercise time, including for trivial and pretextual offenses such as having fingernails too long, cells that are unclean, or the failure to be immediately ready at the cell door without warning. It is also common for staff to falsely claim that people refused to exercise or to blatantly ignore someone’s request to go.
102. FDC’s policy and practice of taking people infrequently to an exercise cage not much larger than the cells where they live for less time than is recommended by the ACA does not prevent the harms caused by isolation 22 hours or more a day. Collectively with other deprivations, the deprivation of daily outof-cell exercise enhances the substantial risk of harm from isolation.
G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures 103. FDC layers its deprivations of basic human needs in isolation with its unnecessary use of degrading and dehumanizing security measures. Its use of
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restraints, cell searches, strip searches, exercise cages, dayroom cages, and noncontact visiting booths are not based on individualized assessments of safety and security threats. They are used as a one-size-fits-all approach to respond to all types of behaviors. FDC applies the same security measures to the most diminutive people with no recent history of violence as it does the most physically imposing people with significant histories of recent violence. It applies the same security measures to those who are in isolation because they are seeking protection from violence as it does the people who are accused of perpetrating violence. Regardless of why someone is in isolation, FDC’s oppressive security measures enhance the traumatic experience of being locked in a tiny cell for nearly 24 hours each day.
104. With few exceptions, FDC restrains people in isolation whenever they leave their cells. At the very least, staff use handcuffs to restrain their arms behind them, but more typically staff restrain people with multiple mechanical restraints at the same time. Their ankles are restrained with leg irons that force people to take very short steps or shuffle their feet. If their arms are restrained in front of them with handcuffs, the handcuffs are then covered with black metal devices (“black boxes”) that cover the handcuff chain and keyholes. The black box is used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a
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more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
105. FDC’s policies permit, and with few exceptions require, staff to apply these restraints to all people in isolation, even those who use mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, sometimes even chaining the person, including Plaintiffs Burgess and Espinosa, to the device. Except for when staff remove the restraints in the exercise cages and showers, people in isolation must spend every scant minute out of their cells with steel wrapped around their limbs, constricting their movement. Staff even refuse to remove the restraints during medical exams, forcing people to lie back awkwardly on the examination table, with their arms bound behind them, including for procedures such as EKGs.
106. At Lowell Correctional Institution Annex (“Lowell Annex”), a women’s prison, staff use “escort chairs” (restraint chairs on wheels) to transport women in isolation who have been accused of battery. After restraining women in leg irons, handcuffs, waist chains, and black boxes, staff strap their heads, arms, and legs to the chair on wheels. Using these excessive restraints, several correctional staff push individual women to wherever they need to go, including to legal interviews where staff sometimes refuse to unstrap them for the duration of their attorney visits, and insist on videotaping the interviews from a window outside the room. The straps are so tight, and their movement so constrained, that
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nurses must check the women’s circulation every 15 minutes. FDC’s policies do not prohibit staff from using these chairs on people who are especially vulnerable, including, for example, teenagers and other people with mental illness such as Plaintiff Meddler.
107. FDC’s use of restraints frequently causes cuts and bruises to people’s wrists and ankles. Women at Lowell Annex, for example, suffer from bleeding cuts on their ankles after walking a few hundred yards in restraints to the medical units from their isolation units. Plaintiff Espinosa’s leg restraints broke his foot after he lost his balance and fell while wearing them.
108. Staff subject people who leave their cells for any reason to strip and cell searches. During strip searches, correctional staff force people to remove all clothes, squat, and cough in the presence of others; there is no privacy for these searches. During cell searches, staff go through all their belongings, often scattering their legal papers, opening and emptying their hygiene products, and generally making a mess of their cells.
109. Based on policy and practice, FDC operates its isolation units with strict but unnecessary rules. Beginning early in the morning, people in isolation must get out of bed and fully dress in their uniforms for the duration of the day. They must also make their beds first thing in the morning, and cannot use their sheets or blankets, even for warmth despite the unavailability of warm clothing in
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the winter, until evening. They cannot leave any property on the floor. They cannot hang anything on their cell walls, doors, or windows. They cannot talk too loudly or be disrespectful. They cannot spend more than a few minutes at their cell doors or windows. FDC responds to people who fail to follow these rules by extending their time in isolation, using pepper spray, subjecting them to property restrictions, or engaging in violent cell extractions.
110. FDC responds to minor behavioral problems with a practice known as “property restriction.” This practice occurs with or without a disciplinary charge or guilty finding, and it is imposed as pure punishment—it serves no penological purpose, other than the wanton infliction of discomfort, humiliation, and emotional distress. Based on unwritten policies, in prisons throughout the state, staff force people to give up everything, or almost everything, in their cell, leaving many people “stripped” in just their underwear, for 72 hours or longer. At the men’s prisons, staff remove everything except the bolted down fixtures in the cell. People cannot have their uniforms and t-shirts, bed linens, reading and writing materials, hygiene items, or mattress for three days or longer. At the women’s prisons, FDC leaves the women with one set of clothing, hygiene products, sometimes their mattress and linens, and nothing else for 72 hours. During this three-day period, most people are unable to sleep without a mattress on a steel bed frame, or without a blanket and clothing in cells that frequently dip down to 50
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degrees at night in the winter months. For those who are almost naked, cold, or sleep-deprived, 72 hours amounts to the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain.
111. Staff have punished people with this barbaric practice for offenses such as standing at their cell door to look out the tiny window, hanging something over a cell window, leaving a pillow on the floor, or leaving their property in disarray. If a unit becomes too loud, staff have picked people at random to place on property restriction as punishment. After suicide attempts or gestures, instead of taking people to a suicide observation cell where they can receive an evaluation, treatment, and be removed from anything they can use to hurt themselves, staff frequently punish people, including Plaintiff Harvard, in their cells with property restriction.
112. Staff place frail people with physical disabilities on property restriction with no regard to how their bodies will respond to sleeping on bare steel. If FDC places someone with a cellmate on property restriction, staff also take the cellmate’s belongings even if he or she has not violated any rules. For some people with serious mental illness, property restriction tips them over the edge and they respond with acts of physical self-harm or mutilation. FDC’s practice of depriving people of all belongings, including people who pose no risk to themselves, serves no legitimate penological purpose and heightens the risk of harm from isolation.
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113. People in isolation become so desperate that they frequently declare “psychological emergencies” that, based on accepted standards, should result in correctional officers immediately removing the person from his or her cell for a mental health evaluation. Correctional officers frequently ignore people who declare psychological emergencies; make their own determination, without consulting with clinical staff, that the person is not in psychiatric distress; or proclaim that because “there is no blood, there is no emergency.” They also retaliate against people who declare such emergencies by using excessive force, destroying their belongings in a cell search, placing them on property restriction, refusing to deliver meals, or refusing to take them to the exercise cages. As a result, some people are reluctant to ask for help because they fear retaliation. Prison staff’s callous and retaliatory responses to people’s suffering in isolation intensify the deprivations they experience and heighten the risk of harm.
H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference 114. Defendants know that the cumulative effect of the lack of human contact, lack of exercise, lack of environmental stimulation, cell conditions, and oppressive security measures subjects people in their care to a substantial risk of serious harm. Defendants are also aware of the authorities described in Section V.A., supra, demonstrating that isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that there are people in Defendants’ custody who have suffered,
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and continue to suffer, from actual psychological and physiological harm because of their placement in isolation. Nonetheless, Defendants refuse to significantly curtail their use of isolation.
115. Defendants are aware that correctional standards are evolving to reflect the national consensus that isolation is degrading and inhumane and should be used only as a last resort, if ever. In 2016, FDC issued a press release touting that the then-Secretary of Corrections, Julie Jones, attended a “criminal justice reform colloquium” at Yale Law School. The press release characterized isolation “as one of the most important issues facing criminal justice reform today” for which “industry experts and leaders share a commitment to reducing both the number of individuals held in isolation and the degrees of isolation …”.
116. On information and belief, FDC staff attended a similar program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 that included panel discussions from renowned healthcare experts describing the physical and psychological harms of isolation. Defendants also know that their policies and practices regarding out-ofcell exercise, and the size of their isolation cells, are deficient as the American Correctional Association has admonished FDC repeatedly for several years in reports that Defendants receive and review.
117. Defendants are aware that the rate of suicide is much higher for people who are in or have been in isolation. From January 2013 to August 2018, at
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least 46 of the 80 people (57%) who died by suicide in FDC did so while they were in isolation. Although not in isolation at the time they died by suicide, an additional eight of those 80 people had been in isolation in the year prior to killing themselves. A stunning 88% of the people who died by suicide had been in isolation at some point during their incarceration in FDC.
118. Defendants are also aware that people in isolation are more likely to require inpatient hospitalization, including from suicide attempts. According to a document drafted by FDC’s Director of Mental Health, Dr. Aufderheide, “Whereas Close Management status represents about 3% of the total inmate population, 40% of the inmates receiving necessary inpatient mental health treatment came from a Close Management status.” He also wrote that “47% of the inmates requiring court-ordered treatment at a Corrections Mental Health Treatment Facility (CMHTF) were admitted from Close Management status.” He further noted that Defendants had to hospitalize 13% of people in Close Management placed in suicide observation status compared to only 4% of people in general population placed in the same status.
119. Defendants know that because of their policies and practices, people with mental illness are overrepresented in isolation. According to Dr. Aufderheide:
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● Mentally ill inmates are about 80% more likely to receive a Disciplinary Report (DR) for a major rule infraction than nonmentally ill inmates.
● Mentally ill inmates are more likely than non-mentally ill inmates to be placed in Administrative/Disciplinary Confinement and more than five times as likely to be placed in Close Management.
● Although mentally ill inmates represent about 18% of the total population, they represent nearly half of all the inmates in Close Management.
● Inmates in Close Management are more than three times more likely to have a severe and persistent mental illness than inmates in the general population.
120. Defendants also know that people with mental illness, and with
intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injuries, are more likely to spend
prolonged periods in isolation because they have difficulty conforming their
behavior with FDC rules, demands, and norms. Due to FDC’s lack of reasonable
modifications and accommodations for persons with disabilities, once FDC places
these individuals in isolation because of some nonconforming behavior resulting
from their disabilities, it is extremely difficult for them to get out.
121. The deprivations and punitive environment of isolation exacerbate or
cause symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety, agitation, paranoia, panic,
delusions, mania, depression, poor impulse-control, psychosis, insomnia, and
hallucinations. These symptoms may lead to more misbehaviors, which lead to
more disciplinary charges. These additional charges typically lead to an indefinite
stay in isolation (Close Management) that is supposed to end when incarcerated
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people can demonstrate an ability to live in the general population, something nearly impossible to show as they continue to deteriorate.
122. Given their pre-existing symptoms, even people who manage to maintain their baseline psychological functioning despite the deprivations of isolation have difficulty demonstrating the near-perfect behavior that is required to get out of indefinite isolation. Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler, for example, have been caught in a perpetual cycle for years of deteriorating symptoms, new disciplinary infractions related to those symptoms, suicide watch cell placements, and in-patient hospitalizations, interspersed with periods of only minor disciplinary infractions, if any. Defendants ignore these periods of low-level or infraction-free behavior in determining whether people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries can be released from isolation.
123. Despite the obvious risk of harm demonstrated by the constant cycling between suicide observation cells, inpatient mental health unit hospitalization, and isolation, Defendants refuse to eliminate, or even reduce, the deprivations of isolation and the unnecessary security measures in isolation. Instead, Defendants continue to perpetuate the cycle by sending people straight from in-patient mental health care back to isolation. This is true even after someone makes a serious suicide attempt; Defendants not only send them directly back into isolation after having knowledge of the risk of suicide for those specific individuals, but also
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often add more time in isolation because people “destroyed state property” or “disobeyed verbal orders” while trying to kill themselves.
124. Defendants also repeatedly receive notice of the harms of isolation through the hundreds of complaints they receive each year from people in isolation through FDC’s internal prison grievance process. In these complaints, people in isolation specifically describe the mental health and physical health consequences that they are experiencing. Defendants’ typical response is to ignore the suffering they describe and tersely state that the individual is in isolation as a result of his or her own behavior.
125. Despite their knowledge of the risk of harm, Defendants have no policies to exclude known vulnerable people from isolation, including, but not limited to, people with serious mental illness or intellectual disabilities, pregnant women, juveniles, or people with histories of suicide attempts. They also have no policies to exclude people who are at substantial risk of harm because of medical conditions that could be exacerbated by isolation, or that require immediate responses to medical symptoms to prevent serious injury or death (e.g., seizure disorders).
126. Defendants provide no call buttons or other mechanisms for people in isolation to notify staff of an emergency; people can only yell or bang on their doors at the risk of receiving disciplinary charges and more isolation time for
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“inciting a riot” or “creating a disturbance.” People who experience seizures in their cells, including Plaintiff Burgess, are physically unable to notify staff in this manner.
127. Defendants fail to adequately monitor people for health risks prior to and during their time in isolation for signs of worsening mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality in isolation. According to their own healthcare audits conducted between 2016 and 2018, healthcare staff frequently failed to complete rounds and evaluations of people in isolation. For example, healthcare staff at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex completed “pre-confinement physicals” only 10% of the time and weekly mental health rounds only 50% of the time. At Suwannee Correctional Institution, a prison with a large population in isolation, including juveniles, healthcare staff completed timely evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 32% of the time, daily rounds by nursing staff only 66% of the time, and weekly mental health rounds only 55% of the time. At Lake Correctional Institution, healthcare staff completed daily nursing rounds only 42% of the time, and evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 25% of the time. At the Reception and Medical Center, where people with serious and chronic health conditions are sent for treatment, healthcare staff completed “preconfinement physicals” only 55% of the time.
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128. Defendants do not provide mental health treatment to everyone in isolation, and the treatment they do provide to some people does not prevent harm caused by isolation. Defendants provide regular group and individual therapy to only those they have identified as having a serious mental illness, ignoring everyone else at substantial risk of developing mental health symptoms due to the deprivations of human needs in isolation. Defendants fail to identify all people who have serious mental illness, and therefore many who suffer from a heightened risk of harm do not receive mental health services in isolation.
129. Defendants fail to hire enough staff to ensure that people receive exercise, other out-of-cell time, and escorts to their medical appointments. Isolation is staff-intensive because it requires correctional staff to apply restraints; escort people when they leave their cells for healthcare appointments, showers, and exercise; respond to psychological emergencies; escort healthcare staff during medication delivery; and conduct security checks and cell searches, among other tasks. Throughout the prison system, including in non-isolation units, correctional staffing is insufficient to safely provide critical safety and security operations. The ramification of this systemic short-staffing is that FDC cannot comply with its written isolation policies and procedures, and fails to consistently provide showers, security checks, out-of-cell exercise, dayroom time, and healthcare to people in isolation, including to people with several complex needs, like Plaintiff Espinosa.
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130. For the last several years, Defendants have admitted to American Correctional Association auditors that they cannot and will not provide adequate out-of-cell exercise to people in isolation. Defendants also claim repeatedly that they will “request funding for additional staff, change segregation policy, and adjust staffing charts to comply with the standard pending funding approval.” However, to date, on information and belief, Defendants have failed to take any of these actions.
131. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm, Defendants impose no limit on the duration of isolation. As a result, there are people in FDC who have been suffering in isolation for nearly 20 years with no end in sight.
132. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm caused by isolation, Defendants have done little to nothing to prevent this harm.
I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose 133. There is no legitimate penological purpose that supports FDC’s policy and practice of subjecting people to the substantial risk of harm from its isolation policies and practices as they are currently implemented and enforced. With adequate security measures, other states have developed ways of providing daily exercise, social interactions, and programming to individuals who are similarly
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situated to those FDC has placed into isolation and claims cannot be permitted to have these interactions because they are such a danger.
134. There are very few people, if any, and certainly not thousands, in FDC’s custody who pose an ongoing imminent security threat such that they cannot safely leave their cells each day for exercise, social interactions, and programs. Even for people who have engaged in behaviors that posed an imminent risk to the physical safety of others in the past, there is no safety or security reason to deprive them of basic human needs after the immediate threat has subsided.
135. There is no safety or security reason to deny people in isolation noncontact visits or phone calls, especially because familial support is often critical to improve behaviors and success upon release from prison.47 In fact, a study of FDC, commissioned by the Florida Legislature and received and reviewed by FDC, urged FDC to focus on its visitation policies because “one of the primary incarceration factors that reduces recidivism is the number of family visits.”48 By depriving people of basic human needs, including but not limited to contact with
47 NORMAN HOLT & DONALD MILLER, EXPLORATIONS IN INMATE-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. SACRAMENTO RESEARCH DIVISION, at ch. VI (Cal. Dep’t of Corr. 1972), https://fcnetwork.org/reading/reading-holt-miller-holt-millersum.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); N.E. Schafer, Exploring the Link Between Visits and Parole Success: A Survey of Prison Visitors, 38 INT’L JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY & COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 17-32 (1994). 48 Fla. Legislature Office of Program Policy Analysis and Gov’t Accountability, Study of Operations of the Florida Department of Corrections, at 103 (Nov. 2015), http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/MonitorDocs/Reports/pdf/15-FDC.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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their families, FDC is increasing the risk to public safety, especially as most people in isolation will be released at some point back into their communities.
136. Indeed, at the conclusion of their prison terms, FDC frequently releases people in isolation directly back into the community after subjecting them to months or years of deprivations without any rehabilitative services. On information and belief, if any of these individuals returns to FDC within two years, no matter the reason or their recent behaviors, FDC immediately places them back in isolation. FDC’s willingness to release people it has deemed too high of a security threat to live in a general prison population back into the community without any sort of transitional services, and then to put them back into isolation regardless of any actual current threat, highlights the arbitrariness of its isolation policies and practices.
137. There is no safety or security justification for FDC’s blanket policy and practice of limiting reading materials and education, and depriving access to televisions, radios, tablets, and other in-cell mental stimulation for people in isolation. There is also no safety or security justification for FDC’s policy and practice of limiting hygiene items for people in isolation, including sanitary napkins for women. These policies and practices, absent some rare and particularized threat, are purely punitive, and, collectively with the other deprivations, unnecessarily subject people to substantial risk of serious harm.
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138. There is no legitimate penological purpose served by holding people in isolation for the lengths of time that the Defendants do, nor is there a legitimate penological purpose for extending isolation time for minor disciplinary infractions, as Defendants frequently do. This is especially true when people have no ability to conform their conduct to FDC rules because of a mental illness or intellectual disability, and when their time in isolation is continually extended for minor disciplinary infractions such as not keeping one’s cell clean.
139. Instead of isolating people for prolonged periods, correctional systems that have successfully reduced their isolation populations increase interactions with staff and other incarcerated people through programming and treatment so that they can work on changing their behaviors, and staff can make informed decisions about when to lessen security measures. These states have significantly reduced their isolation populations with no increase, and often a decrease, in prison violence. Even FDC recognizes that increased social interactions decrease incidents of violence.
J. Disability Discrimination 140. FDC, through its policies and practices, discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its isolation policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability; it fails to ensure that people with
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disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities because of their disabilities; and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs.
141. FDC fails to modify its policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are not placed in isolation because of their disabilities. For example, many people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities have difficulty regulating their behaviors or respond erratically or inappropriately to conflict, stress, staff, and other incarcerated people, and therefore cannot comply with some disciplinary rules. Some also have a hard time understanding or conforming their behavior to prison rules. Instead of providing individualized mental health treatment or programming through a reasonable modification, FDC responds to their disability-related behaviors by charging them with disciplinary infractions and sending them to isolation, including, for example, Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler.
142. After failing to modify its policies and procedures to consider people’s psychiatric and intellectual disabilities upon initial placement in isolation, FDC also fails to modify its isolation policies and procedures when they remain in isolation by offering adequate out-of-cell time, social interaction, environmental stimulation, and mental health treatment to prevent worsening mental health
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symptoms. As a result of these failures, many people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities in isolation experience further psychiatric harm and engage in self-harm behaviors such as swallowing razors or other objects, smashing their heads into walls, compulsively cutting their flesh, and trying to hang themselves. Plaintiff Harvard, for example, has scars up and down her arms from the numerous times she has cut herself in isolation.
143. FDC’s failure to modify its policies for individuals in isolation for behaviors directly related to their worsening mental health symptoms such as refusing to follow orders, yelling and banging on the door, inadequate personal and cell hygiene, and destroying property results in further disciplinary charges that prolong their isolation. FDC also extends isolation for acts of self-harm instead of providing a reasonable modification that includes enhanced mental health treatment.
144. FDC is aware that modifications to its isolation policies and practices are necessary to accommodate people with psychiatric disabilities. In 2017, FDC’s Director of Mental Health Services, Dr. Aufderheide, advised that “measures for accountability must be individualized, more flexible and take into account the inmate’s mental illness.”49 FDC takes the opposite approach; its isolation policies
49 Dean Aufderheide, Florida Dep’t of Corr., Mental Illness in Corrections: An Inconvenient Truth; The Need for a Public Safety/Public Health Model, at 5 (2017) (on file with author).
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and practices are universal, inflexible, and do not consider people’s disabilities. As a result, according to Dr. Aufderheide, people with mental illness are 80% more likely to be disciplined, are five times more likely to be placed in isolation than those without mental illness, and represent nearly half of all the people in indefinite isolation.50
145. FDC harms people with other types of disabilities because it systemically fails to make reasonable modifications to its isolation policies and practices. For example, it is difficult and dangerous for people with mobility impairments, including those who use walkers and canes, to ambulate while restrained at the hands and feet. Nonetheless, FDC refuses to modify its restraint policies and practices, thereby subjecting people with mobility disabilities to injuries and heightened risk of falls. It fails to provide people with mobility or medical disabilities, including Plaintiffs Burgess and Kendrick, access to the exercise, such as physical therapy and exercise equipment, that they need to maintain or increase their ambulation and avoid exacerbation of medical symptoms and chronic pain. It fails to reasonably modify its strip search policies for people with mobility impairments or catheters, including Plaintiffs Burgess, to reduce the risk of injury and needless humiliation. It fails to modify its cell search policies for people with vision impairments who have difficulty finding their belongings after
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staff move them during the searches. It fails to reasonably modify its policies to ensure that people with vision, speech, or hearing disabilities, including Plaintiff Espinosa, who are more isolated than others because of their disabilities have equal access to social interaction and environmental stimulation. It fails to remove people with diabetes, including Plaintiff Kendrick, from their cells as often as needed for insulin injections; instead nurses inject people through the rusty, dirty food ports. It also refuses to modify the schedule for medication delivery to ensure it is appropriately timed with insulin injections to avoid dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels.
146. FDC lacks policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities. For example, it fails to aid people in wheelchairs to complete their activities of daily living in their cells, including but not limited to transferring to the bed and toilet. It also chains people in wheelchairs to their wheelchairs using restraints whenever they leave their cells; this is dangerous, humiliating, and degrading, and makes it impossible for people with mobility disabilities to ambulate unassisted. FDC denies people with physical disabilities access to their medical supplies and assistive devices in isolation. It denies people with medical disabilities access to the healthcare they need, including dialysis treatment. People with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities
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languish in isolation without access to programs, services, and activities available to those in the general prison population. They do not receive the support they need to avoid new disciplinary infractions while they are locked in their cells nearly 24 hours a day and therefore have very little prospect for release.
147. FDC also lacks policies and procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs, which, under FDC’s policies and practices, cannot be met in isolation. FDC isolates people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities who engage in nonconforming behaviors because of their disabilities instead of housing them in settings where they can receive the treatment and services they need to safely live with other people. Plaintiff Harvard, for example, experiences fewer mental health symptoms and does not receive disciplinary infractions when she receives more intensive mental health services that are unavailable to her in isolation.
148. The unnecessary placement of people with disabilities in isolation perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that they are incapable of participating in and benefiting from prison services, activities, and programs. Such placement also causes harm by severely limiting their independence and daily activities, including but not limited to family relations, social contacts, educational advancement, and healthcare.
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149. Other prison systems have safely integrated people with disabilities into the general prison population by providing adequate therapeutic and programmatic support, and by developing adequate systems to ensure the availability of accessible beds in general population dorms and cells. FDC refuses to develop and implement such policies and practices.
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS A. Plaintiff Class
150. Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2).
151. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class consisting of all people in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are, or will be in the future, locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for an average of 22 hours or more per day (“Plaintiff Class”).51
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 152. The class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as prisoners regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s policies and practices, but it includes at a minimum the roughly 10,000
51 This proposed class does not include people sentenced to death and housed in Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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class members in isolation on any given day. Due to FDC’s policies and practices, all class members are at substantial risk of harm.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 153. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the class, including but not limited to: ● whether FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment; ● whether FDC has been deliberately indifferent to the serious risk of mental and physical harm of class members; ● whether there is no legitimate penological purpose for FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation. FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 154. The claims of the Plaintiffs are typical of those of the Plaintiff Class, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the class’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 155. Plaintiffs are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Plaintiff Class because Plaintiffs do not have any interests antagonistic to the
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class. Plaintiffs, as well as the Plaintiff Class members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 156. This action is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1) because the number of class members is approximately 10,000, and the prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 157. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this Complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the class, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the class. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive
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relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Plaintiff Class.
B. Disability Subclass 158. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick bring this action on behalf of themselves and, pursuant to Rule 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on behalf of a subclass of all qualified individuals with disabilities, as that term is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B), in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are, or will be in the future, locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for an average of 22 hours or more per day (“Disability Subclass”).52
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1)
159. The subclass is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as people with disabilities regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s isolation policies and practices. The exact number of subclass members is unknown, but members are identifiable using
52 This proposed subclass does not include people with disabilities sentenced to death and housed at Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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records maintained in the ordinary course of business by FDC. On information and belief, there are at least several thousand subclass members. Due to FDC’s isolation policies and practices, all members of the subclass are at risk of suffering from discrimination.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 160. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the subclass, including but not limited to whether FDC violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 161. The claims of Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick are typical of those of the Disability Subclass, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the class’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 162. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Disability Subclass because they do not have any interests antagonistic to the subclass. Plaintiffs
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Harvard, Burgess, Meddler, and Kendrick as well as the Disability Subclass members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 163. Since the number of the Disability Subclass is approximately a few thousand, prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 164. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the subclass, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the subclass. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or
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corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Disability Subclass.
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF A. First Cause of Action
(All Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class v. Defendant Inch) 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments 165. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 164 as if fully set forth herein. 166. Through the policies and practices described herein, Defendant Inch subjects all Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class to a substantial risk of serious harm and deprives Plaintiffs and the Class of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities and human dignity, through the excessive and inappropriate use of isolation. These policies and procedures are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. Defendant Inch has caused the wanton infliction of pain upon Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class. 167. There is no legitimate penological purpose for Defendant Inch’s isolation policies and procedures as implemented and enforced, and they amount to the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.
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168. These policies have been and continue to be implemented by Defendant Inch and his agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under the color of state law, in their official capacities, and are the direct and proximate cause of the Plaintiffs’ and the Plaintiff Class’s ongoing deprivation of rights secured under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
169. Defendant Inch has been and is aware of all deprivations complained of herein and has condoned or been deliberately indifferent to such conduct. Defendant also has been and is aware of the substantial risk of harm caused by these deprivations and has not acted to eliminate this risk of harm. It should be obvious to Defendant Inch, and to any reasonable person, that the conditions imposed on Plaintiffs and the Class cause tremendous mental anguish, physical harm, suffering, and pain to such individuals.
170. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class have suffered, and will continue to suffer, from a substantial risk of serious harm and actual harm. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
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B. Second Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick
and the Disability Subclass v. Defendant FDC) Americans with Disabilities Act
171. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1-164 as if set forth fully herein.
172. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and other Disability Subclass members are qualified individuals with disabilities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities (ADA). They have mental or physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities, they have records of such impairments, or they are regarded as having such impairments. All people in the Disability Subclass meet the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services of the participation in programs and activities provided by Defendants. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2); 42 U.S.C § 12131(2).
173. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and other Disability Subclass members are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning of Title II of the ADA.
174. Defendant FDC is a public entity as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)(A), and it has an affirmative duty to create policies and procedures to prevent discrimination based on disability.
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175. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to ensure that people with disabilities have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities provided by Defendant. 42 U.S.C. § 12132; 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(1).
176. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to make “reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability….” 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7).
177. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the ADA by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(2).
178. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass to discrimination and that defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of objectives of FDC programs, services, and activities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(3).
179. As a result of Defendant’s policies and practices regarding individuals with disabilities, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and
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the Disability Subclass are unnecessarily placed and retained in isolation due to their disabilities; are denied equal access to activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified; and are denied the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.
180. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their ADA rights. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
C. Third Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick
and the Disability Subclass v. Defendant FDC) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
181. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 164 as if set forth fully herein.
182. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass are individuals with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 705(20), 794.
183. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
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184. Defendant FDC is a program or activity receiving federal financial assistance within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act. 29 U.S.C. § 794.
185. Defendant FDC excludes Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass from participation in, and denies them the benefits of programs or activities, by reason of their disabilities. 29 U.S.C. § 794(a); 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(a).
186. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 29 U.S.C. § 794; 45 C.F.R. § 84.4(b)(2).
187. Defendant FDC denies Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kenrick and the Disability Subclass the opportunity afforded others to participate in program or activities. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(1).
188. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that either purposely or in effect discriminate on the basis of handicap, and defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of the objectives of Defendant’s programs or activities with respect to handicapped persons. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(3).
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189. Defendant FDC violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities in its facilities, programs, activities, and services.
190. As a result of Defendant FDC’s discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and members of the Disability Subclass do not have equal access to the FDC’s activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified.
191. As a direct and proximate cause of these policies and practices, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, and Kendrick and the Disability Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 192. Plaintiffs and the class and subclass they represent have no adequate remedy at law to redress the wrongs suffered as set forth in this Complaint. Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable injury as a result of the unlawful acts, omissions, policies, and practices of the Defendants as alleged herein, unless Plaintiffs are granted the relief they request. Defendants’ policies and practices are the direct causation of the violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth
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Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as alleged herein.
193. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and the class and subclass they represent, respectfully request that this Court:
a. assume jurisdiction; b. declare this suit is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Rules
23(a) and 23(b)(1) and (2) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure; c. adjudge and declare that the conditions, acts, omission, policies, and
practices of Defendants and their agents, officials, and employees are in violation of the rights of Plaintiffs and the class and subclass they represent under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; d. permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, from continuing the unlawful acts, conditions, and practices described in this Complaint; e. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, to develop and implement, as soon as practical, a plan to eliminate the substantial risk of serious harm described herein, and to ensure that
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people are not placed and retained in isolation without a legitimate penological purpose; f. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under color of state law or otherwise, to provide equal access to programs, services, and activities for people with disabilities, including but not limited to housing them in the least restrictive and most integrated settings appropriate to their needs; g. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under color of state law or otherwise, to modify its isolation policies and practices to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities and minimize the traumatic impact of isolation; h. award Plaintiffs, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 794a, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1988, 12205, and 12133, the costs of this suit and reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses; i. retain jurisdiction of this case until Defendants have fully complied with the orders of this Court, and there is reasonable assurance that Defendants will continue to comply in the future absent continuing jurisdiction; and
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122 E. Colonial Drive, Suite 100 Orlando, FL 32801 Telephone: (407) 801-0332 (direct) andrea@floridalegal.org christopher@floridalegal.org jennifer.painter@floridalegal.org Dante P. Trevisani Fla. Bar No. 72912 Florida Justice Institute, Inc. 100 SE 2nd St., Ste 3750 Miami, FL 33131 Telephone: (305) 358-2081 dtrevisani@floridajusticeinstitute.org *Pro hac vice application forthcoming Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD; J.H., a minor, by and through his parent and natural guardian, Valentine Robinson; ANGEL MEDDLER; JUAN ESPINOSA; JEROME BURGESS (a/k/a SHAM’LA GOD ALLAH); JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.; and JOHNNY HILL; on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs
v.
MARK INCH, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, an Agency of the State of Florida
Defendants.

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS
FIRST AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION____________________________________________ 1
II. JURISDICTION _____________________________________________ 5
III. VENUE ___________________________________________________ 5
IV. PARTIES _________________________________________________ 5 A. Plaintiffs ___________________________________________________ 5 i. Admire Harvard ___________________________________________ 5 ii. J.H. _____________________________________________________ 8 iii. Angel Meddler ___________________________________________ 10 iv. Juan Espinosa ____________________________________________ 12 v. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah) _____________________ 15 vi. James W. Kendrick, Jr. _____________________________________ 17 vii. Johnny Hill ______________________________________________ 19 B. Defendants ________________________________________________ 23
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS __________________________________ 24 A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation _______________________________ 26 B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation____________________________________ 37 C. Conditions in Isolation Cells __________________________________ 41 D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact__________________________ 44 E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation _______________________ 48 F. Deprivation of Exercise ______________________________________ 51 G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures __________________ 54 H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference ____________________________ 60 I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose_____________________________ 68 J. Disability Discrimination_____________________________________ 72
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS ___________________________ 78 A. Plaintiff Class______________________________________________ 78 B. Disability Subclass__________________________________________ 81
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF ____________________________________ 84 A. First Cause of Action ________________________________________ 84 B. Second Cause of Action ______________________________________ 86 C. Third Cause of Action _______________________________________ 88
VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF ____________________________________ 91

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I. INTRODUCTION 1. Solitary confinement, also known as “isolation,” is increasingly recognized by medical and mental health professionals, scholars, scientists, and advocates throughout the United States and around the world as torture. Individuals subject to isolation are more likely to exhibit anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality.1 These effects begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation for months or years. Isolation inflicts devastating harm on the individuals who experience it, places them and their families and communities at risk when they are released, is inordinately expensive when appropriately staffed, and does not reduce prison violence or promote public safety. 2. Nearly one out of every seven individuals in isolation in the United States is in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”). Every day, FDC isolates approximately 10,000 people in tiny, cramped cells for nearly 24 hours a day; many endure these conditions for months or years at a time. FDC separates all 10,000 of these individuals from the general prison population, and
1 Craig Haney, Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and “Supermax” Confinement, 49 CRIME & DELINQ. 124, 130-131 (2003).
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severely restricts their access to normal human contact, exercise, rehabilitative programs, and mental stimulation. The United States Department of Justice and correctional experts refer to this practice as “isolation” or “solitary confinement” because people in these conditions are isolated from the general prison population, confined in a small cell at least 22 hours a day, subjected to the highest security measures, and deprived of basic human needs. FDC uses different names for isolation in its facilities such as close management or confinement, but no matter the name, the practice violates constitutional standards.
3. Many states are significantly reducing or abandoning the use of isolation in correctional systems because it has proven ineffective at modifying behavior and has harmful health consequences. For these reasons, psychological, correctional, legal, and human rights professionals have recognized that isolation should not be used or used only sparingly with stringent procedural safeguards.
4. FDC, in contrast, refuses to reduce its use of isolation, rendering Florida an outlier in correctional systems in the United States. FDC uses isolation to manage 10% of its total prison population which is more than twice the national average for prison systems using isolation. It uses isolation indiscriminately as a catch-all punishment for people with behavior problems ranging from minor to severe, including individuals whose behavior is a manifestation of their disability. Each day, people in FDC’s custody suffer from mental and physical health
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consequences due to its isolation policies and practices. Since 2013, a majority of the suicides in Florida prisons have occurred in isolation—where only 10% of the prison population is housed.
5. FDC knows that the cumulative effect of the deprivations in isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm. It knows that its isolation policies and practices are draconian and outdated. It also knows that people in its custody are suffering from harmful health consequences caused by isolation. Yet, it has failed to take appropriate action to prevent this harm. It fails to consistently monitor people for signs of declining mental and physical health, or to meaningfully respond to those who are obviously suffering from the damaging effects caused by isolation. Unlike many other states, FDC isolates people who suffer from a heightened risk of harm, such as teenagers, people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities, and people with physical disabilities, even though it is aware of the heightened risk to these populations.
6. FDC also fails to limit the amount of time people spend in isolation and subjects people to this increasing risk of harm for months or years after any emergency or serious threat has abated, if there ever was one. This excessive and prolonged use of isolation includes hundreds of people who have been in isolation for six to twenty years.
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7. FDC’s isolation policies and practices are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices that are not supported by any legitimate penological purpose.
8. FDC, through policy and practice, also discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability; it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have equal access to programs, services, and activities; and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs.
9. Defendants Mark Inch and FDC have acted, and are acting, under color of state law to deprive Plaintiffs and Class Members of their constitutionally protected right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. They have also acted, and are acting, under color of state law to discriminate against Plaintiffs and Class Members with disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Plaintiffs and Class Members seek declaratory and injunctive relief to address these violations of their constitutional and statutory rights.
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II. JURISDICTION 10. The claims alleged herein arise under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq.; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794. 11. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2201, and 2202, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
III. VENUE 12. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Florida under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims brought by Plaintiffs and the class have occurred in this District and Defendants are in this District.
IV. PARTIES A. Plaintiffs
i. Admire Harvard 13. Jac’Quann (“Admire”) Harvard is a 28-year-old black transgender
woman at Wakulla Correctional Institution, a men’s prison. She is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, gender dysphoria, and hypertension. Defendants have subjected her to isolation for nearly ten years, starting when she was 18 years old.
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When this lawsuit was filed, she had been concurrently in Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management I since 2010. As of the current date, she is receiving in-patient psychiatric treatment but is still technically assigned to Close Management. She does not know if she will return to isolation upon discharge.
14. Defendants initially placed Ms. Harvard in Disciplinary Confinement for the offense of “lying to staff” when she allegedly asked for a “high calorie” meal in the dining hall after she had been in prison for only two months. Although Ms. Harvard was only 18 years old, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and prescribed anti-anxiety medications, Defendants sentenced her to 60 days in Disciplinary Confinement for this infraction. Within her first three months of isolation, Defendants found her guilty of nine new disciplinary infractions, adding an additional 270 days in isolation, for one fight with her cellmate, yelling, kicking her cell door, and disrespecting staff. Within that same period, Defendants began prescribing her powerful mood-stabilizing and anti-psychotic medications and noted that due to her mental illness she suffered from anxiety and impulsivity, among other symptoms.
15. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Ms. Harvard’s disability and protect her from harm caused by isolation. Since Defendants isolated her nearly ten years ago, Ms. Harvard has suffered from ongoing severe mental health symptoms in isolation, including
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hallucinations, delusions, and suicidality. Defendants delayed providing Ms. Harvard with gender dysphoria treatment, despite her repeated requests. On information and belief, this delay was based on her being in isolation. Defendants have hospitalized her for psychiatric reasons approximately 20 times. They have placed her in a suicide-watch cell more than 50 times. She has cut or otherwise injured herself at least 40 times, including most recently on or around May 8, 2019. After each psychiatric hospitalization or time in a suicide-watch cell, where Defendants also frequently subjected her to isolation, Defendants returned Ms. Harvard directly to Close Management and Disciplinary Confinement.
16. Defendants have found Ms. Harvard guilty of at least 127 disciplinary infractions, the vast majority for non-violent behaviors related to her mental health symptoms. They have also repeatedly left her in a bare cell with nothing but her underwear for several days at a time as punishment. Despite the obvious harm to Ms. Harvard, Defendants extend her time in Disciplinary Confinement for each disciplinary infraction, amounting to a term of more than 11 consecutive years, and hold her in indefinite isolation in Close Management I. While in isolation, Defendants have never provided Ms. Harvard with personal visits, reading materials other than religious texts and cases from the law library, education, or exercise outside of a cage. During all her time in Disciplinary Confinement and
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Close Management, Defendants have permitted her only one phone call when a family member died.
17. Ms. Harvard has filed several grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination she suffers from isolation. She has exhausted all available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B). ii. J.H.
18. J.H. is a 17-year-old black teenager in isolation at Florida State Prison. He arrived in Defendants’ custody as a 14-year-old on July 6, 2016. Since that time, Defendants have cycled him in and out of isolation in response to behaviors related to his immaturity and difficulty adapting to prison at such a young age. In October 2018, at Suwannee Correctional Institution, Defendants removed him from a housing unit with other teenage boys to isolate him in Administrative Confinement and then sentenced him to 90 days in Disciplinary Confinement. He was 16 years old. Defendants transferred him to indefinite isolation at Florida State Prison, an adult prison, where he remains, and is one of only three teenagers there.
19. Since his arrival at Florida State Prison in December 2018, Defendants have kept J.H. separated from all other incarcerated people and rarely let him out of his cell. In the five months before this lawsuit was filed, Defendants
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had taken him to the exercise cages once and dayroom twice, each time completely alone. They take him out to the shower cell, alone, only two or three times a week for no more than ten minutes each time. They provide him with minimal anger management counseling through the cell door and no mental health services. Most of the time, he has nothing to do in his cell. Despite recently changing his status from Close Management II to Close Management III, Defendants still subject J.H. to the same severe restrictions on his out-of-cell time, in-cell activities, and contact with other people.
20. J.H. would like to continue his education, but this is nearly impossible in isolation. A teacher infrequently speaks to J.H. through his cell door and gives him worksheets to complete. During these brief interactions, the teacher provides no individualized instruction and the worksheets do not help him meet G.E.D. requirements.
21. As a result of the severe deprivations of exercise, mental stimulation, and normal social contact over the last several months, J.H. has no release for his adolescent energy and his mental health is beginning to deteriorate. He often thinks about death, and cycles through feelings of agitation, frustration, depression, and extreme restlessness.
22. J.H. has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted all
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available administrative remedies. He appears in this action through his mother and natural guardian, Valentine Robinson. iii. Angel Meddler
23. Angel Meddler is a 21-year-old black woman at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex. Since she arrived at FDC, Defendants have diagnosed her with asthma, as well as anxiety and mood disorders. Despite these diagnoses and her young age, when this lawsuit was filed, Defendants had continuously isolated her for over three years.
24. Within three days of her arrival at FDC, on November 11, 2015, Defendants isolated Ms. Meddler in Administrative Confinement because she refused to do push-ups as ordered by a correctional officer. She was only 17 at the time. For this offense, Defendants sentenced to her 30 days in Disciplinary Confinement. Four months later, she was still in isolation after receiving new disciplinary infractions for yelling, banging on her cell door, using “threatening speech,” and being disrespectful to staff.
25. Defendants then placed Ms. Meddler in Close Management I after a correctional officer accused her of battery—an infraction of which Defendants found her not guilty. Defendants continued her isolation for a variety of disciplinary infractions that were mostly non-violent and related to her immaturity and disability. In 2019, after a long period without any major disciplinary
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infractions, Ms. Meddler became agitated after Defendants refused to take her to the exercise cage for the third week in a row. Defendants gave her two new disciplinary infractions after her agitation resulted in a verbal altercation with a correctional officer. She remained on Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management until a few weeks after this lawsuit was filed.
26. After over three years in isolation, Defendants released Ms. Meddler to the general population but was told by staff she is on “confinement probation” and would be sent back to isolation if she was accused of even one disciplinary infraction—regardless of the nature of the infraction. Defendants have not provided Ms. Meddler with any services to help her transition from isolation to the general population.
27. In isolation, Ms. Meddler repeatedly experienced suicidal ideation and tied a sheet around her neck several times as a plea for help. Defendants hospitalized her for suicidality for approximately one month in 2016. They also placed her in a suicide watch cell at least twelve times; each time sending her back to isolation without any enhanced mental health treatment. In addition to suicidality, isolation has caused Ms. Meddler to suffer from anxiety, mental agitation, poor impulse control, disturbed sleep, and paranoia.
28. Ms. Meddler is eligible for special education services and wants to receive her G.E.D. But this goal was impossible in isolation as Defendants
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provided her with no more than a couple hours a week of education services with little to no individualized instruction. She continues to struggle with her educational goals and the years in isolation mean she most likely will not receive her G.E.D. in prison.
29. Ms. Meddler has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination she suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. She has exhausted all available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
iv. Juan Espinosa 30. Juan Espinosa is a 58-year-old Hispanic man in isolation at the
Reception and Medical Center. Defendants have diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. He suffers from anxiety, depression, paranoia, hallucinations, and mood swings. He tried to kill himself at least five times before he was placed in isolation. He also suffers from tumors in his throat that impede his ability to eat and swallow. Defendants have referred him to multiple specialists, including an oncologist, and he has undergone multiple surgical procedures since he has been in isolation. The most recent surgical procedure was to remove all his teeth, something that became necessary after the surgical reconstruction of his jaw. In January 2019, he permanently and
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completely lost his voice after a surgical procedure to remove one of the tumors. He can no longer speak.
31. Defendants began isolating Mr. Espinosa in June 2018 in Administrative Confinement after accusing him of spitting at a correctional officer. They soon assigned him to Close Management I, and then Close Management II. Defendants take him to the exercise cages only once a week and deny him access to visits and dayroom time. During the approximately six months Mr. Espinosa was isolated and able to speak, Defendants allowed him to use the phone only once to call his mother before he went into surgery. After he lost his voice, Defendants refused to provide him a Text Telephone or other similar device to make phone calls for nearly six months, until this lawsuit was filed. Defendants have failed to escort or transport him to several medical appointments, including to see his specialists, since he has been in isolation.
32. Mr. Espinosa attempts to communicate through handwritten notes, hand gestures, and by mouthing words, but he is difficult to understand. Defendants have refused to provide him with any services to help him learn to communicate effectively without a voice. Healthcare staff who perform infrequent “rounds” in isolation check on his health status by asking him cursory questions through his cell door, to which he is unable to properly respond. Defendants also isolate him in a cell without a call button to alert staff of an emergency.
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33. Mr. Espinosa is afraid of dying of cancer and the lack of in-cell activities leave him little else to think about while locked in his tiny cell. He often thinks about suicide. His depression and mood swings have worsened in isolation, prompting Defendants to increase his psychiatric medications but otherwise providing no meaningful mental health services.
34. In December 2018, Mr. Espinosa lost his balance and fell while trying to walk escorted by a correctional officer and fully restrained at his hands and feet. The strain of the leg irons during the fall broke three bones in his right foot. After his injury, his doctor ordered crutches for him, but staff refused to provide them because he was in isolation, forcing Mr. Espinosa to hop around his tiny cell on one foot for several weeks. When he would leave his cell for medical care, Defendants would chain him to a wheelchair to transport him. He now uses a walking boot, and despite his obvious risk of falls and of severe damage to his reconstructed jaw if he fell on his face Defendants refuse to provide him with a cane and continue to restrain his hands at his waist with handcuffs, a black box,2 and belly chain when he leaves his cell. Defendants also refuse to provide him
2 The black box is a device used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
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with physical therapy to rehabilitate his foot. On information and belief, this refusal was based on him being in isolation.
35. Mr. Espinosa has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
v. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah) 36. Jerome Burgess is a 46-year-old black man isolated at Suwannee
Correctional Institution. He uses a wheelchair due to paralysis on the left side of his body and cannot urinate without the assistance of a catheter. He is diagnosed with seizure disorder and major depressive disorder. Defendants have subjected Mr. Burgess to isolation since September 25, 2017 where he began in Administrative Confinement and then Disciplinary Confinement. He is currently isolated in Close Management II.
37. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Mr. Burgess’s disabilities and prevent the harm caused by isolation. He is losing mobility and range of motion on his right side because the tiny cell where Defendants isolate him at least 22 hours a day barely leaves him enough space to use his wheelchair and leaves him no space to ambulate. Defendants have
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also failed to provide him with the accommodations he needs to meaningfully participate in recreation in the exercise cages.
38. Defendants have failed to implement a system to ensure staff are immediately notified when Mr. Burgess has a seizure and to provide him with prompt medical attention. There is no call button in his cell for him to alert staff if he feels warning signs of a seizure, or for a cellmate to use (when and if he has one) to alert staff if Mr. Burgess is suffering from a seizure. He must rely on other incarcerated people to yell and bang on their doors on his behalf, at risk of receiving “disorderly conduct” or “inciting a riot” disciplinary charges, and for correctional officers to respond quickly and appropriately, which does not always occur.
39. Defendants have also failed to modify their policies and practices to prevent further harm to Mr. Burgess once they are aware that he has had a seizure. On October 23, 2018, for example, staff were unaware that he was seizing in his cell until another incarcerated person in a nearby cell sensed something was wrong with Mr. Burgess and chose to alert them. Staff found Mr. Burgess unresponsive in his cell, placed him in his wheelchair, and fully restrained him, including by chaining his right ankle to his wheelchair despite the risk that he might have another seizure.
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40. In isolation, in contrast to general population where he can go to the medical clinic as needed to obtain his medical supplies, Mr. Burgess is dependent on medical staff to deliver catheters to his cell front. Defendants do not consistently bring him the right type or quantity, forcing him at times to wash and re-use old disposable catheters without adequate cleaning supplies in his filthy cell. As a result, the blockage in Mr. Burgess’s urinary tract has worsened and he suffers from heavy bleeding and painful urinary tract infections. In recent months, he underwent an invasive procedure to remedy these preventable and painful health consequences.
41. Mr. Burgess has repeatedly notified Defendants, including through the grievance process, of the risk of harm he suffers in isolation, and requested modifications to their isolation policies and practices to accommodate his disabilities. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
vi. James W. Kendrick, Jr. 42. James W. Kendrick, Jr. is a 39-year-old black man isolated at Florida
State Prison. Defendants have diagnosed him with diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. He has also developed depression in isolation, for which Defendants have recently prescribed him medications. Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in
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Administrative Confinement on June 20, 2018, and then Maximum Management, after accusing him of battering a correctional officer. Defendants held Mr. Kendrick in Maximum Management until October 25, 2018, and then moved him to Close Management I. In the weeks before this lawsuit was filed, although he was assigned as Close Management I, Defendants isolated him in a wing with people assigned to Disciplinary Confinement even though they had not charged him with any new disciplinary infractions. During that time, Defendants restricted Mr. Kendrick’s out-of-cell exercise, visits, phone calls, and reading materials under their written Disciplinary Confinement policies and procedures despite his assignment to Close Management I.
43. Defendants’ isolation practices cause Mr. Kendrick to be at risk of physical harm. He needs regular activity and exercise to avoid heart disease due to his diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, but is unable to do so while locked in his tiny cell. Defendants routinely fail to provide Mr. Kendrick with the limited amount of out-of-cell exercise required under their written policies, but even when they do Mr. Kenrick cannot get the exercise and activity he needs in a small cage for a few hours a week.
44. Defendants attempt to treat Mr. Kendrick’s diabetes at cell-front through the rusty, dirty food slot in his cell door. Specifically, nurses attempt to administer pre-loaded syringes of insulin through the food slot, which often leads
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them to improperly insert the needle or inject him in an un-sanitized area of his arm. They also fail to appropriately time his insulin delivery with his meals. As a result, Mr. Kendrick is frequently compelled to reject his treatment to avoid infection or passing out.
45. When Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in June 2018, they determined he had no mental health symptoms. But after months of suffering deprivations of basic human needs in isolation, he has become anxious and depressed and has contemplated suicide. Due to these symptoms, in November 2018, mental health staff began providing him with minimal outpatient mental services, and eventually began giving him psychiatric medications. Despite these services, his depression continues to worsen in isolation.
46. Mr. Kendrick has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
vii. Johnny Hill 47. Johnny Hill is a 32-year-old black man in isolation at Santa Rosa
Correctional Institution. Defendants have isolated Mr. Hill for almost eight years. During Mr. Hill’s time in isolation, Defendants have diagnosed him with
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depression, mood disorders, anxiety, high blood pressure, and gastrointestinal reflux disease. He has also suffered from symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Mr. Hill is legally blind and suffers from severe mental health symptoms including hallucinations and suicidality. He is currently isolated in Close Management I.
48. Mr. Hill was incarcerated from 2008 to 2009 in a youthful offender program, where FDC subjected him to isolation in both Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement. He was reincarcerated in April 2010, when he began serving an adult sentence. Less than two months later, Defendants began isolating him again, first for a short period in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement, and then in Close Management. They never returned him to the general population before his release from prison in 2013.
49. Following Mr. Hill’s isolation in Close Management, he began experiencing major depression, auditory and visual hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts. Defendants acknowledged his mental health symptoms and prescribed Mr. Hill psychiatric medications but did not remove him from isolation. Despite these medications, Mr. Hill’s mental health continued to deteriorate. He began cutting himself, which he had never done before. Mr. Hill eventually required extensive inpatient psychiatric treatment. Defendants released him directly from the inpatient psychiatric unit to the community on March 24, 2013, without any
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transitional services after three years in isolation. He continued to suffer from these serious mental health symptoms in the community.
50. In July 2014, Mr. Hill re-entered Defendants’ custody. Although he had documented mental health diagnoses from, and serious mental health symptoms during, his previous incarceration, Defendants immediately isolated Mr. Hill in Administrative Confinement, pending placement in Close Management. Defendants then isolated him in Close Management again because he had been assigned to Close Management when he was released from his previous incarceration even though he had been residing in an inpatient psychiatric unit. Mr. Hill had committed no new disciplinary infraction. Mr. Hill remains in Close Management to date.
51. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Mr. Hill’s disabilities and to protect him from the harm caused by isolation. Throughout his eight years in isolation, Mr. Hill has experienced severe symptoms arising from his deteriorating mental health. He has harmed himself by cutting his arms and neck and attempting to hang himself multiple times. After years in isolation, Mr. Hill swallowed a razor blade, which resulted in an esophageal tear and required medical treatment. Defendants have placed Mr. Hill in a suicide-watch cell numerous times for several days of observation and placed him in inpatient psychiatric units, but each time Defendants have returned him
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directly to isolation. On March 28, 2018, on the same day that Defendants released Mr. Hill from a suicide-watch cell and returned him directly to isolation, he used a sharpened battery to slash his neck and then swallowed the battery.
52. In addition to his psychiatric disability, Mr. Hill is now legally blind after suffering brain damage from a suicide attempt by hanging in isolation. His blindness exacerbates the isolation that he experiences while locked in his cell nearly 24 hours a day. He can no longer attempt to pass the time by reading regular print books, magazines, or mail. Because he is in isolation, Defendants refuse to provide him with medically necessary assistance such as an aide who can read FDC documents to him or a cane so that he can walk safely. Without the cane, Mr. Hill is at risk of falls, and has fallen, in full restraints because he cannot see stairs, curbs, cracks, and other barriers in the rare instances staff permit him to leave his cell. Additionally, Mr. Hill’s inability to clearly see objects means that he must meticulously organize items in his cell so that he can perform his daily routine without assistance. During cell searches, correctional officers scatter his personal belongings around his cell, making it extremely difficult for him to find things such as legal documents or grievances, due to his blindness.
53. Mr. Hill has filed several grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers in isolation. He has exhausted all
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available administrative remedies. He is a person with disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
B. Defendants 54. Defendant Mark Inch (“Inch”) is the Secretary of Corrections for the Florida Department of Corrections. He became Secretary of FDC in January 2019. In this capacity, Defendant Inch is responsible for the overall management and operation of the entire adult corrections system in Florida and for protecting the constitutional and statutory rights of all people in FDC custody.3 Additionally, Defendant Inch is responsible for the policies, procedures, and practices regarding management, personnel, and overall operation of FDC, including the operation of isolation at prisons throughout FDC. Defendant Inch authorizes or ratifies the policy and practice of subjecting people to a substantial risk of serious harm and discrimination based on disability by isolating them from the general population as described herein. Defendant Inch has directly and proximately caused, and continues to cause, the constitutional and statutory violations set forth herein. At all relevant times, Defendant Inch was acting under color of state law and as an
3 “The secretary is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the corrections system of the state. The secretary shall ensure that the programs and services of the department are administered in accordance with state and federal laws, rules, and regulations, with established program standards, and consistent with legislative intent.” § 20.315(3), Fla. Stat. (2018).
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official representative of FDC. Defendant Inch is sued in his official capacity for declaratory and injunctive relief.
55. Defendant FDC is the administrative department for the State of Florida responsible for administering and exercising the direct and effective control over penal and corrections institutions throughout the State of Florida. Defendant FDC is an instrumentality of the State of Florida.
56. Defendant FDC receives federal financial assistance.
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 57. Defendants (collectively herein “FDC” or “Defendants”), through their policies and practices, confine and isolate approximately 10,000 people in small cells for at least 22 hours a day for weeks, months, or years at a time in prisons throughout the State of Florida. The United States Department of Justice defines “isolation” or “solitary confinement” as “the state of being confined to one’s cell for approximately 22 hours per day or more, alone or with other prisoners, that limits contact with others.”4 This definition expressly includes people who are single or double-celled, as practiced by FDC.
4 U.S. Department of Justice, Investigation of State Correctional Institution at Cresson, at 5 (May 31, 2013), http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/cresson_findings_5-31-13.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); cf. Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209, 214, 224 (2005) (describing isolation as limiting human contact for 23 hours per day); Tillery v. Owens, 907 F.2d 418, 422 (3d Cir. 1990) (21 to 22 hours per day).
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58. People in isolation live in cells that are smaller than the 162 square feet of a standard parking space.5 Most of the cells are only 45 to 70 square feet and fail to meet the American Correctional Association standard of 80 square feet. They contain one or two steel bed frames, a combined toilet and sink, a property storage box, and sometimes two shelves, all of which, collectively, leave very limited room for movement. People often spend 48 straight hours in this tiny space with only a five-to-ten-minute shower before the next 48 straight hours.
59. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices. Through its use of isolation, FDC deprives Plaintiffs and the class members of human contact, exercise, and environmental stimulation. These deprivations of basic human needs, combined with intolerable cell conditions and oppressive safety and security measures, cumulatively pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to their health and subject them to a substantial risk of serious harm. Plaintiffs and members of the class are suffering from psychological and medical symptoms that mirror those reported in the research about individuals subjected to isolation.
5 See, e.g., Columbus, Ohio, Code of Ordinances, Title 33, Zoning Code, § 3312.29 (“A parking space shall be a rectangular area of not less than nine feet by 18 feet …”), https://library.municode.com/oh/columbus/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT33ZOCO_CH 3312OREPALO_3312.29PASP (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); South San Francisco, California, Municipal Code, § 20.330.010 (“The minimum basic dimension for standard parking spaces is 8 ½ feet by 18 feet.”), http://www.qcode.us/codes/southsanfrancisco/view.php?topic=20-iv-i20_330-20_330_010&frames=on (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation
60. Isolation causes painful, severe, and sometimes irreversible harm.
There is a substantial body of literature from over the last 200 years6 documenting
the harms of isolation, even for short periods of time. Over a century ago, the
United States Supreme Court noted that:
[People subject to isolation] fell, after even a short confinement, into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them, and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better were not generally
6 In 1833, Alexis de Tocqueville said this about isolation: “[I]n order to reform them, they had been submitted to complete isolation; but this absolute solitude, if nothing interrupt it, is beyond the strength of man; it destroys the criminal without intermission and without pity, it does not reform, it kills.” GUSTAVE DE BEAUMONT & ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, ON THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATE: AND ITS APPLICATION IN FRANCE 5 (Philadelphia, Carey, Lea & Blanchard 1833), https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000001152418;view=1up;seq=7 (last visited Apr. 17, 2019).
In 1842, Charles Dickens wrote:
I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers; and in guessing at it myself, and in reasoning from what I have seen written upon their faces, and what to my certain knowledge they feel within, I am only the more convinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in which none but the sufferers themselves can fathom, and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow creature. . . .
I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body; and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that human ears can hear; therefore the more I denounce it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay.
CHARLES DICKENS, AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION 238-39 (London, Chapman and Hall 1842).
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reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community. In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160, 168 (1890). The Supreme Court again noted in 2015
that prolonged isolation “exacts a terrible price,” including “common side-effects
… [of] anxiety, panic, withdrawal, hallucinations, self-mutilation, and suicidal
thoughts and behaviors.” Davis v. Ayala, 135 S.Ct. 2187, 2210 (Kennedy, J.,
concurring) (citing Grassian, Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement, 22 Wash.
U.J.L. & Pol’y 325 (2006)).
61. There is broad consensus in the medical and psychiatric communities
on the harms from isolation.7 People in isolation “suffer from a similar range of
symptoms irrespective of differences in the physical conditions in various prisons
and in the treatment of isolated inmates.”8 Studies also show that some people will
continue to suffer from the consequences of isolation after they are released, with
some suffering from permanent harms.9
7 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 338 (“By now the potentially catastrophic effects of restricted environmental stimulation have been the subject of voluminous medical literature.”); Ass’n of State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Aiming to Reduce Time-In-Cell, YALE L. SCH., at 22 (2016), https://law.yale.edu/system/files/area/center/liman/document/aimingtoreducetic.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 8 Peter Scharff Smith, The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison Inmates: A Brief History and Review of the Literature, 34 CRIME & JUSTICE 441, 488 (2006), https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/500626?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 9 Craig Haney & Mona Lynch, Regulating Prisons of the Future: A Psychological Analysis of Supermax and Solitary Confinement, 23 N.Y.U. REV. L. & SOC. CHANGE 477, 534-39 (1997); Grassian, supra p. 22, 332-33.
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62. The most widely documented consequences of isolation are its
psychological effects. As one prison staff psychiatrist stated in 2002, “[i]t’s a
standard psychiatric concept, if you put people in isolation, they will go insane … Most people in isolation will fall apart.”10 The psychological effects include
anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality. 11 These effects
begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and
causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation
for months or years. For some people, isolation “can be as clinically distressing as physical torture.”12
63. Numerous studies show that people in isolation are more likely to
engage in self-harm, self-mutilation, and suicide than those in the general prison population.13 For example, one study concluded that people in isolation in New
York City jails were approximately 6.9 times more likely to commit suicide and self-mutilation than those in the general jail population.14 Another study in Oregon
10 Human Rights Watch, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness, at 149 (2003), https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/usa1003.pdf (emphasis omitted) (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 11 Haney, supra note 1, at 130-31. 12 Jeffrey Metzner & Jamie Fellner, Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics, 38 J. AM. ACAD. PSYCHIATRY & L. 104, 104 (2010), http://jaapl.org/content/jaapl/38/1/104.full.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 13 Haney, supra note 1, at 131-32. 14 Fatos Kaba, et. al., Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates, 104(3) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 442, 445 (2014),
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identified isolation as one of the main risk factors in suicidal thoughts and suicide
attempts.15 In systems where the percentage of people in isolation is 2% to 8%
(i.e., less than Florida’s isolation population of at least 10%), 50% of the suicides
in those systems occurred in isolation.16 From January 2013 to August 2018, at
least 57% of all suicides in Florida prisons occurred in isolation—where only 10%
of the population is housed.
64. The research also shows that people in isolation are at risk of
physiological consequences. Common physical symptoms include: severe
headaches; heart palpitations and increased heart rate; chest, abdominal, neck, and
back pain; problems with digestion, diarrhea, and weight loss; loss of appetite; and
dizziness and fainting.17 Researchers have observed lower levels of brain function
because of isolation, including a decline of electroencephalogram activities after
only seven days in isolation.18 Sensory deprivation causes the body to produce
increased cortisol, “well-documented to have negative health consequences for
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953781/pdf/AJPH.2013.301742.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 15 Ildiko Suto, Inmates Who Attempted Suicide in Prison; A Qualitative Study, at 23, 29 (July 27, 2007) (Ph.D. dissertation, Pacific University), https://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=spp (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 16 Stuart Grassian & Terry Kupers, The Colorado Study vs. the Reality of Supermax Confinement, at 11 (Mar. 6, 2012), https://www.probono.net/prisoners/stopsolreports/416638.The_Colorado_Study_vs_the_Reality_of_Supermax_Confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 17 Smith, supra note 8, at 489-90. 18 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 335-336.
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both the body and the brain,” and negatively affecting cognition, mood, and wellbeing. 19 The detrimental effects of sensory deprivation occur after as little as two days, and the risk increases the longer an individual is subjected to deprivation.20
Because human brains are designed for social interaction, social isolation also results in neurological changes to the brain, quickly degrading brain function.21
65. Although all incarcerated people placed in isolation are at risk of
harm, some people are more susceptible to serious health consequences because of
their disabilities, age, health conditions, or other characteristics. People with
psychiatric or intellectual disabilities are more sensitive and reactive to
psychological stressors and emotional pain. As a result, isolation may worsen and
intensify pre-existing mental health related symptoms such as depression, paranoia,
psychosis, and anxiety, and can cause severe impairment in isolated individuals’ ability to function.22
66. Youth are generally less equipped to manage the psychological
stressors of isolation, and it is especially difficult for those with recent histories of
19 Edward Vessel & Steven Russo, Effects of Reduced Sensory Stimulation and Assessment of Countermeasures for Sensory Stimulation Augmentation, NASA, at 20, 23, 28, 51-52, 65-66 (May 2015), https://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/trs/_techrep/TM-2015-218576.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 20 Id. at 22, 28. 21 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 331. 22 Human Rights Watch, Callous and Cruel: Use of Force against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons (May 12, 2015), https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/12/callous-and-cruel/use-force-against-inmates-mentaldisabilities-us-jails-and (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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trauma, abuse, neglect, or mental disabilities. The risk of permanent damage from isolation is acute for all youths as their brains have not fully developed.
67. People with hearing and vision challenges are even more isolated from human contact and environmental stimulation in isolation, and thus are at heightened risk of physical or mental harm. People with mobility disabilities are also at heightened risk of falls when restrained, and the lack of exercise and movement may result in the loss of physical functioning and ambulation.
68. People with serious and chronic medical conditions may suffer from exacerbations of their symptoms due to the stress, lack of exercise, reduced access to healthcare, and inability of staff to detect and quickly respond to medical emergencies, including, for example, seizures that could result in fatalities in the absence of an immediate response.
69. Pregnant women suffer from a heightened risk of falls while restrained, and they cannot receive the exercise and movement they need to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Common pre-existing feelings of stress and depression are exacerbated, and higher levels of stress increase the risk of miscarriage and birth complications.
70. Several professional correctional and healthcare organizations recommend, and FDC is aware, that isolation should be used only sparingly, if at all. For example, the American Psychiatric Association advises against isolation of
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people with mental illness and juveniles.23 The National Commission on
Correctional Health Care states that people with mental illness, juveniles, and
pregnant women should never be in isolation, and no one should be there for more
than 15 days.24 The American Public Health Association advises against isolating
juveniles and people with mental illness, and states that no one should be isolated
as a disciplinary sanction. 25 The American Bar Association asserts that isolation
should not be allowed for anyone.26
23 Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Segregation of Prisoners with Mental Illness (Apr. 2013), https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/2013_04_AC_06c_APA_ps2012_PrizSeg.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019); Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Solitary Confinement (Restricted Housing) of Juveniles (July 2018), https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/About-APA/Organization-DocumentsPolicies/Policies/Position-2018-Solitary-Confinement-Restricted-Housing-of-Juveniles.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 24 Nat’l Comm’n on Corr. Health Care, Solitary Confinement (Isolation) (Apr. 2016), https://www.ncchc.org/solitary-confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 25 See Am. Pub. Health Ass’n, Solitary Confinement as a Public Health Issue, https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policydatabase/2014/07/14/13/30/solitary-confinement-as-a-public-health-issue (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); AM. PSYCHIATRIC ASS’N, PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES (3d ed. 2016). 26 AM. BAR ASS’N, ABA STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE, TREATMENT OF PRISONERS 95 (3d ed. 2011) (“Conditions of extreme isolation should not be allowed regardless of the reasons for a prisoner’s separation from the general population. Conditions of extreme isolation generally include a combination of sensory deprivation, lack of contact with other persons, enforced idleness, minimal out-of-cell time, and lack of outdoor recreation.”), https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminal_justice_standards/Treatmen t_of_Prisoners.authcheckdam.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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71. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), in 2016, also recommended significantly limiting the use of isolation. 27 Specifically, it recommended against placing juveniles and pregnant women in isolation.28 It also recommended that
absent special circumstances, people with serious mental illness should not be placed in isolation.29 It said that isolation for “low level” offenses should be eliminated, and that people should spend less time in isolation for other offenses. 30
When people must be isolated, they should be housed “in the least restrictive
setting necessary” to ensure the safety of all people; that placement be based on
specific, “clearly articulate[d] reasons;” and that the placement serve “a specific penological purpose.”31 The then-President of the United States ordered executive
departments and agencies to implement these recommendations – “it is critical that
DOJ accelerate efforts to reduce the number of Federal inmates and detainees held
in restrictive housing and that Federal correctional and detention systems be models for facilities across the United States.”32
27 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing, at 104-16 (Jan. 2016), https://www.justice.gov/archives/dag/file/815551/download (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 28 Id. at 101, 102. 29 Id. at 99-101. 30 Id. at 109-10 31 Id. at 94. 32 Presidential Memorandum on Limiting the Use of Restrictive Housing by the Fed. Gov’t from President Barack Obama to the Heads of Exec. Dep’t and Agencies (Mar. 1, 2016), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/01/presidential-memorandumlimiting-use-restrictive-housing-federal (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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72. Human rights organizations and authorities recognize the harms of isolation and advocate for severe limitations on its use. The United States Special Rapporteur on Torture, for example, determined that more than 15 days in isolation amounts to torturous, cruel, and unusual punishment, and should be abolished. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recommended that, due to its potentially hazardous effects, isolation should only be used as punishment in exceptional cases and for the shortest period possible. In 2015, the U.N. General Assembly revised its Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (renamed the “Mandela Rules”) to state that, “[s]olitary confinement shall be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review.” 33 The Mandela Rules forbid indefinite or prolonged use of isolation (defined as anything more than 15 consecutive days) and restrict its use for people with mental of physical disabilities.34
73. Other state correctional systems recognize the substantial risk of harm caused by isolation and have voluntarily implemented measures to dramatically reduce its use. In Colorado, for example, after subjecting himself to just 20 hours in isolation, the former Director of Corrections implemented policies that reduced
33 G.A. Res. 70/175, at 17, U.N. Doc. A/RES/70/175 (Dec. 17, 2015), https://undocs.org/A/RES/70/175 (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 34 Id.
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the population in isolation from over 7% to less than 1% of its prison population.35
Since these reforms began, the rate of assaults on staff have decreased by half.36
Maine enacted reforms that cut its population in isolation by half, and provided
increased programming and environmental stimulation for those that remain in
isolation. There has been no statistically significant rise in violence, and by some
measures the violence in Maine has decreased.37 Mississippi enacted reforms at
one institution that cut its population in isolation down from 1000 to 150, and
eventually closed the entire unit.38 Idaho is just beginning its reforms, but it has
already stopped placing women in isolation, and reduced the number of men it
isolates by more than 50%.39 Since 2015, North Dakota has reduced its population
35 Risk Raemisch, Op-Ed., My Night in Solitary, N.Y. Times, Feb. 20, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/opinion/my-night-in-solitary.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); Rick Raemisch & Kellie Wasko, Colo. Dep’t of Corr., Open the Door—Segregation Reforms in Colorado, at 2-3 (2015), https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30yLl0I1yBRY2h2UDBCZ0Q5WlE/view (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 36 Id. at 9. 37 American Civil Liberties Union of Me., Change is Possible: A Case Study of Solitary Confinement Reform in Maine, at 31 (Mar. 2013), https://www.aclumaine.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_solitary_report_webversion. pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 38 Terry A. Kupers, et al., Beyond Supermax Administrative Segregation: Mississippi’s Experience Rethinking Prison Classification and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs, 36 CRIMINAL JUSTICE & BEHAVIOR 1037, 1041 (2009), https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/asset_upload_file359_41136.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); John Buntin, Exodus: How America’s Reddest State – And Its Most Notorious Prison – Became a Model of Corrections Reform, GOVERNING, Aug. 2010, at 20, 27, https://drjdbij2merew.cloudfront.net/GOV/GOV_Mag_Aug10.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 39 Ass’n of State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Working to Limit Restrictive Housing: Efforts in Four Jurisdictions to Make Changes, YALE L. SCH., at 7 (2018),
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in isolation by 60 to 70%, and has experienced a sharp decline in prison violence.40 Since 2016, New York has reduced its population in isolation by 30%, reduced the average length of stay in isolation by 31%, and reduced the number of individuals serving over 365 days in isolation by 72%.41
74. As reflected by these organizations, agencies, and authorities, isolation is degrading, inhumane, dangerous, and should never be used as punishment. If it’s ever used, it should be used only as a last resort for the shortest duration possible to remedy a current and serious threat to safety and security. It is a form of psychological torture, inflicts psychological and physical pain, and exposes everyone to a substantial risk of serious harm. These authorities also demonstrate that it violates contemporary standards of decency in a civilized society to expose prisoners in isolation in Florida to such a risk.
https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Liman/asca_liman_2018_workingtolimit.pdf, (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 40 Id. at 8; David Kidd, Tender Justice, North Dakota is Conducting a Prison Experiment Unlike Anything Else in the United States, GOVERNING, Aug. 2018, at 46, 50-51, https://archives.erepublic.com/GOV/GOV_Mag_Aug2018.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 41 New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 2018 Annual Update: DOCCS Continues to Improve the Conditions and Reduce the Use of Solitary Confinement in its Facilities, http://www.doccs.ny.gov/DoccsNews/2018/Annual%20Update%20-%202018.pdf, (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation 75. Despite the well-known risk of harm, FDC confines and isolates people in their cells for an average of 22 or more hours a day in nearly all FDC prisons throughout the state. Although it uses different labels for isolation throughout the prison system—Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, and Administrative Confinement—FDC subjects people in each of these to deprivations of human contact, environmental stimulation, and exercise, layered with oppressive and unnecessary security measures. No matter what label FDC chooses, the cumulative effect of the deprivations and conditions in these isolation cells subjects people to a substantial risk of serious psychological and physiological harm. 76. As of March 1, 2019, there were 10,557 people assigned to Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, or Administrative Confinement, which is more than 10% of FDC’s total population. 77. The typical path for people in isolation is to begin in Administrative Confinement while FDC investigates allegations of safety and security risks or pending disciplinary charges; people remain there for weeks or months. FDC also isolates people when they seek protective custody and request to “check in” to Administrative Confinement; they can be in isolation for months while FDC determines whether they require such protection. People seeking protection, often
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transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria (a psychiatric disability), face this Hobson’s choice—they must choose between suffering violence in the general population and the deprivations of isolation. The deprivations that a person suffers are the same regardless of whether FDC has placed the person in Administrative Confinement to investigate pending disciplinary charges or the person has “checked in” to Administrative Confinement seeking protection.
78. FDC assigns people it finds guilty of disciplinary charges to Disciplinary Confinement. Each guilty charge leads to at least one specific term in isolation, but there is no limit to the number of terms for which a person can be sentenced even for the same incident. The terms are almost always served consecutively. For example, when Plaintiff Meddler, who has a history of mental illness, was 17 years old, FDC placed her in isolation for refusing to do push-ups as ordered by the correctional staff. After nearly six weeks in isolation, she became agitated and yelled obscenities and banged on the door of her cell. For this one incident, FDC isolated her an additional 30 days in confinement for “disobeying a verbal order,” another 30 days for “threatening speech,” and another 30 days for “creating, participating in or inciting a major disturbance,” to be served consecutively. This stacking of charges resulting in prolonged isolation is typical of what happens to members of the putative class.
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79. Although the maximum number of days for one disciplinary type of charge is 60 days, there are people who have enough consecutive terms to be in isolation for the next twenty years. Many people, especially those suffering from mental illness, are trapped in a perpetual, vicious cycle of isolation in Disciplinary Confinement. Disciplinary charges lead people suffering from mental illness to spend weeks in isolation, which exacerbates their mental health symptoms, causing them to become agitated and act out, leading to more disciplinary charges and more time in isolation with seemingly no end in sight.
80. Under FDC’s policy, people are assigned to Close Management when FDC determines they have “demonstrated an inability to live in the general population without abusing the rights and privileges of others.”42 The assignment to Close Management does not require a formal disciplinary charge. There are three levels of Close Management (CM I, II, and III), with Level I being the most restrictive and Level III being the least restrictive. There are no time limits for any of these levels; FDC can, and does, isolate people in Close Management indefinitely. While the average duration for someone in CM is one to three years, there are several hundred people who have been there for more than six years, and many for almost twenty years.43
42 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.800(1)(d). 43 FDC has designated certain prisons to house people assigned to Close Management, but it does not have enough beds for this population at these prisons. As of March 1, 2019, there were
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81. FDC assigns people whom it has deemed “extreme security risk[s]” to Maximum Management, with or without a guilty disciplinary finding.44 Although it is supposed to be a “temporary status,” there is no time limit for Maximum Management.45 On information and belief, the average duration for someone in Maximum Management is six months.
82. Based on policy and practice, FDC subjects people in each type of isolation to cell searches, restraints, strip searches, and “property restriction.”46 It also restricts access to personal visits, phone calls, exercise, dayroom time to socialize with others, reading materials, canteen, hygiene items, and personal property (“privileges”). Under FDC’s written policies, the level of restrictions differs in each type of isolation only by a matter of degree. But despite FDC’s written policies, in practice it determines restrictions by staffing availability, housing location, whether someone is in more than one type of isolation at the same time, and other arbitrary reasons. Mr. Kendrick, for example, due to his housing location, was restricted as if he were assigned to Disciplinary Confinement
hundreds of people waiting in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement cells throughout the state who were supposed to be in Close Management at those designated prisons. While they wait, typically for several months, FDC restricts them according to the Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement policies. 44 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b). 45 See Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b). 46 “Property restriction,” discussed in more detail in Paragraphs 110 – 111, refers to FDC’s policy and practice of removing all property in someone’s cell—including their clothes and bedding—for a period of 72 hours, and sometimes longer.
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although he was solely assigned to Close Management I. And even if FDC followed its own written policies, which it frequently does not, the paltry amount of “privileges” and out-of-cell time in these written policies does not prevent the substantial harm caused by isolation.
83. No matter what the label, FDC knowingly subjects people to an objective risk of harm and inhumane treatment by isolating them in small cells at least 22 hours a day, under the highest security measures, while depriving them of basic human needs.
C. Conditions in Isolation Cells 84. The deprivations of basic human needs, cell conditions, severe restrictions, and oppressive security measures, collectively, subject people in FDC’s care to a substantial risk of serious health consequences. 85. The tiny isolation cells where people spend nearly 24 hours a day for prolonged periods are generally composed of monotone concrete walls, a concrete floor and ceiling, and a steel door. The steel door typically has a small, approximately one-foot square plexiglass window. The door also has a steel flap for passing all objects in and out of the cell, including food trays, medications, mail, or filthy mops. It is also used to apply and remove handcuffs, and to use pepper spray on people inside the cell. If there is a window to the outdoors, in many units it is painted over or partially covered with steel, allowing in minimal
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natural light or view of the outdoors. People typically cannot open these windows for fresh air, although some are broken allowing in a steady stream of cold air during the winter. Almost none of the cells are air conditioned despite the sweltering Florida summer heat. The only ventilation of these cells happens via an exhaust fan that recirculates stifling air throughout the unit with a loud and constant whirring noise.
86. Many of the cells were built well over 50 years ago and are antiquated, dirty, and in disrepair. There is no way for staff to see inside the cells unless they stand directly in front of the cell door. There are no call buttons or intercoms inside the cells for people to notify staff of emergencies. These cells were not designed for prolonged isolation. Instead, they were designed for sleeping and to allow people to walk in and out of their cells into the common area and beyond during waking hours. In contrast, in other prison systems, cells specifically designed for prolonged isolation include more square footage, call buttons and intercoms, desks for writing and eating, and cameras for staff to view inside the cells.
87. Confinement units are loud, 24 hours a day. Adding to the exhaust fans, prison staff slam doors and knock metal restraints and keys on steel throughout the unit. They yell at people and people yell back. Automatic door locks pop loudly and frequently. Chains rattle as people in full restraints shuffle
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through the unit. People suffering from mental health symptoms howl, scream, and talk to themselves or anyone who will listen. People pound on their doors to get the attention of staff for legitimate concerns, or as an emotional release. There is more yelling and commotion when teams of guards in riot gear use pepper spray or forcibly enter a cell to “extract” or use other force against someone, a common occurrence. Gunfire from FDC shooting ranges punctuate the sounds from within the units.
88. Prison staff control the lights inside cells. Lights are turned off late at night and back on early in the morning for a period of darkness totaling only four to six hours. On the weekends, staff sometimes do not bother to turn the lights on at all. Staff prohibit people from hanging any personal items, such as photographs or drawings, on the walls. Most cells do not have mirrors for people to see themselves. There are no clocks.
89. Unlike people in the general population, people in isolation must eat, sleep, and defecate in their small, barren cells. Instead of eating communally in dining halls, they must wait for their food to be delivered on a tray through the slot in the door. They must eat on their beds or the floor, mere inches from their toilet. In many cells, the toilet flushes are timed and controlled by correctional officers. Thus, people must often eat their meals accompanied by the smell of feces and urine stagnating in their unflushed toilets.
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D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact 90. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately deprives people in isolation of normal human contact. In the general population, people have many opportunities to communicate with other incarcerated people, correctional officers, family members, healthcare staff, religious clergy, teachers, and work supervisors. They can engage in such communications without mechanical restraints or physical barriers between them. In contrast, people in isolation rarely if ever have these opportunities. 91. Staff punish people for trying to communicate with incarcerated people in other cells—shouting is prohibited by rule, and staff frequently enforce “no-talking” rules, punishable by disciplinary reports leading to more time in isolation, pepper spray, property restrictions, cell extraction, or even more extreme denial of privileges. During the limited occasions FDC permits people in isolation to communicate with people outside of their cells, it almost always occurs while shackled at the hands and feet, usually through glass, fencing, steel mesh, or doors. 92. FDC does not eliminate the risk of harm from isolation by confining two people in the same cell. People forced to live together in the same isolation cell for 22 hours or more a day do not have normal social interactions. Indeed, it is next to impossible to have normal interactions with a stranger while forced to spend nearly every minute of every day sharing less than 80 square feet. The cells
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are more cramped, the movement more limited. They must constantly violate each other’s personal space. They must defecate in a toilet that is flushed infrequently and located mere inches from their beds. The stress of living with another human being in this tiny space is relentless. Instead of reducing the pain of isolation, double-celling can intensify the suffering by forcing people to navigate around another person’s habits and tribulations in intolerable conditions. This is why the DOJ’s definition of isolation and solitary confinement expressly includes being confined with another person.
93. Nearly all communication between prison staff and people in isolation occurs through the cell door. During security checks, correctional officers simply look inside each cell, and if they speak at all to the person inside, they do not open the cell door. Medical staff who deliver medications do not stop at every cell, and when they do stop at a cell, the interaction is limited to a few words said from outside the cell door when the medication is passed through the slot in the door. If healthcare staff make “rounds” to check on people, they yell just a few cursory questions, also through the cell door, if there is any interaction at all. Many people in isolation refuse to have frank discussions through a heavy solid door, in part because they do not want to shout personal information that can be heard by other incarcerated people and correctional staff.
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94. Conversations with mental health counselors and psychiatrists, who generally only speak to people diagnosed with mental illness, are not therapeutic or normal in any sense. Often, their sole attempts to speak to their patients are through the cell door. If they want to speak to their patients outside of their cells, they must ask correctional officers to remove them. In many instances, correctional officers refuse. If they remove them, the patients must submit to strip searches, cell searches, and full hand and leg restraints. In some isolation units, correctional staff bring the patient to the shower for the “therapeutic” contact. The shower is in the middle of the common area, with no visual or auditory confidentiality. The patient stands in the shower, fully restrained, while attempting to talk to the clinician through the bars in the shower door. If not the shower, correctional staff frequently lock the patient in a phone booth-sized cage, where the patient must stand or awkwardly sit on a narrow bench, fully restrained, and speak to the clinician through steel mesh. Correctional officers often intentionally position themselves within earshot of the conversation.
95. Clinicians speak to their patients in isolation no more than once a week for the most acutely ill, but typically only once every 30 to 90 days. Clinicians also conduct group therapy once a week for only those diagnosed with serious mental illness. For the fraction of people in isolation who do receive group therapy, it is typically conducted in the dayroom, in the presence of other prison
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staff, while people are shackled at hands and feet and sometimes locked in individual cages.
96. At Suwannee and Union Correctional Institutions, during group therapy, correctional officers restrain people, lock them in individual cages or separate them by partitions, and the clinicians speak to their patients from another room through a microphone and speaker. For many in these conditions, they cannot hear or understand what the clinicians and other incarcerated people are saying. Clinicians do not consistently provide therapeutic support to manage psychological stressors, instead loosely facilitating chats about random topics. Many people refuse to divulge personal and sensitive information to their clinicians in these conditions in either group or individual therapy.
97. Due to FDC’s policies and practices restricting access to personal visits and phone calls, many people go for years without seeing or speaking to their friends and family. For example, FDC denied one person the opportunity to see or talk to his twin brother for at least 16 years, or to meet his twin brother’s children.
98. For those infrequently permitted to receive personal visits, FDC confines the incarcerated person alone in a visiting booth, separated from his or her loved ones by thick glass. Staff add another level of humiliation because they do not remove the person’s restraints after confining him or her in the booth even though it would be possible to do so through a slot in the door, and there is no way
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to harm or receive contraband from the visitors on the other side of the glass. They must speak loudly to their loved ones through a metal grate that garbles their voices and makes it difficult to communicate.
99. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately denies people in isolation the basic human need of normal physical touch. They are generally never in proximity to other incarcerated people unless restrained or separated by physical barriers. Parents cannot hug or touch their children during visits. People in isolation cannot even shake their visitors’ hands. One person in long-term isolation no longer trusts his own sense of when it is appropriate to shake another person’s hand because it has been so many years since he’s had the opportunity to do so. Recently, another person’s first normal human touch since 2008 was his attorney’s handshake during a legal visit. The only human touch that people in isolation experience is from correctional officers during strip searches, when placed in or removed from restraints, during escorts, and from medical staff during examinations. These types of clinical and security contacts do not make up for the deprivation of normal human conversations and normal human touch.
E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation 100. FDC has a policy and practice of forced idleness for people in isolation. It refuses to provide meaningful rehabilitative programming and severely limits people’s activities in their cells.
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101. FDC partially or completely covers or obscures the windows to the outdoors in isolation cells, denying many people the opportunity to look at the sky, birds, trees, and grass. It punishes people if they stand and look out their cell doors or windows for more than a few minutes.
102. FDC prohibits televisions and tablets in isolation cells. It also prohibits radios for those isolated in Disciplinary Confinement and Administrative Confinement. It allows radios only in Close Management, and in Maximum Management after the first 12 months, if people have the funds to buy them. Many people do not have such funds, including for the batteries to operate the radios, especially because FDC prohibits them from prison jobs and isolates them from their families.
103. FDC severely limits people’s access to reading materials. Based on the written policies, FDC prohibits people in Maximum Management from possessing non-religious books for the first six months, and people in Disciplinary Confinement from possessing any non-religious materials at all, even people who have enough minor disciplinary infractions to be in disciplinary confinement for decades. The written policies limit reading materials for those in Close Management to only three non-religious books at a time each week and five periodicals. They permit people in Administrative Confinement to possess only one book at a time each week. When FDC follows its written policies, due to the
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absence of other in-cell activities, most people finish their reading materials quickly and have nothing to read for most of the week, and few people can pass every waking hour, for weeks, months, or years at a time, reading. Frequently, FDC fails to follow its written policies, and people have no access to any reading materials, forcing them to sit idle in their cells staring at the walls.
104. FDC prohibits people in isolation from participating in any form of communal worship or prayer. Their only outlet for religious expression is solitary expression in their cells, with infrequent visits by a Christian chaplain, regardless of their faith, who speaks to them briefly through the cell door.
105. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from meaningfully participating in their education, including juveniles, people with disabilities under age 21 enrolled in special education classes, and others who are working towards their G.E.D.s. For the vast majority of those in isolation, at most, a teacher comes to the cell door every few days or weeks and slips them a few worksheets that they may have difficulty completing on their own, or that do not further their degree/certificate requirements. Any interaction with a teacher is very brief, through the cell door. The teacher provides no individualized assistance with the worksheets. If people are able to finish the worksheets, once they do they have no other learning materials to keep their minds occupied.
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106. FDC takes a very limited number of people in isolation to a classroom, including Plaintiff Meddler, for instruction no more than a couple hours once a week, where they are chained to desks and receive little to no individualized assistance. For countless others in Disciplinary Confinement (including Plaintiff Harvard and others who may be in that status for decades) and Maximum Management, FDC provides no education materials whatsoever. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from participating in any vocational programming.
107. For most people in isolation, the passing of time is measured by meal times, security checks, medication passes, and the few hours when the lights are out at night. Showers, which are supposed to happen three times a week for no more than five to ten minutes, offer little respite, and some people refuse showers because they do not want to suffer the humiliation of restraints and strip and cell searches. To otherwise remain oriented to time, people must rely on staff who are kind enough to tell them the time upon request. For many, the boredom, anxiety, or mental agitation become acute after days on end with nothing to do other than reading whatever materials they have, writing letters, daydreaming, staring at the walls, talking and singing quietly to themselves, and sleeping.
F. Deprivation of Exercise 108. FDC, through policy and practice, deprives people in each type of isolation of out-of-cell exercise. FDC knowingly violates the American
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Correctional Association (“ACA”) standard requiring that people in confinement receive “a minimum of one hour of exercise per day outside their cells, five days per week, unless security or safety considerations dictate otherwise.” According to the ACA, the failure to meet this standard “poses a negative impact on the quality of life of inmates in [isolation] … This is especially of concern when coupled with below standard square footage per inmate….” FDC refuses to meet this standard for even the least restrictive form of isolation, Close Management, instead providing at most only two days per week of out-of-cell exercise for three hours each time or one day a week for six hours. Although it is a total of six hours, the ACA explicitly states this schedule is noncompliant with its standard, recognizing that people need to exercise more than once or twice a week to maintain their health and sanity. The people in the other types of isolation, which is at least twothirds of the total solitary population, receive at most only three hours a week of out-of-cell exercise, with many receiving none for stretches of 30 days and longer.
109. FDC’s isolation cells are too small to engage in meaningful exercise. For out-of-cell exercise, FDC moves people to a row of cages, each cage approximately six by ten feet, that resemble outdoor dog kennels. The cages are enclosed by fencing on the top and sides, with no shade or cover. FDC typically confines one prisoner in each cage. At some prisons, staff remove a person’s restraints once inside the cage, but at other prisons staff leave the person restrained.
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There is no toilet. There is no exercise equipment other than pull-up or dip bars. There is nothing to sit on other than the ground. There is no alternative space during inclement weather, which leads staff to cancel exercise time or people to refuse to go stand in the rain, heat, or cold.
110. Many people refuse to go to these exercise cages because they are not much bigger than their cells, there is nothing to do in the cages, and they do not want to experience the indignity of restraints and strip-searches when going to and returning from the cage. Some people cannot sit or stand in the cage for long periods of time due to their disabilities, which FDC refuses to accommodate. People also refuse to go to the exercise cages because staff search their cells during exercise time, sometimes destroying people’s limited belongings such as photographs of loved ones, either intentionally or inadvertently, as they conduct the searches.
111. Although completely inadequate, for many people time in the exercise cage is precious because it offers a very brief respite from their tiny cells and an opportunity to feel the outdoors. However, FDC denies even this brief respite: it frequently cancels exercise due to staffing shortages. FDC also does not have enough exercise cages for everyone in isolation. At Florida State Prison, for example, there are only 18 exercise cages available for units with 90 people in isolation, and staff fail to rotate through the cells to ensure everyone gets out.
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Even when staff attempt to rotate through the cells, the total time for exercise is counted from the time the first person is taken out of his cell to the time the last person is returned to his cell resulting in a drastic decrease in the time an individual is outside and able to exercise compared to what is written in the policies. Staff also search for reasons to deny people their exercise time, including for trivial and pretextual offenses such as having fingernails too long, cells that are unclean, or the failure to be immediately ready at the cell door without warning. It is also common for staff to falsely claim that people refused to exercise or to blatantly ignore someone’s request to go.
112. FDC’s policy and practice of taking people infrequently to an exercise cage not much larger than the cells where they live for less time than is recommended by the ACA does not prevent the harms caused by isolation 22 hours or more a day. Collectively with other deprivations, the deprivation of daily outof-cell exercise enhances the substantial risk of harm from isolation.
G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures 113. FDC layers its deprivations of basic human needs in isolation with its unnecessary use of degrading and dehumanizing security measures. Its use of restraints, cell searches, strip searches, exercise cages, dayroom cages, and noncontact visiting booths are not based on individualized assessments of safety and security threats. They are used as a one-size-fits-all approach to respond to all
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types of behaviors. FDC applies the same security measures to the most diminutive people with no recent history of violence as it does the most physically imposing people with significant histories of recent violence. It applies the same security measures to those who are in isolation because they are seeking protection from violence as it does the people who are accused of perpetrating violence. Regardless of why someone is in isolation, FDC’s oppressive security measures enhance the traumatic experience of being locked in a tiny cell for nearly 24 hours each day.
114. With few exceptions, FDC restrains people in isolation whenever they leave their cells. At the very least, staff use handcuffs to restrain their arms behind them, but more typically staff restrain people with multiple mechanical restraints at the same time. Their ankles are restrained with leg irons that force people to take very short steps or shuffle their feet. If their arms are restrained in front of them with handcuffs, the handcuffs are then covered with black metal devices (“black boxes”) that cover the handcuff chain and keyholes. The black box is used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
115. FDC’s policies permit, and with few exceptions require, staff to apply these restraints to all people in isolation, even those who use mobility devices such
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as walkers and wheelchairs, sometimes even chaining the person, including Plaintiffs Burgess and Espinosa, to the device. Except for when staff remove the restraints in the exercise cages and showers, people in isolation must spend every scant minute out of their cells with steel wrapped around their limbs, constricting their movement. Staff even refuse to remove the restraints during medical exams, forcing people to lie back awkwardly on the examination table, with their arms bound behind them, including for procedures such as EKGs.
116. At Lowell Correctional Institution Annex (“Lowell Annex”), a women’s prison, staff use “escort chairs” (restraint chairs on wheels) to transport women in isolation who have been accused of battery. After restraining women in leg irons, handcuffs, waist chains, and black boxes, staff strap their heads, arms, and legs to the chair on wheels. Using these excessive restraints, several correctional staff push individual women to wherever they need to go, including to legal interviews where staff sometimes refuse to unstrap them for the duration of their attorney visits, and insist on videotaping the interviews from a window outside the room. The straps are so tight, and their movement so constrained, that nurses must check the women’s circulation every 15 minutes. FDC’s policies do not prohibit staff from using these chairs on people who are especially vulnerable, including, for example, teenagers and other people with mental illness such as Plaintiff Meddler.
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117. FDC’s use of restraints frequently causes cuts and bruises to people’s wrists and ankles. Women at Lowell Annex, for example, suffer from bleeding cuts on their ankles after walking a few hundred yards in restraints to the medical units from their isolation units. Plaintiff Espinosa’s leg restraints broke his foot after he lost his balance and fell while wearing them.
118. Staff subject people who leave their cells for any reason to strip and cell searches. During strip searches, correctional staff force people to remove all clothes, squat, and cough in the presence of others; there is no privacy for these searches. During cell searches, staff go through all their belongings, often scattering their legal papers, opening and emptying their hygiene products, and generally making a mess of their cells.
119. Based on policy and practice, FDC operates its isolation units with strict but unnecessary rules. Beginning early in the morning, people in isolation must get out of bed and fully dress in their uniforms for the duration of the day. They must also make their beds first thing in the morning, and cannot use their sheets or blankets, even for warmth despite the unavailability of warm clothing in the winter, until evening. They cannot leave any property on the floor. They cannot hang anything on their cell walls, doors, or windows. They cannot talk too loudly or be disrespectful. They cannot spend more than a few minutes at their cell doors or windows. FDC responds to people who fail to follow these rules by
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extending their time in isolation, using pepper spray, subjecting them to property restrictions, or engaging in violent cell extractions.
120. FDC responds to minor behavioral problems with a practice known as “property restriction.” This practice occurs with or without a disciplinary charge or guilty finding, and it is imposed as pure punishment—it serves no penological purpose, other than the wanton infliction of discomfort, humiliation, and emotional distress. Based on unwritten policies, in prisons throughout the state, staff force people to give up everything, or almost everything, in their cell, leaving many people “stripped” in just their underwear, for 72 hours or longer. At the men’s prisons, staff remove everything except the bolted down fixtures in the cell. People cannot have their uniforms and t-shirts, bed linens, reading and writing materials, hygiene items, or mattress for three days or longer. At the women’s prisons, FDC leaves the women with one set of clothing, hygiene products, sometimes their mattress and linens, and nothing else for 72 hours. During this three-day period, most people are unable to sleep without a mattress on a steel bed frame, or without a blanket and clothing in cells that frequently dip down to 50 degrees at night in the winter months. For those who are almost naked, cold, or sleep-deprived, 72 hours amounts to the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain.
121. Staff have punished people with this barbaric practice for offenses such as standing at their cell door to look out the tiny window, hanging something
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over a cell window, leaving a pillow on the floor, or leaving their property in disarray. If a unit becomes too loud, staff have picked people at random to place on property restriction as punishment. After suicide attempts or gestures, instead of taking people to a suicide observation cell where they can receive an evaluation, treatment, and be removed from anything they can use to hurt themselves, staff frequently punish people, including Plaintiff Harvard, in their cells with property restriction.
122. Staff place frail people with physical disabilities on property restriction with no regard to how their bodies will respond to sleeping on bare steel. If FDC places someone with a cellmate on property restriction, staff also take the cellmate’s belongings even if he or she has not violated any rules. For some people with serious mental illness, property restriction tips them over the edge and they respond with acts of physical self-harm or mutilation. FDC’s practice of depriving people of all belongings, including people who pose no risk to themselves, serves no legitimate penological purpose and heightens the risk of harm from isolation.
123. People in isolation become so desperate that they frequently declare “psychological emergencies” that, based on accepted standards, should result in correctional officers immediately removing the person from his or her cell for a mental health evaluation. Correctional officers frequently ignore people who
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declare psychological emergencies; make their own determination, without consulting with clinical staff, that the person is not in psychiatric distress; or proclaim that because “there is no blood, there is no emergency.” They also retaliate against people who declare such emergencies by using excessive force, destroying their belongings in a cell search, placing them on property restriction, refusing to deliver meals, or refusing to take them to the exercise cages. As a result, some people are reluctant to ask for help because they fear retaliation. Prison staff’s callous and retaliatory responses to people’s suffering in isolation intensify the deprivations they experience and heighten the risk of harm.
H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference 124. Defendants know that the cumulative effect of the lack of human contact, lack of exercise, lack of environmental stimulation, cell conditions, and oppressive security measures subjects people they place in isolation to a substantial risk of serious harm. Defendants are also aware of the authorities described in Section V.A., supra, demonstrating that isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that there are people in Defendants’ custody who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from actual psychological and physiological harm because of their placement in isolation. Nonetheless, Defendants refuse to significantly curtail their use of isolation.
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125. Defendants are aware that correctional standards are evolving to reflect the national consensus that isolation is degrading and inhumane and should be used only as a last resort, if ever. In 2016, FDC issued a press release touting that the then-Secretary of Corrections, Julie Jones, attended a “criminal justice reform colloquium” at Yale Law School. The press release characterized isolation “as one of the most important issues facing criminal justice reform today” for which “industry experts and leaders share a commitment to reducing both the number of individuals held in isolation and the degrees of isolation …”.
126. On information and belief, FDC staff attended a similar program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 that included panel discussions from renowned healthcare experts describing the physical and psychological harms of isolation. Defendants also know that their policies and practices regarding out-ofcell exercise, and the size of their isolation cells, are deficient as the American Correctional Association has admonished FDC repeatedly for several years in reports that Defendants receive and review.
127. After participating in a survey conducted by the Association of State Correctional Administrators, of which Defendant Inch is a member, and Yale Law School in 2015, Defendants know that their isolation rate (nearly 10% of the FDC population) is double the national rate. Defendants received and reviewed the survey results in a report published in 2016, and subsequently refused to participate
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in the 2017 survey. Both the 2016 and 2018 reports detailing the survey results also specifically describe the harms of isolation.
128. Defendants are aware that the rate of suicide is much higher for people who are in or have been in isolation. From January 2013 to August 2018, at least 46 of the 80 people (57%) who died by suicide in FDC did so while they were in isolation. Although not in isolation at the time they died by suicide, an additional eight of those 80 people had been in isolation in the year prior to killing themselves. A stunning 88% of the people who died by suicide had been in isolation at some point during their incarceration in FDC.
129. Defendants are also aware that people in isolation are more likely to require inpatient hospitalization, including from suicide attempts. According to a document drafted by FDC’s Director of Mental Health, Dr. Aufderheide, “Whereas Close Management status represents about 3% of the total inmate population, 40% of the inmates receiving necessary inpatient mental health treatment came from a Close Management status.” He also wrote that “47% of the inmates requiring court-ordered treatment at a Corrections Mental Health Treatment Facility (CMHTF) were admitted from Close Management status.” He further noted that Defendants had to hospitalize 13% of people in Close Management placed in suicide observation status compared to only 4% of people in the general population placed in the same status.
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130. Defendants know that because of their policies and practices, people
with mental illness are overrepresented in isolation. According to Dr.
Aufderheide:
● Mentally ill inmates are about 80% more likely to receive a Disciplinary Report (DR) for a major rule infraction than nonmentally ill inmates.
● Mentally ill inmates are more likely than non-mentally ill inmates to be placed in Administrative/Disciplinary Confinement and more than five times as likely to be placed in Close Management.
● Although mentally ill inmates represent about 18% of the total population, they represent nearly half of all the inmates in Close Management.
● Inmates in Close Management are more than three times more likely to have a severe and persistent mental illness than inmates in the general population.
131. Defendants also know that people with mental illness, and with
intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injuries, are more likely to spend
prolonged periods in isolation because they have difficulty conforming their
behavior with FDC rules, demands, and norms. Due to FDC’s lack of reasonable
modifications and accommodations for persons with disabilities, once FDC places
these individuals in isolation because of some violation of prison rules caused by
their disabilities, it is extremely difficult for them to get out.
132. The deprivations and punitive environment of isolation exacerbate or
cause symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety, agitation, paranoia, panic,
delusions, mania, depression, poor impulse-control, psychosis, insomnia, and
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hallucinations. These symptoms may lead to more misbehaviors, which lead to more disciplinary charges. These additional charges typically lead to an indefinite stay in isolation (Close Management) that is supposed to end when incarcerated people can demonstrate an ability to live in the general population, something nearly impossible to show as they continue to deteriorate.
133. Given their pre-existing symptoms, even people who manage to maintain their baseline psychological functioning despite the deprivations of isolation have difficulty demonstrating the near-perfect behavior that is required to get out of indefinite isolation. Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler, for example, have been caught in a perpetual cycle for years of deteriorating symptoms, new disciplinary infractions related to those symptoms, suicide watch cell placements, and in-patient hospitalizations, interspersed with periods of only minor disciplinary infractions, if any. Defendants ignore these periods of low-level or infraction-free behavior in determining whether people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries can be released from isolation.
134. Despite the obvious risk of harm demonstrated by the constant cycling between suicide observation cells, inpatient psychiatric units, and isolation, Defendants refuse to eliminate, or even reduce, the deprivations of isolation and the unnecessary security measures in isolation. Instead, Defendants continue to perpetuate the cycle by sending people straight from in-patient mental health care
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back to isolation. This is true even after someone makes a serious suicide attempt; Defendants not only send them directly back into isolation after having knowledge of the risk of suicide for those specific individuals, but also often add more time in isolation because people “destroyed state property” or “disobeyed verbal orders” while trying to kill themselves.
135. Defendants also repeatedly receive notice of the harms of isolation through the hundreds of complaints they receive each year from people in isolation through FDC’s internal prison grievance process. In these complaints, people in isolation specifically describe the mental health and physical health consequences that they are experiencing. Defendants’ typical response is to ignore the suffering they describe and tersely state that the individual is in isolation as a result of her or his own behavior.
136. Despite their knowledge of the risk of harm, Defendants have no policies to exclude known vulnerable people from isolation, including, but not limited to, people with serious mental illness or intellectual disabilities, pregnant women, juveniles, or people with histories of suicide attempts. They also have no policies to exclude people who are at substantial risk of harm because of medical conditions that could be exacerbated by isolation, or that require immediate responses to medical symptoms to prevent serious injury or death (e.g., seizure disorders).
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137. Defendants provide no call buttons or other mechanisms for people in isolation to notify staff of an emergency; people can only yell or bang on their doors at the risk of receiving disciplinary charges and more isolation time for “inciting a riot” or “creating a disturbance.” People who experience seizures in their cells, including Plaintiff Burgess, are physically unable to notify staff in this manner.
138. Defendants fail to adequately monitor people for health risks prior to and during their time in isolation for signs of worsening mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality in isolation. According to their own healthcare audits conducted between 2016 and 2018, healthcare staff frequently failed to complete rounds and evaluations of people in isolation. For example, healthcare staff at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex completed “pre-confinement physicals” only 10% of the time and weekly mental health rounds only 50% of the time. At Suwannee Correctional Institution, a prison with a large population in isolation, including juveniles, healthcare staff completed timely evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 32% of the time, daily rounds by nursing staff only 66% of the time, and weekly mental health rounds only 55% of the time. At Lake Correctional Institution, healthcare staff completed daily nursing rounds only 42% of the time, and evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 25% of the time. At the Reception and Medical Center, where people with serious and chronic
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health conditions are sent for treatment, healthcare staff completed “preconfinement physicals” only 55% of the time.
139. Defendants do not provide mental health treatment to everyone in isolation, and the treatment they do provide to some people does not prevent harm caused by isolation. Defendants provide regular group and individual therapy to only those they have identified as having a serious mental illness, ignoring everyone else at substantial risk of developing mental health symptoms due to the deprivations of human needs in isolation. Defendants fail to identify all people who have serious mental illness, and therefore many who suffer from a heightened risk of harm do not receive mental health services in isolation.
140. Defendants fail to hire enough staff to ensure that people receive exercise, other out-of-cell time, and escorts to their medical appointments. Isolation is staff-intensive because it requires correctional staff to apply restraints; escort people when they leave their cells for healthcare appointments, showers, and exercise; respond to psychological emergencies; escort healthcare staff during medication delivery; and conduct security checks and cell searches, among other tasks. Throughout the prison system, including in non-isolation units, correctional staffing is insufficient to safely provide critical safety and security operations. The ramification of this systemic short-staffing is that FDC cannot comply with its written isolation policies and procedures, and fails to consistently provide showers,
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security checks, out-of-cell exercise, dayroom time, and healthcare to people in isolation, including to people with several complex needs, like Plaintiff Espinosa.
141. For the last several years, Defendants have admitted to American Correctional Association auditors that they cannot and will not provide adequate out-of-cell exercise to people in isolation. Defendants also claim repeatedly that they will “request funding for additional staff, change segregation policy, and adjust staffing charts to comply with the standard pending funding approval.” However, to date, on information and belief, Defendants have failed to take any of these actions.
142. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm, Defendants impose no limit on the duration of isolation. As a result, there are people in FDC who have been suffering in isolation for nearly 20 years with no end in sight.
143. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm caused by isolation, Defendants have done little to nothing to prevent this harm.
I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose 144. There is no legitimate penological purpose that supports FDC’s policy and practice of subjecting people to the substantial risk of harm from its isolation policies and practices as they are currently implemented and enforced. With adequate security measures, other states have developed ways of providing daily
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exercise, social interactions, and programming to individuals who are similarly situated to those FDC has placed into isolation and claims cannot be permitted to have these interactions because they are such a danger.
145. There are very few people, if any, and certainly not thousands, in FDC’s custody who pose an ongoing imminent security threat such that they cannot safely leave their cells each day for exercise, social interactions, and programs. Even for people who have engaged in behaviors that posed an imminent risk to the physical safety of others in the past, there is no safety or security reason to deprive them of basic human needs after the immediate threat has subsided.
146. There is no safety or security reason to deny people in isolation noncontact visits or phone calls, especially because familial support is often critical to improve behaviors and success upon release from prison.47 In fact, a study of FDC, commissioned by the Florida Legislature and received and reviewed by FDC, urged FDC to focus on its visitation policies because “one of the primary incarceration factors that reduces recidivism is the number of family visits.”48 By
47 NORMAN HOLT & DONALD MILLER, EXPLORATIONS IN INMATE-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. SACRAMENTO RESEARCH DIVISION, at ch. VI (Cal. Dep’t of Corr. 1972), https://fcnetwork.org/reading/reading-holt-miller-holt-millersum.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); N.E. Schafer, Exploring the Link Between Visits and Parole Success: A Survey of Prison Visitors, 38 INT’L JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY & COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 17-32 (1994). 48 Fla. Legislature Office of Program Policy Analysis and Gov’t Accountability, Study of Operations of the Florida Department of Corrections, at 103 (Nov. 2015), http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/MonitorDocs/Reports/pdf/15-FDC.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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depriving people of basic human needs, including but not limited to contact with their families, FDC is increasing the risk to public safety, especially as most people in isolation will be released at some point back into their communities.
147. Indeed, at the conclusion of their prison terms, FDC frequently releases people in isolation directly back into the community after subjecting them to months or years of deprivations without any rehabilitative services. On information and belief, if any of these individuals returns to FDC within two years, no matter the reason or their recent behaviors, FDC immediately places them back in isolation. FDC’s willingness to release people it has deemed too high of a security threat to live in a general prison population back into the community without any sort of transitional services, and then to put them back into isolation regardless of any actual current threat, highlights the arbitrariness of its isolation policies and practices.
148. There is no safety or security justification for FDC’s blanket policy and practice of limiting reading materials and education, and depriving access to televisions, radios, tablets, and other in-cell mental stimulation for people in isolation. There is also no safety or security justification for FDC’s policy and practice of limiting hygiene items for people in isolation, including sanitary napkins for women. These policies and practices, absent some rare and
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particularized threat, are purely punitive, and, collectively with the other deprivations, unnecessarily subject people to substantial risk of serious harm.
149. There is no legitimate penological purpose served by holding people in isolation for the lengths of time that the Defendants do, nor is there a legitimate penological purpose for extending isolation time for minor disciplinary infractions, as Defendants frequently do. This is especially true when people have no ability to conform their conduct to FDC rules because of a mental illness or intellectual disability, and when their time in isolation is continually extended for minor disciplinary infractions such as not keeping one’s cell clean.
150. Instead of isolating people for prolonged periods, correctional systems that have successfully reduced their isolation populations increase interactions with staff and other incarcerated people through programming and treatment so that they can work on changing their behaviors, and staff can make informed decisions about when to lessen security measures. These states have significantly reduced their isolation populations with no increase, and often a decrease, in prison violence. Even FDC recognizes that increased social interactions decrease incidents of violence.
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J. Disability Discrimination 151. FDC, through its policies and practices, discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its isolation policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability; it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities because of their disabilities; and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs. 152. FDC fails to modify its policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are not placed in isolation because of their disabilities. For example, as a result of FDC’s failure to accommodate transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria by providing safe housing, some are forced to check into Administrative Confinement to escape victimization in the general population; others are compelled to break prison rules when responding to threats of violence, leading to Disciplinary Confinement. People with other psychiatric and intellectual disabilities may have difficulty regulating their behaviors or respond erratically or inappropriately to conflict, stress, staff, and other incarcerated people, and therefore cannot comply with some disciplinary rules. Some also have a hard time understanding or conforming their behavior to prison
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rules. Instead of providing individualized mental health treatment, programming, or safe housing through a reasonable modification, FDC responds to their disability-related behaviors by charging them with disciplinary infractions and sending them to isolation, including, for example, Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler.
153. After failing to modify its policies and procedures to consider people’s psychiatric and intellectual disabilities upon initial placement in isolation, FDC also fails to modify its isolation policies and procedures when they remain in isolation by offering adequate out-of-cell time, social interaction, environmental stimulation, and mental health treatment to prevent worsening mental health symptoms. As a result of these failures, many people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities in isolation experience further psychiatric harm and engage in self-harm behaviors such as swallowing razors or other objects, smashing their heads into walls, compulsively cutting their flesh, and trying to hang themselves. Plaintiff Harvard, for example, has scars up and down her arms from the numerous times she has cut herself in isolation.
154. FDC’s failure to modify its policies for individuals in isolation for behaviors directly related to their worsening mental health symptoms such as refusing to follow orders, yelling and banging on the door, inadequate personal and cell hygiene, and destroying property results in further disciplinary charges that prolong their isolation. FDC also extends isolation for acts of self-harm instead of
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providing a reasonable modification that includes enhanced mental health treatment.
155. FDC is aware that modifications to its isolation policies and practices are necessary to accommodate people with psychiatric disabilities. In 2017, FDC’s Director of Mental Health Services, Dr. Aufderheide, advised that “measures for accountability must be individualized, more flexible and take into account the inmate’s mental illness.”49 FDC takes the opposite approach; its isolation policies and practices are universal, inflexible, and do not consider people’s disabilities. As a result, according to Dr. Aufderheide, people with mental illness are 80% more likely to be disciplined, are five times more likely to be placed in isolation than those without mental illness, and represent nearly half of all the people in indefinite isolation.50
156. FDC harms people with other types of disabilities because it systemically fails to make reasonable modifications to its isolation policies and practices. For example, it is difficult and dangerous for people with mobility impairments, including those who use walkers and canes, to ambulate while restrained at the hands and feet. Nonetheless, FDC refuses to modify its restraint policies and practices, thereby subjecting people with mobility disabilities to
49 Dean Aufderheide, Florida Dep’t of Corr., Mental Illness in Corrections: An Inconvenient Truth; The Need for a Public Safety/Public Health Model, at 5 (2017) (on file with author). 50 Id. at 9, 16, 17.
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injuries and heightened risk of falls. It fails to provide people with mobility or medical disabilities, including Plaintiffs Burgess, Kendrick and Espinosa, access to the exercise, such as physical therapy and exercise equipment, that they need to maintain or increase their ambulation and avoid exacerbation of medical symptoms and chronic pain. It fails to reasonably modify its strip search policies for people with mobility impairments or catheters, including Plaintiffs Burgess, to reduce the risk of injury and needless humiliation. It fails to modify its cell search policies for people with vision impairments, including Plaintiff Hill, who have difficulty finding their belongings after staff move them during the searches. It fails to reasonably modify its policies to ensure that people with vision, speech, or hearing disabilities, including Plaintiffs Espinosa and Hill, who are more isolated than others because of their disabilities have equal access to social interaction and environmental stimulation. It fails to remove people with diabetes, including Plaintiff Kendrick, from their cells as often as needed for insulin injections; instead nurses inject people through the rusty, dirty food ports. It also refuses to modify the schedule for medication delivery to ensure it is appropriately timed with insulin injections to avoid dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels.
157. FDC lacks policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities. For example, it fails to
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aid people in wheelchairs to complete their activities of daily living in their cells, including but not limited to transferring to the bed and toilet. It also chains people in wheelchairs to their wheelchairs using restraints whenever they leave their cells; this is dangerous, humiliating, and degrading, and makes it impossible for people with mobility disabilities to ambulate unassisted. FDC denies people with physical disabilities access to their medical supplies and assistive devices in isolation, including, for example, canes for Plaintiffs Espinosa and Hill. It denies people with medical disabilities access to the healthcare they need, including dialysis treatment. It denies transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria access to transition-related healthcare, including, for example, women’s undergarments, hormone therapy, psychotherapy, and women’s canteen items. People with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities languish in isolation without access to programs, services, and activities available to those in the general prison population. They do not receive the support they need to avoid new disciplinary infractions while they are locked in their cells nearly 24 hours a day and therefore have very little prospect for release.
158. FDC also lacks policies and procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs, which, under FDC’s policies and practices, cannot be met in isolation. For example, FDC recently isolated a person with mobility disabilities in a wing with
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people assigned to Close Management I and restricted his visits, phone calls, and dayroom under its written Close Management I policies, even though he was assigned as Close Management II, solely because there was a shortage of accessible isolation cells in a wing with people assigned as Close Management II. It inappropriately isolates transgender people for weeks or months to try to address the safety challenges that they experience as a result of their gender expression and identity because of their gender dysphoria before granting them protective management, if ever granting it at all. FDC also isolates people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities who violate prison rules because of their disabilities instead of housing them in settings where they can receive the treatment and services they need to safely live with other people. Plaintiff Harvard, for example, experiences fewer mental health symptoms and does not receive disciplinary infractions when she receives more intensive mental health services that are unavailable to her in isolation.
159. The unnecessary placement of people with disabilities in isolation perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that they are incapable of participating in and benefiting from prison services, activities, and programs. Such placement also causes harm by severely limiting their independence and daily activities, including but not limited to family relations, social contacts, educational advancement, and healthcare.
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160. Other prison systems have safely integrated people with disabilities into the general prison population by providing adequate therapeutic and programmatic support, and by developing adequate systems to ensure the availability of accessible beds in general population dorms and cells. FDC refuses to develop and implement such policies and practices.
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS A. Plaintiff Class
161. Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2).
162. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class consisting of all people in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are, or will be in the future, locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for an average of 22 hours or more per day (“Plaintiff Class”).51
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1)
51 This proposed class does not include people sentenced to death and housed in Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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163. The class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as prisoners regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s policies and practices, but it includes at a minimum the roughly 10,000 class members in isolation on any given day. Due to FDC’s policies and practices, all class members are at substantial risk of harm.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 164. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the class, including but not limited to: ● whether FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment; ● whether FDC has been deliberately indifferent to the serious risk of mental and physical harm of class members; ● whether there is no legitimate penological purpose for FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation. FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3)
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165. The claims of the Plaintiffs are typical of those of the Plaintiff Class, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the class’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 166. Plaintiffs are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Plaintiff Class because Plaintiffs do not have any interests antagonistic to the class. Plaintiffs, as well as the Plaintiff Class members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 167. This action is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1) because the number of class members is approximately 10,000, and the prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2)
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168. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this Complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the class, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the class. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Plaintiff Class.
B. Disability Subclass 169. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill bring this action on behalf of themselves and, pursuant to Rule 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on behalf of a subclass of all qualified individuals with disabilities, as that term is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B), in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections
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who are, or will be in the future, locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for an average of 22 hours or more per day (“Disability Subclass”).52
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 170. The subclass is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as people with disabilities regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s isolation policies and practices. The exact number of subclass members is unknown, but members are identifiable using records maintained in the ordinary course of business by FDC. On information and belief, there are at least several thousand subclass members. Due to FDC’s isolation policies and practices, all members of the subclass are at risk of suffering from discrimination.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 171. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the subclass, including but not limited to whether FDC violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
52 This proposed subclass does not include people with disabilities sentenced to death and housed at Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 172. The claims of Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill are typical of those of the Disability Subclass, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the class’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 173. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Disability Subclass because they do not have any interests antagonistic to the subclass. Plaintiffs Harvard, Burgess, Meddler, Kendrick, and Hill as well as the Disability Subclass members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 174. Since the number of the Disability Subclass is approximately a few thousand, prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by
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individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2)
175. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the subclass, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the subclass. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Disability Subclass.
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF A. First Cause of Action
(All Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class v. Defendant Inch) 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments 176. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 175 as if fully set forth herein.
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177. Through the policies and practices described herein, Defendant Inch subjects all Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class to a substantial risk of serious harm and deprives Plaintiffs and the Class of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities and human dignity, through the excessive and inappropriate use of isolation. These policies and procedures are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. Defendant Inch has caused the wanton infliction of pain upon Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class.
178. There is no legitimate penological purpose for Defendant Inch’s isolation policies and procedures as implemented and enforced, and they amount to the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.
179. These policies have been and continue to be implemented by Defendant Inch and his agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under the color of state law, in their official capacities, and are the direct and proximate cause of the Plaintiffs’ and the Plaintiff Class’s ongoing deprivation of rights secured under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
180. Defendant Inch has been and is aware of all deprivations complained of herein and has condoned or been deliberately indifferent to such conduct. Defendant also has been and is aware of the substantial risk of harm caused by these deprivations and has not acted to eliminate this risk of harm. It should be obvious to Defendant Inch, and to any reasonable person, that the conditions
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imposed on Plaintiffs and the Class cause tremendous mental anguish, physical harm, suffering, and pain to such individuals.
181. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class have suffered, and will continue to suffer, from a substantial risk of serious harm and actual harm. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
B. Second Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill
and the Disability Subclass v. Defendant FDC) Americans with Disabilities Act
182. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1-175 as if set forth fully herein.
183. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and other Disability Subclass members are qualified individuals with disabilities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities (ADA). They have mental or physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities, they have records of such impairments, or they are regarded as having such impairments. All people in the Disability Subclass meet the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services of the participation in programs and activities provided by Defendants. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2); 42 U.S.C § 12131(2).
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184. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and other Disability Subclass members are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning of Title II of the ADA.
185. Defendant FDC is a public entity as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)(A), and it has an affirmative duty to create policies and procedures to prevent discrimination based on disability.
186. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to ensure that people with disabilities have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities provided by Defendant. 42 U.S.C. § 12132; 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(1).
187. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to make “reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability….” 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7).
188. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the ADA by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(2).
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189. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass to discrimination and that defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of objectives of FDC programs, services, and activities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(3).
190. As a result of Defendant’s policies and practices regarding individuals with disabilities, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass are unnecessarily placed and retained in isolation due to their disabilities; are denied equal access to activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified; and are denied the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.
191. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their ADA rights. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
C. Third Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill
and the Disability Subclass v. Defendant FDC) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
192. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 175 as if set forth fully herein.
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193. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick and Hill and the Disability Subclass are individuals with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 705(20), 794.
194. Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
195. Defendant FDC is a program or activity receiving federal financial assistance within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act. 29 U.S.C. § 794.
196. Defendant FDC excludes Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass from participation in, and denies them the benefits of programs or activities, by reason of their disabilities. 29 U.S.C. § 794(a); 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(a).
197. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 29 U.S.C. § 794; 45 C.F.R. § 84.4(b)(2).
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198. Defendant FDC denies Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kenrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass the opportunity afforded others to participate in program or activities. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(1).
199. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that either purposely or in effect discriminate on the basis of handicap, and defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of the objectives of Defendant’s programs or activities with respect to handicapped persons. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(3).
200. Defendant FDC violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities in its facilities, programs, activities, and services.
201. As a result of Defendant FDC’s discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and members of the Disability Subclass do not have equal access to the FDC’s activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified.
202. As a direct and proximate cause of these policies and practices, Plaintiffs Harvard, Meddler, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill and the Disability Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
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VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 203. Plaintiffs and the class and subclass they represent have no adequate remedy at law to redress the wrongs suffered as set forth in this Complaint. Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable injury as a result of the unlawful acts, omissions, policies, and practices of the Defendants as alleged herein, unless Plaintiffs are granted the relief they request. Defendants’ policies and practices are the direct causation of the violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as alleged herein. 204. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and the class and subclass they represent, respectfully request that this Court:
a. assume jurisdiction; b. declare this suit is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Rules
23(a) and 23(b)(1) and (2) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure; c. adjudge and declare that the conditions, acts, omission, policies, and
practices of Defendants and their agents, officials, and employees are in violation of the rights of Plaintiffs and the class and subclass they represent under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act;
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d. permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, from continuing the unlawful acts, conditions, and practices described in this Complaint;
e. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, to develop and implement, as soon as practical, a plan to eliminate the substantial risk of serious harm described herein, and to ensure that people are not placed and retained in isolation without a legitimate penological purpose;
f. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under color of state law or otherwise, to provide equal access to programs, services, and activities for people with disabilities, including but not limited to housing them in the least restrictive and most integrated settings appropriate to their needs;
g. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under color of state law or otherwise, to modify its isolation policies and practices to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities and minimize the traumatic impact of isolation;
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 Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS Document 54 Filed 10/24/19 Page 1 of 45

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD, ET AL.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

CASE NO.: 4:19cv212-MW/CAS

MARK INCH, SECRETARY OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ET AL.,

Defendants. ___________________________________/

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendant Florida Department of

Corrections (“FDC”) and Defendant Mark Inch’s (collectively, “Defendants”)

motion to dismiss. ECF No. 28. Defendants request this Court to 1) dismiss with

prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies a) all claims asserted by

Plaintiffs J.H., Angel Meddler, Jerome Burgess, and James Kendrick, Jr., b) all of

Plaintiff Admire Harvard’s claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act and

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, c) Plaintiff Admire Harvard’s claims under

42 U.S.C. § 1983, excepting only any such claims that are based on visitations and

phone privileges, d) all of Plaintiff Juan Espinosa’s claims, excepting only any such

claims that are based on his alleged need for more programs to help with his recovery

Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS Document 54 Filed 10/24/19 Page 2 of 45
and communication, and e) all of Plaintiff Johnny Hill’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and 2) dismiss Plaintiffs’ remaining claims without prejudice and require any second amended complaint to a) eliminate unnecessary and inflammatory allegations, b) include claims of only one Plaintiff, c) include only those claims that the named Plaintiff has standing to pursue, d) clearly identify which factual allegations support each of the named Plaintiff’s claims, and e) clearly allege facts to support the claims, including the specific policies and practices at issue (and identifying which are policies and which are practices), how those policies and practices have affected the Plaintiff, and what the Plaintiff’s claimed disability is, and what accommodation the Plaintiff is requesting. See ECF No. 28, at 2–4.
Defendants argue for dismissal of Plaintiffs’ amended complaint because 1) it does not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), 2) it fails to address each Plaintiff’s limited standing, 3) it improperly joins all Plaintiffs in this lawsuit in violation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a)(1), 4) it fails to state claims upon which relief can be granted, and 5) some Plaintiffs have failed to exhaust certain claims. See ECF No. 28, at 1–2. For the reasons provided below, Defendants’ motion is DENIED.
I This is a civil rights case about statewide policies and practices related to isolation promulgated and enforced by Defendants in Tallahassee. Plaintiffs allege
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that Defendants promulgated a statewide policy and practice of isolating over 10,000 people for at least 22 hours a day in tiny, cramped cells. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 2, 59, 75. Plaintiffs further allege that this statewide policy and practice exposes all persons in isolation to a substantial risk of serious harm to their mental and physical health in violation of the Eighth Amendment and that policymakers in Tallahassee have exhibited deliberate indifference towards these risks. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 5, 7, 54, 59, 75, 83. Finally, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants discriminate against people with disabilities through this same policy and practice. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 8, 151–60.
II This Court accepts the allegations in the amended complaint as true and construes them in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. See Hunt v. Amico Props., L.P., 814 F.3d 1213, 1221 (11th Cir. 2016). “To withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must include ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). “A ‘claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’ ” Id. (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). “Plaintiff’s allegations must amount to ‘more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555).
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III First, Defendants argue that the amended complaint violates Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) because it 1) is a shotgun pleading, 2) contains unnecessary and inflammatory allegations, 3) pleads non-specific allegations, and 4) contains unsupported conclusory statements. See ECF No. 28-1, at 5–8. This Court tackles each of these issues in turn.
A. Shotgun Pleading Plaintiffs, in their amended complaint, incorporate all the general allegations into each of the three causes of action. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 176, 182, 192. Defendants take issue with this format and, therefore, ask this Court to dismiss the amended complaint or force Plaintiffs to replead. See ECF No. 28-1, at 5. A pleading must comply with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) and 10(b) “so that, [the pleader’s] adversary can discern what he is claiming and frame a responsive pleading, the court can determine which facts support which claims and whether the plaintiff has stated any claims upon which relief can be granted, and, at trial, the court can determine that evidence which is relevant and that which is not.” Weiland v. Palm Beach Cty. Sheriff’s Office, 792 F.3d 1313, 1320 (11th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). The Eleventh Circuit has repeatedly condemned shotgun pleadings because they fail to accomplish these goals. Id. at 1321.
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“Shotgun pleadings are characterized by: (1) multiple counts that each adopt the allegations of all preceding counts; (2) conclusory, vague, and immaterial facts that do not clearly connect to a particular cause of action; (3) failing to separate each cause of action or claim for relief into distinct counts; or (4) combining multiple claims against multiple defendants without specifying which defendant is responsible for which act.” McDonough v. City of Homestead, 771 F. App’x. 952, 955 (11th Cir. 2019) (citing Weiland, 792 F.3d at 1321–23). The key feature of shotgun pleadings is that they fail to give defendants “adequate notice” of the claims being bought against them and the supporting factual allegations for each claim. Weiland, 792 F.3d at 1323.
Here, Plaintiffs’ amended complaint is not a shotgun pleading within the meaning of McDonough. The amended complaint does not adopt each allegation of all the preceding counts. Plaintiffs’ amended complaint is the type of complaint the Eleventh Circuit in Weiland did not find to be a shotgun pleading. Id. at 1324 (noting that re-alleging paragraphs 1 through 49 at the beginning of each count is not the most common type shotgun pleading). And while the Eleventh Circuit has held that incorporating all the factual allegations into each claim constitutes shotgun pleading, it has done so when it is nearly impossible for Defendants and the Court to determine with any certainty which factual allegations give rise to which claims for relief. See Jackson v. Bank of America, N.A., 898 F.3d 1348, 1356 (11th Cir. 2018); see also
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Weiland, 792 F.3d at 1325 (holding that dismissal is appropriate only “where it is virtually impossible to know which allegations of facts are intended to support which claim(s) for relief.”). This is not the case here.
Plaintiffs’ amended complaint is separated into distinct sections corresponding with each element of Plaintiffs’ claims. See Sections V.B–G (alleging various forms of deprivation that prisoners are subjected to which results in substantial psychological and physical harm); H (alleging Defendants’ deliberate indifference to the conditions of confinement); I (alleging that no legitimate penological purpose); J (alleging discrimination based on disability due to failure to accommodate); and IV.A. (alleging the disability suffered by each named Plaintiff). These divisions provide this Court and Defendants with sufficient roadmap to determine which factual allegations give rise to which claims for relief. For example, Sections IV.A. and V.J. provide factual allegations that are relevant to Plaintiffs’ claim under the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“RA”). See infra Section VI.B. Similarly, Sections V.B–I. provide factual allegations that are relevant to Plaintiffs’ claim under the Eighth Amendment. See infra Section VI.A. Therefore, while the practice of including all factual allegations in each count is frowned upon, it does not require dismissal, especially when it is possible to discern which factual allegations give rise to each claim for relief.
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B. Unnecessary and Inflammatory Allegations Defendants argue that Section V.A. of the amended complaint contains allegations that are “unnecessary and inflammatory” and, therefore, violate Rule 8(a)(2). ECF No. 28-1, at 6. It appears that Defendants are requesting this Court to strike these paragraphs from the amended complaint. “The court may strike from a pleading . . . any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f). “[A] motion to strike will usually be denied, unless, the allegations have no possible relation to the controversy and may cause prejudice to one of the parties.” Bartram, LLC v. Landmark Am. Ins. Co., Case No. 1:10-cv-28-SPM/AK, 2010 WL 4736830, at *1 (N.D. Fla. Nov. 16, 2010) (citation omitted). The authorities cited in Section V.A. relate to Plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claim. “[T]he Eighth Amendment ‘draws its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that marks the progress of maturing society. . . .’ ” Thomas v. Bryant, 614 F.3d 1288, 1304 (11th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). As such, Plaintiffs, to properly state a claim for relief under the Eighth Amendment, must show that the conditions of confinement violate contemporary standards of decency. The authorities cited in Section V.A. do just that. For example, the authorities show the substantial psychological and physiological harm caused by isolation. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 61–72. Other authorities cited in Section V.A. show that various state correctional systems have recognized this harm and implemented reform. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 73–74.
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Taken together, these authorities help this Court to determine whether Defendants’ use of isolation and their policies and practices relating isolation violate contemporary standards of decency. As such, striking Section V.A. would be inappropriate. See Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 3d § 1382 (“The Rule 12(f) motion to strike allegedly offensive matter also will be denied if the allegations might serve to achieve a better understanding of the plaintiff’s claim for relief . . . .”).
C. Non-Specific Allegations Defendants argue that Sections V.C–G. contain non-specific allegations. Specifically, Defendants contend that the amended complaint fails to distinguish between policies and practices, fails to identify which prisons implemented the practices and policies identified and which restrictive housing they pertain to, and fails to allege which Plaintiffs have been affected by the policies and practices and in what ways. ECF No. 28-1, at 7. Defendants arguments rest on a fundamental misunderstanding of Plaintiffs’ claims. Plaintiffs are alleging a statewide policy and practice of isolation that applies to all prisons and all types of confinement. ECF No 13, ¶¶ 75, 82, 177. Defendants’ argument that the amended complaint fails to identify the specific prisons and types of restrictive housing is, therefore, irrelevant.
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Further, Rule 8 merely requires “a short and plaint statement of the claim” that is “plausible on its face”—one that “calls for enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence” of alleged violations. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555–56. Plaintiffs satisfy this requirement. Plaintiffs make general allegations about conditions, restrictions, and security measures in all types of isolation due to the statewide policies and practices. Additionally, Plaintiffs provide specific examples of policies and practices. For example, in the context of deprivation of exercise, Plaintiffs allege policies and practices that 1) fail to provide out-of-cell exercise to some inmates for 30 days or longer, 2) provide out-of-cell exercise in small cages that do not have adequate exercise equipment, 3) leave some prisoners in restraints during out-of-cell exercise, 4) search inmates cells during exercise time, 5) frequently cancel exercise due to staffing shortage, and 6) deny exercise time for trivial and pretextual offenses. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 108–12. The specific policies and practices underlying the specific examples provided by Plaintiffs will likely be revealed during discovery. Further, distinction between policies and practices is not significant.1 The distinction will become clear during discovery.
1 Regardless, Plaintiffs do distinguish between practices and policies. Compare ECF No. 13, ¶ 103 with id. ¶ 120.
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Finally, Defendants’ argument that Plaintiffs have not alleged how they have been affected by policies and practices fails. Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged how isolation has impacted each of them. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 13–53. Therefore, dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims for lack of specificity is not required.
D. Conclusory Statements Defendants next contend that Plaintiffs’ amended complaint contains conclusory statements that are not supported by alleged facts. Defendants point to paragraphs 15, 110, 126, 151, 160, 177, 183, 190, 193, and 200. However, each of these paragraphs are supported by factual allegations in the amended complaint. Paragraph 15 alleges that Defendants have refused to modify their isolations and practices to accommodate Plaintiff Harvard’s disability and protect her from harm caused by isolation. ECF No. 13, ¶ 15. Plaintiffs specifically describe Plaintiff Harvard’s disability, ECF No. 13, ¶ 13, the harm she suffers, ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 15–16, and her need for individualized mental health treatment as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. ECF No. 13, ¶ 152. Paragraph 110 alleges that “some people” cannot sit or stand in an exercise cage “due to their disabilities, which FDC refuses to accommodate.” ECF No. 13, ¶ 110. This assertion is supported by Plaintiff Burgess’s allegation that he is losing mobility, is bound to a wheelchair and, therefore, cannot meaningfully participate in recreation in the exercise cage without reasonable accommodation. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 36–37.
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Similarly, other paragraphs that Defendants allege to be conclusory are supported by factual allegations in the amended complaint. Paragraphs 152–59, describing failure to accommodate Plaintiffs’ disabilities, support paragraph 151, which alleges policies and practices discriminating against people with disability. Paragraph 73, describing reform efforts by correctional facilities in other states, supports paragraph 160, which alleges that other prison systems have properly integrated people with disabilities. Paragraph 177, alleging wanton infliction of pain upon Plaintiffs by Defendants, is supported by facts alleged in Section V.B–I. that show various forms of deprivation, deliberate indifference of Defendants to these deprivations, and the lack of penological purpose for these deprivations. Paragraphs 183 and 193, which allege that some named Plaintiffs are qualified individuals with disabilities, is supported by paragraphs 13–15, 23, 27, 30, 32–33, 47, and 51, which show specific disabilities each named Plaintiff suffers. Paragraphs 16, 25, 133, and 152, which allege that Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler were retained in isolation for behavior related to their disability, support paragraph 190, alleging that some Plaintiffs were “unnecessarily placed and retained in isolation due to their disabilities.” Finally, Paragraph 200, alleging that FDC violates RA by failing to accommodate people with disabilities, is supported by paragraphs 152–59. See ECF No. 13.
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Additionally, paragraph 126 is not a conclusory statement, but is a factual allegation. It alleges that FDC staff attended a panel discussion from renowned healthcare experts describing the physical and psychological harms of isolation. ECF No. 13, ¶ 126. Plaintiffs use of “on information and belief” as a preface to the factual assertion is proper. See Leisure Founders, Inc. v. CUC Int’l, Inc., 833 F. Supp. 1562, 1574 (S.D. Fla. 1993) (“Rule 9(b) [does not] bar[] Plaintiffs from pleading allegations based on ‘information and belief,’ where the subject matter is ‘peculiarly within the adverse party’s knowledge,’ the allegations are accompanied by a statement of facts upon which the belief is grounded, and the charges otherwise comport with Fed. R. Civ. P. 11.”) (citations omitted).
For these reasons, this Court will not dismiss Plaintiffs’ amended complaint under Rule 8.
IV Defendants argue that 1) Plaintiffs Kendrick and Hill only have standing to challenge the conditions of confinement related to Close Management (“CM”) I status, 2) Plaintiffs Espinosa and Burgess only have standing to challenge conditions of confinement related to CM II status, 3) Plaintiff J.H. only has standing to challenge the conditions of confinement related to CM III status, 4) Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler do not have Article III standing to challenge any conditions of confinement because they are not currently confined. See ECF No. 28-1, at 12. In
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short, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs do not have standing to challenge the types of isolation that they are not subjected to currently. Additionally, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs amended complaint is about conditions of confinement at individual institutions and, therefore, Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge policies and practices of institutions where they are not currently housed. See ECF No. 28-1, at 13–15. This Court disagrees.
The standing doctrine is based on a jurisdictional interpretation of the Federal Constitution’s “case and controversies” limitation on federal-court jurisdiction and the implicit separation of government powers. Spokeo, Inc v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1546–48 (2016). The proper procedural route for challenging Article III standing is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). See Sibley v. Florida Bar, Case No. 4:09cv219-RH/WCS, 2008 WL 4525395, at *4 n.3 (N.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2008). According to the Supreme Court, a potential plaintiff must show 1) she has “suffered an ‘injury in fact’ ” that is “concrete and particularized” and “actual and imminent;” 2) there is a “causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of;” and 3) the injury will be “redressed by a favorable decision.” Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560–61 (1992). In seeking injunctive relief—which is the case here—a plaintiff must also demonstrate “a real and immediate—as opposed to a merely conjectural or hypothetical—threat of future injury.” Wooden v. Bd.
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Regents of Univ. Sys. of Ga., 247 F.3d 1262, 1284 (11th Cir. 2001) (quoting City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 102 (1983)).
Further, “Article III standing must be determined as of the time at which the plaintiff’s complaint is filed.” Focus on the Family v. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Auth., 344 F.3d 1263, 1275 (11th Cir. 2003) (citations omitted). Defendants argue that Focus stands for the proposition that a plaintiff must demonstrate standing as of the date of the amended complaint. See ECF No. 28-1, at 12 n.2. Not so. In Focus, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that “when an amended complaint raises new allegations which do not relate back to a transaction or occurrence in the original complaint, standing must be assessed as of the date of the amendment.” Dunn v. Dunn, 148 F. Supp. 3d 1329, 1334 (M.D. Ala. 2015) (citing Focus, 344 F.3d at 1275). That is to say, so long as the allegations in the amended complaint involve the same transaction or occurrence challenged in the original complaint, standing remains intact. At the time Plaintiffs filed their original complaint, Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler were still in isolation. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 13, 23. Additionally, the isolation policy and practice at issue remains unchanged. The mere fact that Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler were removed from isolation after the original complaint was filed, and the amended complaint reflected that change, does not strip them of standing they would otherwise have at the time of filing suit. See Dunn, 148 F. Supp. 3d at 1334–35 (holding plaintiffs still had standing, even though the
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amended complaint reflected they had been released from prison since the original complaint was filed, because the challenged prison conditions had not changed). Therefore, Plaintiffs Harvard’s and Meddler’s standing remains undisturbed.
Returning to Defendants request that this Court limit Plaintiffs’ standing to challenge only those types confinement to which they were subjected and to only those institutions where they were isolated. Defendants’ argument is premised on a fundamental misunderstanding of Plaintiffs’ claims. This case is not about the type of restrictive housing or the specific prison where the Plaintiffs’ were housed. Instead, Plaintiffs allege a systematic, statewide policy of isolation. ECF No. 13, at ¶¶ 57–59. And regardless of the type of isolation, the deprivation caused by the policy and practice of isolation are the same. ECF No. 13, at ¶¶ 2, 59, 75–84. Additionally, while Plaintiffs allege specific instances of isolation in certain prisons in which they are housed, their claims do not arise from the specific instances of isolation. Instead, Plaintiffs’ claims of violation of their statutory and constitutional rights stem from the statewide policies and practices related to isolation. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 5, 7, 8, 54, 75, 83, 151–160. In short, Plaintiffs’ claims do not rest on specific types of isolation at specific prisons but, instead, rest on the cumulative effects of the statewide policies and practices of isolation that subject all persons to the same substantial risk of serious harm, to which Defendants have been deliberately indifferent.
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For these reasons, this Court will not limit Plaintiffs standing to specific types of isolation and certain prisons in which Plaintiffs were housed.
V Defendants next challenge the joinder of all Plaintiffs in one lawsuit. See ECF No. 28-1, at 15–16. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a)(1) provides the standard for permissive joinder of multiple plaintiffs. “Persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if: (A) they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transaction or occurrences; and (B) any questions of law or fact common to all plaintiffs will arise in the action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(1). In this circuit, “[a] claim arises out of the same transaction or occurrence if there is a ‘logical relationship’ between the claims” Constr. Aggregates, Ltd v. Forest Commodities Corp., 147 F.3d 1334, 1337 n.6 (11th Cir. 1998). “Under this test, a logical relationship exists if the claims rest on the same set of facts or the facts, on which one claim rests, activate additional legal rights supporting the other claims.” Brent v. En Vogue art on Tiles, Case No. 5:13-cv-229-RS-CJK, 2014 WL 12465430, at *2 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 7, 2014) (citation omitted). “In terms of judicial economy and case management, ‘joinder of claims, parties and remedies is strongly encouraged.’ ” Gibson v. MHHS-Sinsations, LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-1168-J-20JBT, 2018 WL 3625783, at *1 (M.D. Fla. June 21, 2018) (citation omitted).
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Defendants challenge only whether Plaintiffs’ claims “arise from the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrence.” ECF No. 28-1, at 16. The crux of Defendants argument is that each Plaintiff’s claims are separate because each Plaintiff has unique circumstances surrounding their isolation. Once again, Defendants argument is premised on a fundamental misunderstanding of Plaintiffs’ claims. Plaintiffs’ claims arise out of the policies and practices related to isolation promulgated in Tallahassee. While each Plaintiff might suffer harm based on their unique circumstances, the underlying cause of each Plaintiff’s harm is the policies and practices related to isolation. That is to say, there is a logical relationship between the claims of each Plaintiff because the underlying facts giving rise to each Plaintiff’s claims is the same—policies and practices promulgated by high-level officials in Tallahassee. Therefore, joinder of Plaintiffs’ claims serves the interest of judicial economy by eliminating multiple suits challenging the same statewide policies and practices. For these reasons, joinder is proper.
VI Defendants contend that Plaintiffs have failed to a state claim under 1) 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a violation of Eighth Amendment, 2) the ADA, and 3) Section 504 of the RA. See ECF No. 28-1, at 40–46. That is, Defendants contend that Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim for relief for each cause of action they assert. This Court disagrees.
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Before diving into the analysis of Plaintiffs’ causes of action, this Court tackles Defendants’ argument that Plaintiff should have brought a writ of habeas corpus relief instead of a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 28-1, at 40. Petition for habeas corpus and a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are “mutually exclusive: if a claim can be raised in a federal habeas petition, that same claim cannot be raised in a separate § 1983 civil rights action.” Hutcherson v. Riley, 468 F.3d 750, 754 (11th Cir. 2006). “When an inmate challenges the ‘circumstances of his confinement’ but not the validity of his conviction and/or sentence, then the claim is properly raised in a civil rights action under § 1983.” Id. (citation omitted).
Plaintiffs have properly raised a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Unlike Defendants assertion, Plaintiffs are neither challenging the disciplinary decisions that led to their restrictive housing nor simply challenging the length of the confinement imposed. A fair reading of Plaintiffs amended complaint leads this Court to conclude that Plaintiffs are challenging the conditions of their confinement. See, e.g., ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 85 (describing the physical characteristics of the isolation cells, including lack of natural lights or view of the outdoors, lack of air condition, and minimum ventilation); 86 (describing conditions of the cell as “antiquated, dirty, and in disrepair”); 87–88 (alleging the loudness and limited lighting in the confinement units); 90–99 (alleging that people in isolation are deprived of normal human contact, such as communication or normal physical touch); 100–107
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(alleging deprivation of environmental stimulation for people in isolation); 108–112 (alleging people in isolation are deprived of out-of-cell exercise). Plaintiffs have, therefore, chosen the proper avenue for relief.
A. First Cause of Action (42 U.S.C. § 1983; Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment)
“The Eighth Amendment ‘set[s] limits on the treatment and conditions that states may impose on prisoners.’ ” Quintanilla v. Bryson, 730 F. App’x. 738, 746 (11th Cir. 2018) (citation omitted). “[U]nder the Eighth Amendment, the State must respect the human attributes even of those who have committed serious crimes.” Id. (citation omitted). The Eighth Amendment also prohibits ‘inflictions of pain . . . that are totally without penological justification.’ ” Id. (citation omitted).
A two-part analysis governs Eighth Amendment challenges to conditions of confinement. Id. “First, the conditions of confinement must be objectively ‘serious’ or ‘extreme,’ ” i.e., “the prisoner ‘must show that a condition of his confinement pose[s] an unreasonable risk of serious damage to his future health or safety.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). “Second, the prisoner must show that the defendant prison officials subjectively acted with ‘deliberate indifference’ with regard to the conditions at issue.” Id. (citation omitted). “Conditions are objectively serious or extreme if they amount to deprivation of ‘minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities’ or ‘the basic human needs.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). Further, “[w]hether conditions of confinement are cruel and unusual is judged under a ‘contemporary
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standard of decency’—that is, ‘the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). And while solitary confinement does not, in and of itself, constitute cruel and unusual punishment, “[c]onfinement . . . in an isolation cell is a form of punishment subject to scrutiny under Eighth Amendment standards.” Id. (citation omitted). Defendants do not question whether Plaintiffs have adequately pled deliberate indifference, only whether the conditions in isolation are “cruel and unusual.” This Court finds that Plaintiffs have “nudged [their] claim across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. That is to say, Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the isolation conditions they have been subjected to deprived them of basic human needs that has resulted in substantial risk of serious harm.
Plaintiffs allege that the cumulative effects of various forms of deprivation subject people to a substantial risk of serious psychological and physiological harm. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 5, 59, 75, 84. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that deprivation of normal human contact, environmental stimulation, and exercise along with degrading and dehumanizing security measures subject Plaintiffs to a substantial risk of serious psychological and physiological harm. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 90–123. Courts have recognized exercise, social interaction, and environmental stimulation as basic human needs subject to deprivation. See, e.g., Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 304 (1991) (recognizing exercise as a human need); Quintanilla, 730 F. App’x. at 747
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(“We believe that further factual development is warranted before it can be concluded that [denial of food, exercise, and human contact], whether alone or in combination, are enough to show the deprivation of . . . basic human needs.”); Hall v. Palmer, Case No. 3:15-cv-8240J-39JRK, 2017 WL 4764345 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 20, 2017) (denying defendants motion to dismiss a plaintiff’s claim regarding denial of exercise and normal human contact in isolation); Wilkerson v. Stalder, 639 F. Supp. 2d 654, 678 (M.D. La. 2007) (“[T]he failure to identify [social interaction and environmental stimulation as basic human needs] would be inconsistent with jurisprudence recognizing mental health as worthy of Eighth Amendment protection, and the requirement that Eighth Amendment protections change to reflect ‘evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.’ ”) (citation omitted); Maddox v. Berge, 473 F. Supp. 2d 888, 896 (W.D. Wis. 2007) (noting that in a previous case the court had found social interaction and sensory stimulation were basic human needs).
For each of the broad allegations of deprivation of basic human needs, Plaintiffs list specific conditions of confinement. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 90–99 (deprivation of human contact); 100–07 (deprivation of environmental stimulation); 108–12 (deprivation of exercise). For example, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants deprive them of exercise by, among other things, 1) failing for provide out-of-cell exercise to some inmates for 30 days or longer, 2) providing out-of-cell exercise in
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small cages that do not have adequate exercise equipment, 3) leaving some prisoners in restraints during out-of-cell exercise, 4) searching inmates cells during exercise time, 5) frequently canceling exercise due to staffing shortage, and 6) denying exercise time for trivial and pretextual offenses. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 108–12. While some of these allegations in isolation may not result in a violation of the Eighth Amendment, Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to show that the conditions of confinement, in combination, have a “mutually enforcing effect that produces the deprivation of a single identifiable human need” such as human contact, environmental stimulation, and exercise. See Wilson, 501 U.S. at 304.
For these reasons, Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to render their Eighth Amendment claim plausible.
B. Second and Third Cause of Action (Americans with Disability Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act)
To state a claim under the ADA and RA, a plaintiff must allege: “(1) that he is a qualified individual with a disability; and (2) that he was either excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of a public entity’s services, programs, or activities, or was otherwise discriminated against by the public entity; and (3) that the exclusion, denial of benefit, or discrimination was by reason of the plaintiff’s disability.” Owens v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 602 F. App’x 475, 477 (11th Cir. 2015) (unpublished) (quoting Bircoll v. Miami-Dade Cty., 480 F.3d 1072, 1083 (11th Cir. 2007)). “With the exception of its federal funding requirement, the RA
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uses the same standards as the ADA, and therefore, cases interpreting either are applicable and interchangeable.” Badillo v. Thorpe, 158 F. App’x 208, 214 (11th Cir. 2005) (unpublished). Defendants’ challenge only the first and the third factor of this test.
The term “disability” under the ADA is a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more” of an individual’s “major life activities.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1). “Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentration, thinking, communicating, and working.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A). Major life activities also “includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(B). Additionally, “the term ‘substantially limits’ shall be construed broadly in favor of expansive coverage.” 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(d)(1)(i). “[T]he threshold issue of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity should not demand extensive analysis.” 28 C.F.R. 35.108(d)(1)(ii).
Each Plaintiff alleging a violation of their rights protected by the ADA and RA have sufficiently pled impairments that substantially interfere with major life activities. Plaintiff Harvard has schizoaffective disorder, gender dysphoria, and
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bipolar disorder which substantially limits her brain function. ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 13– 15; see 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(K) (“Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder . . . substantially limits brain function). Additionally, Plaintiff Harvard was placed on suicide watch more than fifty times and she has cut or injured herself at least forty times. ECF No. 13, ¶ 15. This shows that her mental illnesses substantially limit her ability to care of herself. See Peters v. Baldwin Union Free Sch. Dist., 320 F.3d 164, 168 (2d Cir. 2003) (“A mental illness that impels one to suicide can be viewed as a paradigmatic instance of inability to care for oneself.”). Plaintiff Meddler has been diagnosed with asthma, anxiety, and mood disorders. ECF No. 13, ¶ 23. She has experienced suicidal ideation and has, on multiple occasions, tied a sheet around her neck. ECF No. 13, ¶ 27. As such, Plaintiff Meddler has shown that her mental illnesses —anxiety and mood disorders—substantially limit her ability to take care of herself. See Peters, 320 F.3d at 168. Plaintiff Espinosa suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, throat tumors, muteness, and cancer which substantially limits his speaking, brain function, and normal cell growth. ECF No. 13, ¶ 30, 32–33; see 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(F) & 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(K). Plaintiff Burgess suffers from paralysis which has required him to use a wheelchair and urinary catheters, thus substantially limiting his bladder and musculoskeletal function. See 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.108(c)(1) & 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(D). Plaintiff Burgess also suffers from seizure disorder and major depressive disorder
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which substantially limits his brain function. ECF No. 13, ¶ 30; 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(K). Plaintiff Kendrick has insulin-dependent diabetes which substantially limits his endocrine function. 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(H); see also Jones v. McDonald, Case No. 17-cv-20153, 2018 WL 3629592, at *10–11 (S.D. Fla. June 12, 2018) (finding that insulin-dependent diabetes is a disability under the ADA). Finally, Plaintiff Hill has depression, mood disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and blindness which substantially limits his sight and brain function. ECF No. 13, ¶ 47; 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(B) & 35.108(d)(2)(iii)(K). Further, Plaintiff Hill has attempted to harm himself multiple times and has been placed in a suicide watch cell on numerous occasions. ECF No. 13, ¶ 51. Plaintiff Hill’s mental illnesses, therefore, substantially limit his ability to care for himself. See Peters, 320 F.3d at 168.
Next, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs were not discriminated against because of their disability. ECF No. 28-1, at 45. Specifically, Defendants claim that none of the Plaintiffs were placed in isolation or have remained in isolation because of a disability. This is not the case. At least two of the named Plaintiffs allege that they remained in isolation because of their disability. See ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 16, 133 152 (Plaintiff Harvard placed and retained in isolation for behaviors related to her disability); 25, 133, 152 (Plaintiff Meddler placed and retained in isolation for behaviors related to her disability). Further, “[a]n ADA claim may proceed on the
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theory that the Defendant failed to reasonably accommodate the Plaintiffs’ disability.” See Lonergan v. Fla. Dept. of Corr., 623 F. App’x 990, 992 (11th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted).
Here, Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that they were discriminated against because of their disabilities due to Defedants’ failure to provide reasonable accommodation. See, e.g., ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 152 (alleging FDC’s failure to 1) modify FDC’s policies and practices to accommodate transgender people by failing to provide safe housing, and 2) modify disciplinary rules to accommodate for erratic behaviors of psychiatric and intellectually disabled prisoners); 153 (alleging failure to modify FDC’s isolations policies and practices to provide for adequate out-of-cell time, social interaction, environmental stimulation, and mental health treatment to prevent worsening mental health symptoms, which results in self-harm behavior); 154 (alleging failure to modify policies for individuals in isolation for behaviors related to worsening mental health, which results in prolonging of isolation); 156 (alleging FDC’s failure to 1) modify its restraint policies and practices for individuals with mobility disabilities, which subjects them to injuries and heightened risk of falls, 2) provide people with mobility and medical disabilities access to exercise, such as physical therapy and exercise equipment, that they need to maintain or increase their ambulation and avoid exacerbation of medical symptoms or chronic pain, 3) change its strip search policies for people with mobility impairments or
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catheters to reduce risk of injury or humiliation, 4) modify cell search policies to accommodate people with vision impairments, which results in difficulty finding their belongings after staff moves them during the searches, 5) accommodate prisoners with vision, speech, or hearing disabilities who are more isolated than others because of their disabilities, and 6) remove prisoners with diabetes from their cells as often as needed for insulin injections). Each of these failures to modify FDC’s policies and practices to accommodate persons with disabilities affects one or more named Plaintiffs. See, e.g., ECF No. 13, ¶¶ 152 (Plaintiffs Harvard and Meddler); 153 (Plaintiff Harvard); 156 (Plaintiffs Burgess, Kendrick, Espinosa, and Hill); 157 (Plaintiffs Espinosa and Hill).2
For these reasons, Plaintiffs have sufficiently pled their claims for relief under ADA and RA.
VII Finally, Defendants contend that some Plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies with respect to certain claims. Defendants, therefore,
2 Defendants also contend that Plaintiffs have not identified an available reasonable accommodation. But Defendants provide no legal support for imposing such a pleading requirement. As such, this Court does not entertain Defendants’ argument that this failure is “fatal to [Plaintiffs’] claims.” ECF No. 28-1, at 45.
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request this Court to dismiss with prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies a) all claims asserted by Plaintiffs J.H., Angel Meddler, Jerome Burgess, and James Kendrick, Jr., b) all of Plaintiff Admire Harvard’s claims under the ADA and RA, c) Plaintiff Admire Harvard’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, excepting only any such claims that are based on visitations and phone privileges, d) all of Plaintiff Juan Espinosa’s claims, excepting only any such claims that are based on his alleged need for more programs to help with his recovery and communication, and e) all of Plaintiff Johnny Hill’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 28, at 2–3. This Court disagrees.
“Exhaustion of administrative remedies is a ‘matter[] in abatement, and ordinarily [does] not deal with the merits.’ ” Bryant v. Rich, 530 F.3d 1368, 1374 (2008) (quoting Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 3d § 1360 n.15 (2004)). And “[b]ecause exhaustion of administrative remedies is a matter in abatement and not generally an adjudication on the merits, an exhaustion defense . . . is not ordinarily the proper subject for a summary judgment; instead, ‘it should be raised in a motion to dismiss, or be treated as such if raised in a motion for summary judgment.’” Bryant, 540 F.3d at 1374-75 (citing Ritza v. Int’l Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union, 837 F.2d 365, 36869 (9th Cir. 1988)).
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“[D]eciding a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust administrative remedies is a two-step process.” Turner v. Burnside, 541 F.3d 1077, 1082 (11th Cir. 2008). “First, the court looks to the factual allegations in the defendant’s motion to dismiss and those in the plaintiff’s response, and if they conflict, takes the plaintiff’s version of the facts as true. If, in that light, the defendant is entitled to have the complaint dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, it must be dismissed.” Id. (citation omitted) “If the complaint is not subject to dismissal at the first step, where the plaintiff’s allegations are assumed to be true, the court then proceeds to make specific findings in order to resolve the disputed factual issues related to exhaustion.” Id. (citation omitted).
Performing the Turner two-step process, this Court finds that, under step-one, Defendants are not entitled to have the amended complaint dismissed for a failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Under step-two, this Court must make specific findings in order to determine whether Plaintiffs exhausted their administrative remedies. See Turner, 541 F.3d at 1082. This Court may consider facts outside of the pleadings to resolve factual disputes so long as the factual disputes do not decide the merits and the parties are given sufficient opportunity to develop a record. See Tillery v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 402 F. App’x 421, 423-24 (11th Cir. 2010) (per curiam) (citing Bryant, 530 F.3d at 1376).
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In regard to the first requirement, whether Plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies does not go to the merits. Bryant, 540 F.3d at 1374–75 (“[E]xhaustion of administrative remedies is . . . not generally an adjudication on the merits . . . .”). Regarding the second requirement, the parties have been given sufficient opportunity to develop a record. Defendants, in their motion to dismiss, submitted an affidavit and exhibits that provide details regarding each Plaintiff’s grievance appeal. ECF No. 29. Plaintiffs, on the other hand, submitted an exhibit that relates to an informal grievance that was filed by Plaintiff Kendrick. ECF No. 42-1. Both parties have submitted sufficient evidence for this Court to resolve factual disputes. This Court will, therefore, make specific findings to determine whether Plaintiffs exhausted their administrative remedies.
A. Prison Litigation Reform Act and Florida Administrative Code Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), “[n]o action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). This requirement is mandatory, Alexander v. Hawk, 159 F.3d 1321, 1324– 26 (11th Cir. 1998), but not jurisdictional. Bryant, 530 F.3d at 1374 n.10. The “exhaustion requirement applies to all inmate suits about prison life, whether they involve general circumstances or particular episodes, and whether they allege
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excessive force or some other wrong.” Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 532 (2002). “Requiring exhaustion allows prison officials an opportunity to resolve disputes concerning the exercise of their responsibilities before being haled into court.” Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 204 (2007).
At the core of parties’ disagreement is the level of factual specificity that must be included in an administrative petition. That is, how much detail does a plaintiff need to include in her petition to satisfy the exhaustion requirement under the PLRA?
“[I]t is the prison’s requirements, and not the PLRA, that defines the boundaries of proper exhaustion.” Jones, 549 U.S. at 219. By extension then, the level of factual specificity that must be included in an administrative petition must interpreted “in light of the grievance rules of the particular prison system.” See Johnson v. Johnson, 385 F.3d 503, 517 (5th Cir. 2004); Goldsmith v. White, 347 F. Supp. 2d 1336, 1338–39 (N.D. Fla. 2005).
Defendants cite to Brown v. Sikes, 212 F.3d 1205, 1208 (11th Cir. 2000) for the proposition that an inmate must provide “all relevant information available to him.” See ECF No. 28-1, at 18. As Judge Hinkle has aptly pointed out, “Brown dealt with the effect of omitting unknown information—not how much of the known information must be provided.” Goldsmith, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 1339. “A system that made dismissal of a lawsuit proper unless every known fact was included in a
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grievance might be completely unworkable” because “[i]t would be a rare case in which defendants could not find some facts that allegedly was not included in a grievance, thus potentially leading to a fact-intensive litigation over exhaustion at the outset of nearly every prisoner case.” Id. at 1340. That would be antithetical to the purpose of exhaustion requirement, which is to avoid substantial burden on the district courts. See id. Additionally, Jones, decided after Brown, requires this Court to look at FDC’s exhaustion requirements to determine the level of factual specificity that must be included in an administrative petition. Jones, 549 U.S. at 219. As explained below, FDC’s grievance procedure does not require that an inmate provide all relevant information available to him. And if FDC “wanted this level detail, it could so provide in its regulation.” Goldsmith, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 1340.
The FDC has a grievance procedure, which is set forth in Chapter 33-103 of the Florida Administrative Code. It is a three-tier system. Generally, inmates must begin the grievance process by submitting an informal grievance to the designated staff member, who forwards the informal grievance to the staff member responsible in the particular are of the problem. If dissatisfied with the response, the inmate can submit a formal grievance at the institutional level within fifteen days of the response to the informal grievance. If the inmate is again dissatisfied with the response, he may file an appeal with the Office of Secretary within fifteen days of the response to the formal grievance (“grievance appeal”). See Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-103.005–
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008, 33-103.011(c). Grievance appeals may be returned without action if one of the conditions listed in Rule 33-103.014 are found to exist. Id. As to the level of factual specificity, the only requirement established by FDC’s rules is that the “inmate shall ensure that the form is legible, that included facts are accurately stated, and that only one issue or complaint is addressed.” Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-103.005(2)(b)2. “By its terms, this mandates no level of detail at all, requiring only that whatever facts are stated must be true.” Goldsmith, 357 F. Supp. 3d at 1339.
But allowing claims to proceed without any level of detail would thwart the purpose of PLRA’s exhaustion requirement, which “is to put [administrative authority] on notice of all of the issues in contention and allow the [authority] an opportunity to investigate those issues. Chandler v. Crosby, 379 F.3d 1278, 1287 (11th Cir. 2004) (citations omitted). In circumstances when the prison’s grievance procedure is silent about the level of factual specificity required, “a grievance suffices if it alerts the prison to the nature of the wrong for which redress is sought.” Strong v. David, 297 F.3d 646, 650 (7th Cir. 2002). “As in a pleading system, the grievant need not lay out facts, articulable legal theories, or demand particular relief. All the grievance need do is object intelligibly to some asserted shortcoming.” Id.; see also Johnson v. Testman, 380 F.3d 691, 697 (2d. Cir. 2004) (“We believe that [the] formulation [by the court in Strong] is a sound one. Uncounseled inmates navigating prison administrative procedures without assistance cannot be expected
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to satisfy a standard more stringent than that of notice pleading.). In sum, absent a stringent requirement in FDC’s rules, a standard akin to notice pleading is appropriate when determining whether Plaintiffs’ grievances contained sufficient details to exhaust their administrative remedies.
Plaintiffs allege a violation of their Eighth Amendment rights and their rights protected by ADA and RA because of the policies and practices of isolation. At the core of Plaintiffs’ claims is that Defendants’ policy and practice of isolation cause them substantial harm and discriminate against them based on their disabilities. While Plaintiffs allege, among other things, lack of exercise, visitation, education, or gender dysphoria treatment, Plaintiffs’ claims are not about separate and distinct conditions of confinement or about separate and distinct incidences of disability discrimination, but rather about overarching conditions of confinement that cause them substantial harm and discriminate against them based on their disabilities.
In contending that Plaintiffs have not exhausted their administrative remedies, Defendants divide aspects of condition in the solitary confinement and argue that Plaintiffs need to separately grieve each of the alleged conditions present in the unit. This Court disagrees. If this Court were to follow Defendants requirement, which goes substantially beyond their own rules, “[D]efendants could obstruct legal remedies to unconstitutional actions by subdividing the grievances” because “[i]t would be a rare case in which defendants could not find some facts that allegedly
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was not included in a grievance.” Lewis v. Washington, 197 F.R.D. 611, 614 (N.D. Ill. 2000); Goldsmith, 357 F. Supp. 2d at 1340. Plaintiffs need only grieve that isolation is causing them substantial harm. This is because isolation necessarily involves the restrictions imposed by the isolation, such as lack of exercise, human contact, and environmental stimulation. For their ADA and RA claims, Plaintiffs need to grieve that they had disability-related problems and were discriminated against because of their disabilities.
B. Plaintiff Admire Harvard Plaintiff Harvard filed fifty-two grievance appeals from 2010 to present. ECF No. 29-1–3. Of these, only two grievance appeals are relevant—18-6-32696 and 186-32709. ECF No. 29-3, at 183–201. In her grievance appeals, Plaintiff Harvard notified Defendants that “prolonged isolation and sensory deprivation” has caused her “mental torment, driving [her] to the addiction of cutting [herself] in order to elude the depression, stress and anxiety . . . .” ECF No. 29-3, at 185; see also ECF No. 29-3, at 185 (“This solitary confinement . . . is in fact prolonged isolation and this sensory deprivation has caused the appellant psychological damage”). Plaintiff Harvard also notified Defendants that she has been in isolation “for over 8 consecutive years!” and hasn’t been allowed “receive visitation from family and friends” and “speak with family and friends via telephone” which has caused her to suffer “from psychological
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damage.” ECF No. 29-3, at 192. In short, Plaintiff Harvard notified Defendants that isolation was causing her substantial psychological harm. She has, therefore, exhausted her administrative remedies on her Eighth Amendment Claim.
Plaintiff Harvard further notified Defendants that she was being retained in isolation due to her mental health issues. See ECF No. 29-3, at 184–5, 192 (alleging that she had to serve time in isolation for “intentional self-injurious behavior and suicidal ideation”). Plaintiff Harvard alleged that she was put in isolation for her “suicidal attempt [which was] a result of prolonged isolation” and that this violated her “constitutional rights under the U.S. Constitution and [was] a direct violation of the ‘ADA’!” See ECF No. 29-3, 185, 192. Plainly, Plaintiff Harvard notified Defendants that they were isolating her due to her disability—suicidal ideation—in violation of the ADA. She has, therefore, exhausted her administrative remedies on her disability discrimination claims.
C. Plaintiff J.H. Plaintiff J.H. filed one grievance appeal, 19-6-12440. ECF No. 29-5. In his grievance appeal, Plaintiff J.H. claimed that “being in close management is having negative impacts on [his] mental health” and “is messing with [his] mind.” ECF No. 29-5, at 3. Additionally, Plaintiff J.H. asked to be released from isolation so that “[he] can be around other kids and attend a real school program.” ECF No. 29-5, at 3. To put it in legal terms, Plaintiff J.H. claimed that isolation is depriving him of an
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education and normal human contact and is causing him psychological harm. Plaintiff J.H. has, therefore, properly exhausted his remedies on his Eighth Amendment claim.
Defendants argue that Plaintiff J.H.’s claim is unexhausted because his grievance was based on isolation in CM II and he was in CM III at the time he filed this lawsuit. ECF No. 28-1, at 29. This Court is not persuaded by Defendants’ argument. No matter the label, Plaintiff J.H. was still in isolation and has alleged that he has been imposed with same restriction in CM III. ECF No. 13, ¶ 19. He is not required initiate another round of grievance for the same issue. See Johnson, 305 F.3d at 521 (“It would make little sense to require a prisoner being subjected to a frigid cell to continue to file grievances stating that the cell remains frigid, and the same principle applies here.”).
D. Plaintiff Angel Meddler Plaintiff Meddler filed fifteen grievance appeals from 2016 to present. ECF No. 29-6, 7. Only one grievance appeal, 18-6-43544, is relevant. ECF No. 29-7, at 49–54. In her grievance, Plaintiff Meddler claimed that she has been in isolation for almost “3 years” which has caused her “mental health . . . [to] worse[n]” and that she feels like she is “losing [her] sanity.” ECF No. 29-7, 50. In short, Plaintiff Meddler notified Defendants that isolation is causing substantial harm to her
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psychological well-being. Plaintiff Meddler, therefore, has exhausted her administrative remedies for her Eighth Amendment claim.
Plaintiff Meddler further notified Defendants that she “suffer[s] from real bad depression,” is “having psychological emergencies” and that she has “attempted suicide twice.” ECF No. 29-7, at 50. As a remedy, Plaintiff Meddler asked Defendants to “let [her] out” of isolation. ECF No. 29-7, at 50. Thus, Plaintiff Meddler established a link between her disability—suicidal ideation and depression—and isolation. By asking to let her out, Plaintiff Meddler alerted Defendants of a need for accommodation for her disability. Defendants argue that Plaintiff Meddler failed to exhaust her administrative remedies because she sought no relief other than to let her out. But, a “grievant need not lay out facts, articulable legal theories, or demand particular relief.” Strong, 297 F.3d at 650. Because Plaintiff Meddler notified Defendants of her disability and requested an accommodation, she has exhausted her administrative remedies to bring a claim based on disability discrimination.
E. Plaintiff Juan Espinosa Plaintiff Espinosa filed twenty-two grievance appeals from June 2018 to present. ECF No. 29-8, 9. Of relevance is Plaintiff Espinosa’s exhausted grievance appeal 19-6-07330. ECF No. 29-9, at 128–37. In his grievance, Plaintiff Espinosa notified Defendants that “being in solitary confinement 24 hours a day” is causing
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him to be “more stressed and depressed,” and has made it difficult for him to manage his “health problems.” ECF 29-9, at 130, 133–34. In legal terms, Plaintiff Espinosa notified Defendants that isolation is causing him substantial psychological harm. Plaintiff Espinosa has, therefore, exhausted his administrative remedies for his Eighth Amendment claim.
Plaintiff Espinosa also alerted Defendants that he has lost his voice and that “there [was] no program to help him . . learn to deal this this loss, ‘at all.’ ” ECF No. 29-9, at 133. He further stated that he “needed programs to help [him] learn and deal with the loss of [his] voice that [he] cannot get” in isolation. ECF No. 29-9, at 133. That is to say, Plaintiff Espinosa alerted Defendants of his disability (mutism) and requested an accommodation, in form of programs, that would help him manage his disability. Therefore, he has exhausted his administrative remedies for his disability discrimination claims.
F. Plaintiff Jerome Burgess Plaintiff Burgess filed twelve grievance appeals from September 2017 until the present. ECF No. 29-10, 11. Through grievance appeal 19-6-10242, ECF No. 29-11, at 300–04, Plaintiff Burgess exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to his Eighth Amendment and disability discrimination claims. For his Eighth Amendment claim, Plaintiff Burgess alleged that being in isolation “is making [his] disabilities worse,” and that he was losing range of motion,
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getting urinary tract infections, and having seizures in his cell. ECF No. 29-11, at 303. These allegations apprised Defendants that isolation was causing him physical harm. Plaintiff Burgess, therefore, exhausted his administrative remedies for his Eighth Amendment claim.
Plaintiff Burgess also exhausted his administrative remedies for his disability discrimination claims. He notified Defendants about his disability. See ECF No. 2911, at 303 (claiming that Plaintiff Burgess is wheelchair dependent with partial mobility, needs a catheter to urinate, and has seizure disorder). He also asked Defendants to accommodate his disability. See ECF No. 29-11, at 303 (“You can either release me back to General Population, where I can regularly exercise, get the proper catheters I need and not be in restraints while I’m seizing up. In alternative allow me 5 times a week of regular exercise to strengthen my body, make sure I get clear ‘[illegible]’ catheters every day, and change the restraints used for me while I’m out my cell.”).
But Defendants argue that grievance appeal 19-6-10242 was not properly exhausted. Plaintiff Burgess’ grievance appeal 19-6-10242 was returned as addressing more than one issue in one grievance in violation of Chapter 33104.014(1). See ECF 29-11, at 302, 304. Specifically, Defendants stated, “[y]our close management placement and medical conditions are separate issues” and, therefore, “your request for administrative appeal is being returned without action.”
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Defendants’ justification for returning Plaintiff Burgess’ grievance is misplaced. Plaintiff Burgess grieved one issue: the cumulative effect of isolation on his health. The issues of “close management placement” and Plaintiffs’ “medical condition” are not separate and distinct, but are intertwined. In essence, Plaintiff Burgess grieved about the harms caused by one action—his placement in solitary confinement. It would make no sense to separate the effect of an action and the action itself.3
Plaintiff Burgess did everything required by the administrative rules. He filed a grievance, which was improperly rejected for failing to comply with the one issue rule. See ECF No. 29-11, at 304. He then appealed the rejection to the Office of the Secretary, explaining that he was grieving the cumulative effects of isolation on his health. See ECF No. 29-11, at 301. The Office of the Secretary also improperly rejected this appeal without addressing the underlying claim. See ECF No. 29-11, at 302. Because Plaintiff Burgess properly followed the administrative rules and Defendants improperly returned his grievance, he has exhausted his administrative remedies. See Ross v. Blake, 136 S. Ct. 1850, 1859 (2016) (holding that § 1997e(a) requires an inmate to exhaust only those grievance procedures “that are capable of use to obtain some relief for the action complained of.”); Andres v. Marshall, 867 F.3d 1076, 1079 (9th Cir. 2017) (holding that “when prison officials improperly fail
3 Under Defendants’ interpretation of what constitutes a single issue, Plaintiff would have to first file “take me out of solitary confinement” and, then, later file “because it is harming my health.” This would make no sense.
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to process a prisoner’s grievance, the prisoner is deemed to have exhausted available administrative remedies” because “[i]n such circumstances, prison officials have ‘thwart[ed] inmates from taking advantage of [the] grievance process,’ making that process unavailable.”); Dole v. Chandler, 438 F.3d 804, 811 (7th Cir. 2006) (holding that if inmate properly follows grievance procedure and prison officials mishandle grievance, then inmate must be considered to have exhausted administrative remedies); Burnett v. Jones, 437 F. App’x 736, 741 (10th Cir. 2011) (“[I]mproper rejection of grievance appeal excuses the prisoner’s failure to properly exhaust.”); Johnson v. Meier, 842 F. Supp. 3d 1116, 1119 (E.D. Wis. 2012) (finding that defendants wrongly concluded that the plaintiff violated the single-issue rule and because the plaintiff complied with the grievance rule, he “was left with no further remedies under the inmate grievance system and met the requirements of the PLRA”).
G. Plaintiff James Kendrick, Jr. Plaintiff Kendrick filed nine grievance appeals from June 2018 to present. ECF No. 29-12,13. In addition, he filed an informal grievance, 205-1902-0471, which was approved by Defendants. ECF No. 42-1, at 2. As it pertains to his informal grievance, Plaintiff Kendrick did not need to appeal his grant in order to exhaust his administrative remedies. See Williams v. Dep’t of Corr., 678 F. App’x 877, 881 (11th
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Cir. 2017) (holding that a plaintiff is not required to appeal from a grant of relief to exhaust his administrative remedies).
In his grievances, Plaintiff Kendrick claimed that “his depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts [have] gotten worse and [have] become more regular and intense since his placement” in solitary confinement and that “his mental and physical health has and is deteriorating.” ECF No. 42-1, at 2. Through his grievance appeal 18-6-52194, Plaintiff Kendrick claimed that a nurse administered an insulin injection through a “rusted out food flap.” ECF No. 33, at 130. He also claimed that “the practice of making close management inmates stick their arms through ‘Rusted Out Food Flaps’ is putting them at risk of further health problems” and that the practice of administering pre-loaded insulin syringes put him and other inmates at “risks of health problems when [nurses] don’t bring enough, extra Insulin.” ECF No. 133, at 131. These grievances notified Defendants that isolation placed Plaintiff Kendrick at risk of physical and mental harm and therefore satisfied the exhaustion requirement for his Eighth Amendment claim. Further, by notifying Defendants of the harmful practice of insulin administration, Plaintiff Kendrick apprised Defendants that he was being discriminated against due to his disability—diabetes. He even suggested an accommodation, when he claimed that “Florida State Prison is the only Institution that forces inmates to stick their arms through ‘Rusted Out Food Flaps’ to receive their [i]nsulin [s]hots, whereas at other Institutions they pull
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the inmates out of their cells to receive their [i]nsulin shots.” ECF No. 33, at 130. Therefore, Plaintiff Kendrick notified Defendants of his disability and suggested an accommodation. He has, therefore, exhausted administrative remedies for his disability discrimination claim.
H. Plaintiff Johnny Hill Plaintiff Hill filed 15 grievance appeals from July 2014 to present. ECF No. 29-14, 15. Defendants do not challenge that Plaintiff Hill exhausted his administrative remedies for his ADA and RA claims. See ECF No. 28, at 2–3 (“dismiss[] with prejudice . . . for failure to exhaust administrative remedies: all of Johnny Hill’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (First Cause of Action)”). Plaintiff Hill also exhausted his administrative remedies for his Eighth Amendment claim through grievance appeal 19-6-14024. In this grievance appeal, Plaintiff Hill claimed that he had been in isolation for “approximately [four and a half] years” and that being in isolation has caused him “major depression issues, . . . hallucination, suicidal [ideation], . . . [and] hypertension . . . .” ECF No. 29-15, at 143–44. He also informed Defendants that he needed mental health and medical services that would be available to him if he were in the general population, thereby notifying them that he was not receiving equal access to services, and that he needed accommodation. ECF No. 29-15, at 143–44. He requested to be removed from isolation and placed back into general population because isolation had “effected
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[sic]—and is still effecting [sic]—[him] mentally and physically.” In legalese, he informed Defendants that isolation was causing substantial harm to his psychological and physical health. This Court will, therefore, not dismiss Plaintiff Hill’s Eighth Amendment claim.
VIII Defendants have not convinced this Court that dismissal is warranted. Therefore, Defendants’ motion to dismiss, ECF No. 28, is DENIED. SO ORDERED on October 24, 2019.
s/Mark E. Walker Chief United States District Judge
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 Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-1 Filed 05/28/21 Page 1 of 10

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD

I, Jac’quann (Admire) Harvard, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 30-year-old Black transgender woman in a men’s prison,

Wakulla Correctional Institution Annex. I am the lead named plaintiff in this case.

I was in solitary confinement for almost 10 years straight, from when I was 18 to 28

years old. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have worked closely with my attorneys to respond to all requests for

information to the best of my ability, and I sat for a deposition in December 2020. I

will continue to work with my attorneys, review materials they give me, and share

my thoughts as the case moved forward. When I have had questions about the case,

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I have asked and will continue to ask my attorneys for help so I can understand and participate.
3. I have been incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) since 2009, when I was 18 years old, basically still a growing child. Less than four months in, FDC accused me of lying to staff to get a high-calorie diet and put me in Disciplinary Confinement. For the next ten years, FDC kept extending my time in isolation, and they did not let me out of isolation until 2019, when I was 28 years old. Since 2019, I have been in a mental health treatment program.
4. Whether they call it Disciplinary Confinement or Close Management, it’s all the same - you are isolated from everyone and locked in a cell almost 24 hours a day. I was kept in isolation at a number of prisons throughout the years: Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Union, Suwannee, and Florida State Prison (FSP). There were no major differences in my experience of confinement between these prisons.
5. All the confinement cells are very small and you are not allowed to talk to the people in other cells. While I was in confinement, I would get so desperate to talk to another human being that sometimes I would talk to people in other cells through the vents or sign through the cell door even though I risked getting a DR. I could not see any nature outside of my cell window- just the rec yard and cages. It’s like the only thing that existed around me was more prison. At FSP, the toilet was corroded and smelled bad. Also, the guards controlled flushing the toilets so I had to
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put a sign up asking them to flush it. They didn’t always do it, so my cell would often smell like feces and urine.
6. Sometimes in confinement I would refuse to come out of my cell to shower because if I did go, officers would ransack my cell, throwing around my mail and pictures, and taking things out of my locker when I left. Sometimes this happened more than three times a month, so I would only shower once a week to avoid leaving my cell and having my property thrown around. It was very distressing to have to choose between showering and having my personal things taken or destroyed.
7. Because I am transgender, I used to be allowed to shower on my own when I was in General Population. But while I was in confinement, showering was difficult and humiliating for me because the showers are in full view of cells, so other people could look directly at me from their cell windows. I feel female and am housed in a male facility, so privacy for me is very important. I have had men stare at me and watch me from their cells, and men have also masturbated while watching me shower.
8. Recreation time while in confinement is uncomfortable and just more time in a cage. The rec cages have pull-up bars but otherwise all I could do is walk in a circle with a fence all around me and even on top of me. It made me feel like an animal.
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9. I was not allowed any personal visits during my time in confinement, since I was 18 years old. Besides the times I was able to use the phone while in the Transitional Care Unit, the only time I was allowed a phone call while in isolation was in 2010, when I talked to my aunt when my great-grandmother died. I need these phone calls to help me deal with the huge strain of not being able to get family visits.
10. FDC has diagnosed me with gender dysphoria, schizoaffective disorder, depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure. My time in confinement kept getting extended because FDC repeatedly gave me DRs when what I really needed was help for my mental illnesses. I was struggling so much with my mental health problems and I could not cope with them well in confinement.
11. I feel like all those years in confinement really took a toll on my mental health. I can’t be positive which of these conditions I might have had if I never was in prison, but I believe being locked up in isolation as a teenager all the way until I was 28 made my mental health worse. During those years in confinement, I was placed in a suicide watch cell more than 50 times, and hospitalized for suicidality and psychiatric reasons approximately 20 times.
12. The worst part of being in isolation is the loneliness. I was in a cell for so many hours at a time without being able to talk to anyone or touch anyone, and these conditions made me feel desperate. Also, being transgender makes living in confinement extra difficult. I had no one to help me deal with the stress caused by
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the officers who disrespected and made fun of me and threatened me because of who I am. And I had no one to support me during the four years between when I requested my hormones and correct undergarments and when I got them.
13. When I was in confinement at FSP, I only had an individual counseling session about once a month and I had to do these sessions while standing and restrained in a shower cell. It was dirty and moldy, and I had to speak to the counselor through bars. An officer would be standing nearby and it was very uncomfortable and stressful because the officer could hear what I was saying. Several times, they used what I had told the counselor against me by telling me that I am complaining and not letting me meet with the counselor later. I held back speaking about what I really wanted to because of this environment, things like gender dysphoria and family issues.
14. There were also numerous times I desperately needed mental health help but couldn’t get it. Instead of referring me to mental health staff, officers ignored me, made fun of me, and retaliated against me using violence or by restricting my property or recreation. There are so many examples:
15. In December 2018, I was feeling very afraid and cut myself. The staff ignored my distress so I went on a hunger strike to get their attention. A day or two later, officers suddenly came in and cell extracted me. They broke my wrist, banged my head against the door, and punched me twice in the face using shackles as brass
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knuckles, breaking my eye socket. I had lost so much blood from cutting myself that when I was finally taken to the hospital days later, I needed a blood transfusion. In March 2019, I cut myself again and tried to declare a psych emergency, but a Lieutenant gave me a DR for yelling on the door and said “You’re all right. I’m not impressed.” I didn’t get any help that day. Another time, in April 2019, I was feeling very distressed from being confined and cut myself again. A group of guards took me to the emergency medical room and choked me on the bed, hit me in the face with an aluminum lid that chipped my tooth, and punched me in the back, legs, hip, and stomach while saying things like “Don’t do it again” and “Did you learn your lesson?” Another time that I cut myself, Captain Blitch threatened that officers would break my other eye socket. All of these officers kept giving me DRs instead of helping me.
16. I have also experienced other punishment for having mental health symptoms and needing mental health help. For example, while I was at FSP, officers have given me an air tray after I declared a psychological emergency. An air tray is a food tray without any food. The officer told me it was for declaring the emergency when he gave me the tray. Another time, I was punished for cutting by being refused recreation for 30 days. I have also been retaliated against for cutting by being put on property restriction. Since being in FDC custody, I have been placed on property restriction about 15 times. Once, I was left in only in my boxers for 3 days straight.
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These periods of time are especially traumatic and punitive because I am a woman in a men’s prison and being stripped to my boxers makes me feel especially vulnerable and humiliated, and exacerbates my gender dysphoria. All of this also made my compulsion to cut even worse because I felt trapped in isolation. I have been disregarded, punished, and refused the help I desperately need so many times while in confinement.
17. I wrote grievances about some of these incidents but I know at least some of my grievances against officers were not being submitted because I did not get receipts for those. At Santa Rosa, FSP, and Suwannee, I was retaliated against for writing grievances. Officers have jumped me and told me, while they were beating me up, that it was for writing grievances. I have also had an officer throw my personal pictures in the toilet and tell me it was for the grievance I wrote.
18. Since I was 12 years old, I have understood myself as a girl and have been dressing and carrying myself as such. Despite my gender dysphoria, FDC did not provide me all the ADA accommodations I needed. I had been taking hormones in order to medically transition since age 15, but the prison refused to provide hormones when I requested them when I first got to prison. After reading FDC policies on its care of transgender people, I started requesting hormonal treatment, undergarments, and female grooming items in 2015. For a long time, FDC only provided services for transgender people at Zephyrhills, but I couldn’t transfer there
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because I was on CM and Zephyrhills is not a CM camp. So despite my several grievances about the problem, I had to wait 4 years before FDC finally offered me transgender services at FSP.
19. In 2018, confinement started affecting me especially hard. Sometimes, the guards would tell me that I was not going to recreation because I was transgender. Some officers at both Santa Rosa and FSP would refuse to take me to my psychiatrist appointments, commenting that there are no “fags” coming out today. During strip searches, officers would say things about my genitals and mock me. The combination of lack of gender dysphoria treatment, insults, and abuse made me feel afraid and deteriorated my mental health further.
20. I was transferred to the Security Treatment Unit for mental health care a couple months after this case was filed. Now I’m in the Diversion Treatment Unit, another mental health unit. Here, I am not restrained and am not subject to strip searches. I can watch TV and be out of my cell for many hours of the day, and can go to the chow hall with others for meals. I also receive 10 hours counseling per week, including individual counseling without an officer present. All these changes have made a world of a difference in my mental health.
21. It’s important to me to be the lead named plaintiff in this case because I want my voice to be heard about how distressing and humiliating solitary confinement is. Even though I’m out of confinement, I still care for the people who
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are there because I understand the pain and suffering they are subjected to. I hope for changes in policies in confinement so that future incarcerated people don’t have to go through what I went through.
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Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.
,3/2J/!l/ Executed on [DATE]----,----~---------~~~~~~~~~~-
Signed:~~~OO-----~--Admire Harvard

Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-2 Filed 05/28/21 Page 1 of 11

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JOHNNY HILL

I, Johnny Hill, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 34-year-old legally blind Black man in Suwannee Correctional Institution. I have been in isolation for almost 7 years straight, in addition to the time that I’ve spent in isolation during previous incarcerations. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.
2. My current incarceration at Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) began in 2014. I was also in isolation from 2010 through 2013, when I was released from prison directly from isolation. Then when I got locked up again in 2014, they put me straight back into isolation. It is my understanding that FDC has a policy where if you are released from prison directly from a type of isolation called Close

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Management and you come back to prison within the next year or two, you are automatically placed back in Close Management.
3. Solitary confinement in FDC is called many different things, like Close Management and Disciplinary Confinement, but they are all the same in the important ways. You are isolated from other incarcerated people and kept in a cell almost 24 hours a day. That’s why we interchangeably refer to all of them as “confinement,” or “isolation,” or “solitary.” I have been transferred among FDC prisons many times but have been on some level of confinement the entire time since 2014.
4. Being in solitary is frustrating, scary, and lonely. Imagine you live in a bathroom with a metal frame bed with a mat about 3-4 inches thick. And you can only come out of that bathroom a half an hour a day. If I don’t have a cellmate, I don’t have anyone to talk to unless I yell though the vents or talk under the door, which you can get in trouble for. When you don’t have anyone to talk do, you don’t have anything meaningful. The officers treat us less than human most of the time. It messes with people mentally. For me, it has gotten to the point where my personality has changed. Before confinement, I used to consider myself a peopleperson. But confinement has made me more of an anti-social type of person, where I don’t feel comfortable around a group of people and even people just walking by now make me uncomfortable. My body is institutionalized into thinking that being
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in a box, behind a door, with limited human contact is how things should be because I have experienced life that way for years. That’s incredibly damaging to my mental and emotional health.
5. FDC has diagnosed me with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hypertension, and visual impairment.
6. I started having hallucinations in 2008 or 2009, but they got really bad in confinement starting in 2010, when I started hearing and seeing dead people. I saw my dead great grandmother and daughter and heard them telling me to come over. Physical pain was the only way I felt like I could escape. I had never even thought about cutting before I was put in confinement, but, after about a year of being in isolation, I started cutting myself to release the tension of being isolated all day every day and the awful thoughts that would come into my head.
7. The summer of 2016 was one of the worst times for me in confinement. From June to August 2016, I cut myself worse than I had ever cut myself before. I wanted to end it. I was in and out of self-harm observation status (SHOS) during that entire time period. Every time that I left SHOS, FDC put me right back into isolation. Once, when I was in a SHOS cell in July 2016, I cut myself so badly that my cell was covered in blood. An officer who saw me bleeding in my cell told me that he was going to finish doing showers and if I was still alive at the end, he’d take me to medical. I lay on my mat and I thought I was going to die. It felt different
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than it had before. My vision started to dim, and then it didn’t seem to be coming back. I think I was in SHOS for about a week after that. After that week or so, FDC placed me back into my isolation cell. That same day, I was so upset by everything and scared about my eyesight that I tried to hang myself. I lost so much blood during that summer that in August 2016, I received an emergency blood transfusion.
8. Another time, in 2017, I swallowed a razor blade because I was feeling so horrible. It got stuck in my esophagus and I needed surgery to get it taken out. All they did after that was put me in a SHOS cell for 3 days and put me right back in confinement. At this point I can’t even count all the times that I have attempted suicide in my cell or been placed on SHOS and then put right back into confinement after a limited number of days.
9. FDC has given me disciplinary reports (DRs) for actions that I’ve taken while trying to harm myself. These DRs can increase the time you spend in isolation. For example, most recently, in November 2019, I tried to hang myself with a rippedup pair of my boxers. FDC gave me a disobeying a verbal order because I would not stop. FDC also gave me a DR for destruction of state property because I had ripped my boxers to try to hang myself. At my next Close Management review, when considering whether to move me from CM 2 to CM 3, the Institutional Classification Team (ICT) mentioned the disobeying a verbal order DR when
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discussing reasons to keep me on CM 2 and not move me down to the less restrictive CM 3 status. They decided to keep to me on CM 2.
10. My vision started declining after that time I cut myself and lost a lot of blood and then tried to hang myself in the summer of 2016. Doctors have told me that it’s likely related. I have been examined for glasses, but regular glasses don’t help me. I made myself a pair of glasses that were helpful by combining the lenses of reading glasses with a pair of bifocals from another incarcerated person to basically make a magnifying glass of the four lenses combined for my right eye, which is slightly better than my left eye. But I don’t have these glasses I made myself anymore because officers threw them away around August 2019 while I was in CM 1. Officers told me a nurse wanted to see me, so I went out to that appointment, and when I got back to my cell, all my stuff was gone, including the glasses. FDC did not give me a DR for anything.
11. After I began having vision issues, I requested a magnifying sheet so that I could read more easily, an audio book player so that I could listen to books on tape, and a tapping cane. It took FDC months to give me each of those accommodations. Even after I first received them, FDC would take them away periodically, even without accusing me of doing anything wrong with them.
12. Even with a magnifying sheet, I can only read if the font I’m reading is enlarged. I still cannot read paperwork given to me by the prison, including
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grievance responses, as they do not give me paperwork in a large size font. I have grieved this issue multiple times starting in at least February 2020. Many times, the grievance was denied. On January 14, 2021, a response came back that the grievance was approved and that FDC would provide me with paperwork in large-size font when possible and a law library clerk would do “frequent visits” to help me with my paperwork. But I still have not received a single FDC document in large size font. The first and only time that I saw the law library clerk was about the week of May 3, 2021. I grieved the fact that I have not had the assistance of the law library clerk as I was promised, and I have not heard back. Sometimes I could get a neighbor to read paperwork to me on the vent, but I have had paperwork confiscated for doing this.
13. I cannot see if someone is standing outside my cell door unless they are moving. I cannot see bumps or cracks in the ground and sometimes I miss a step on stairs. I have fallen while in full restraints. Officers usually do not warn me of any step or bump, and some will not even try to catch me when I stumble or start to fall. Despite my risk of falls, I was told that I cannot have a tapping cane while in isolation. But then in around May 2020, I was given one at Santa Rosa for about one week. However, it was taken away again until FDC transferred me to Suwannee in December 2020, and staff at Suwannee returned it to me.
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14. I am supposed to get mental health counseling, but a lot of the time officers will refuse to take me or threaten me with property restriction if I want to go. Property restriction, or strip, is when FDC takes all your clothes and belongings and you’re left in an empty cell with just your boxers on. I’ve been on property restriction more times than I can count. I’ve gone many months without counseling because of officers who can threaten us whenever they want because we are so vulnerable in confinement.
15. It’s a similar thing with recreation (rec). The officers will often refuse to let me go or lie and say that I wasn’t ready at my door. If I do get to go, they tear up my cell when I’m out, and that is especially difficult for me because of my eyesight. I am very meticulous about where my things go so that I am able to find them again, and one officer’s cell search can make my life chaotic when I return. I know it’s important for me to get out of my cell, but I hate having to choose between coming out and returning to find my family photos and legal work in the toilet or not going to rec. The cell is my home right now. Everything in it is all I have.
16. The last time I tried to go to rec, in December 2020, officers threatened to tear up my cell if I came out. On that day, I saw that officers were coming around for rec but no one was coming out of their cells. I had just transferred from Santa Rosa to Suwannee and thought I might be given the opportunity to go to rec, which I was excited about because FDC often denied me that opportunity at Santa Rosa.
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When the officer came to the cell door, I asked if I could go. The officer asked me if my cellmate was coming out for rec as well. I told him he was not. The officer said my cellmate might as well go out to rec because if I was going out for rec they were going to tear through both of our belongings. I chose not to go that day because I didn’t want to subject my cellmate’s, or my own, property to that and lose the limited belongings we have.
17. Additionally, I get strip searched any time I go to counseling or to the rec cages. It’s uncomfortable and very humiliating, and I have been sexually harassed by an officer while being strip searched. This makes it even harder to make the choice to leave my cell on the few occasions that I have the opportunity. The rec cages are also like a dog kennel with a dip bar and pull up bar. All I can do is walk around like a lion in a cage. If I could go to the regular rec yard, I would be much more willing to go through the strip search and take the risk of having my cell torn up because at least I would get a sense of some freedom to move around without a cage all around me.
18. Having a cellmate doesn’t make the experience of confinement any easier because you’re still locked in a cell all day. Sometimes having a cellmate makes things more dangerous because both of you are going through so much being in confinement, and sometimes it’s hard for either of you to be in your right minds. In August 2019, just a day after I got off strip, I was placed with a cellmate who
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threatened me as soon as officers started putting me in his cell. Officers put me in a shower cell for a while and then forced me into the cell with the guy even though he threatened to “fuck Johnny up.” The Sergeant in charge told me I would get a DR if I didn’t go into the cell. That night, my cellmate grabbed me and threatened that I had to either have sex with him or fight him. We ended up fighting until the lights went out and we couldn’t see each other enough anymore, and then fought again in the morning when he grabbed me again. During the fights he threatened me with a homemade razor and bit my leg enough to puncture the skin. That morning, officers gassed us and pulled us both out of the cell. I had to take medicines for the bite since he had broken my skin.
19. For the past few months, I have written repeated grievances about my continued assignment to isolation. I have suffered from so many mental, physical, and emotional hardships in confinement, and I worry that I’ll have no real chance of recovering if I’m not released from confinement soon. I’m also worried that there are some things that I’ll never recover from, such as feeling uncomfortable being around people.
20. I have been retaliated against by officers because of my participation in this case. This has ranged from officers calling me names like “snitch” to officers physically assaulting me. It is particularly scary because officers control everything in confinement, including our physical safety, our out of cell time, and DRs that can
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keep us in isolation longer. I need the very limited out of cell time I’m offered for the sake of my sanity, but knowing the officers might retaliate against me makes me want to stay in my cell in order to avoid all contact with them. Having to weigh the risk to my safety from the officers versus the risk to my sanity from not getting outside my cell is a difficult position to be in, and sometimes I don’t come out.
21. It’s important to me to be a named plaintiff in this case because I believe this lawsuit has the ability to change confinement and I want to be part of that change and part of the reason it changes. Isolation only hurts and does not help me and other people in isolation. It is an extremely depressing setting that worsens and makes it harder to overcome depression, to think, and to remain focused on the positive things in life. This makes it harder for you to keep going and survive. Being locked down in that cell, that 8 x 10 foot cell, constantly, all day, every day, diminishes a person’s resolve. Real harm is being done to human beings by locking them up behind a door for practically 24/7 every day, all day, with the exception of an hour or two a week. People weren’t meant to be alone like that or separated from other human contact. I want to stop FDC’s use of isolation so I won’t be hurt anymore and neither will other people.
22. I have worked closely with my attorneys to respond to all requests for information to the best of my ability, and I sat for a deposition in December 2020. I will continue to work with my attorneys, review materials they give me, and share
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my thoughts as the case moves forward. When I have questions about the case, I ask my attorneys for help and will continue to do that so I can understand and participate. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 6, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Johnny Lee Hill, DC# J33728
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Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-3 Filed 05/28/21 Page 1 of 9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF AMY FERGUSON I, AMY FERGUSON, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 25-year-old Black woman at Lowell Annex. I am currently in Close Management Level 3. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge. I am a named plaintiff in this lawsuit.
2. I agreed to be a named plaintiff in this case because I want to speak up about what is happening here in Florida. I want people to understand what confinement does to us and I want to prevent other people from suffering everything I have suffered the past year and a half.
3. I have worked closely with my attorneys to respond to all requests for information to the best of my ability. I will continue to work with my attorneys,

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review materials they give me, and share my thoughts as the case moves forward. When I have questions about the case, I will ask my attorneys for help so I can understand and participate.
4. I have a number of mental health and medical conditions. I have asthma and have had asthma attacks while in Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) custody. They are not supposed to pepper spray me because of my asthma, but I have been pepper sprayed several times in confinement. When this happens, my asthma flares up and I feel like I can’t breathe for days. FDC has also diagnosed me with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). FDC has prescribed me Prozac, Vistaril, and Zyprexa. I’ve also had to go to inpatient treatment a lot while in confinement because of my mental health.
5. In November 2019, I was transferred from the Illinois Department of Corrections to FDC as part of the Interstate Corrections Compact Agreement. At FDC, I was immediately placed in Administrative Confinement (AC). I was told it was because of my history in Illinois. When I was in AC, they said I threw urine on an officer out of a soap dish. I was having a lot of mental health problems when I first came to Florida. I was thousands of miles away from my family and completely isolated by myself. I do not remember this incident. They gave me a Disciplinary
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Report (DR) for this and said because of the DR and my history in Illinois, I was immediately going to Close Management Level 1. A couple weeks later, I was transferred from Florida Women’s Reception Center (FWRC) to Lowell Correctional Institution Annex (Lowell Annex) to serve my time in Close Management Level 1.
6. I have been in confinement in Florida for almost a year and a half now. During that time, I have been in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management Level 1, Close Management Level 2, and Close Management Level 3. I refer to all of this as “confinement” because that seems to be what everyone calls it in Florida.
7. Confinement in FDC feels like hell. I was in Administrative Detention, which is like Close Management, when I was in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Confinement is so much worse in Florida. In Illinois, I could open a window, look out, and get fresh air in my cell. In Florida, I can’t look outside or open my window because they are painted over. I don’t even know what the day looks like. It’s hard to tell if the sun is up or down. In Illinois, I could talk to my neighbor, which I’m not allowed to do in Florida.
8. I spend my days alone in a cramped and dirty cell. The cells have water bugs, roaches, and spiders crawling all over them. Sometimes officers will turn off the control of the water in my cell. When this happens, I cannot flush the toilets or
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access water in my sinks. Once a month, officers pass out sanitary napkins, but they never pass out enough. Every month when my cycle comes, I run out of sanitary napkins and have to try and get an officer’s attention to ask for more. Some officers will just ignore me, and other officers will just pass me toilet paper to get by instead.
9. It’s hard to get any good sleep in confinement. Most days around 9:30 p.m., the officers dim the lights, but they never turn them all the way off. There are crickets in the walls that go on all night. So all night I have to listen to the crickets in the walls, and the officers gossiping, talking loud, and banging the doors. Around 5:00 a.m. it is time for inspection. The lights turn on full blast and I must get up, make my bed, get dressed in my Class A uniform, and stand on the wall for inspections. If I do not do this, I might get a disciplinary report and they may take my property away. Sometimes there is an officer outside the window of my cell door who will not shut up. I believe they are doing it to try and annoy me or get a reaction out of me, but I have to stay calm or I am afraid I will get pepper sprayed or receive a disciplinary report.
10. At some point during most days, I hear someone get pepper sprayed. When that happens, I go to my cell door to see what is going on, but then I see the pepper spray, and I get away from the door because I am afraid they will spray me next if they see me on the door.
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11. I only went up to the ninth grade in school so I’m trying to continue my education in prison to better myself for going home but it is hard in confinement. Class in confinement is very sporadic. There have been weeks where I did not receive any education. Occasionally, they take us to a room above the wing where our hands and feet are chained to a desk. This normally lasts for around an hour. I am grateful for this time to learn, but it is hard to focus sometimes with the painful and tight cuffs around my arms and legs.
12. Staff only offer recreation in a tiny chain-link cage that is too small for any real exercise. It also feels like it is sporadically offered to us. When I leave my cell, I have to get strip searched. I was sexually abused as a child, and all those bad and traumatic memories come back to me when these strangers are staring at my body and telling me to take off all my clothes and get naked. I feel humiliated, ashamed, and embarrassed. They don’t even block the window to my cell to prevent people in the day room from seeing me naked through the cell door. After they strip search me, and I come of out my cell, the officers search my cell. They throw my stuff on the floor, step on my bed, and throw my hygiene products in the toilet. So when I come back from recreation, all my stuff is messed up. It is like a tornado went through there. I have to tell myself not to react because I believe that is what they want - for me to react so they can pepper spray me or give me a disciplinary report.
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I clean up my stuff and again remind myself that this too shall pass. All of this makes me sometimes not want to come out of my cell at all.
13. During the first few weeks of arriving in Florida, they pepper sprayed me for being on the door. I was having mental health problems in confinement and talking to myself at the door. I hear voices a lot when I’m in confinement. The officer told me to stop talking to myself, but I was unable to control my actions. They claimed I was being disruptive and pepper sprayed me for this. Then they called the tactical team and performed a cell extraction on me. They took me to the showers. It was supposed to be a cool shower, but the water was hot, so I refused. They forced me to shower in hot water. After that, they returned me to my cell and placed me on property restriction for about two days. They took away all my property, including my mattress. I had to sleep on a metal bed frame with a sheet and a blanket. I did not even have a pillow. I felt extremely suicidal during those two days because I had nothing. It brought back really bad memories from childhood. I figured if I killed myself, all the pain would stop.
14. For many months, officers put me in a restraint chair to move me outside of my cell even though they never told me I was a problem during escort. They just started using the chair as soon as I first arrived at Lowell Annex. They put me in leg chains and handcuffs and then they strapped my arms and legs to the chair and wheeled it around. The officers have also used something called a "spit mask"
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on me when I come out of my cell. This is a mesh net that goes over my entire head and closes around my neck. The restraint chair and spit mask make me feel less human, like a monster. Staff in confinement do not treat me like a person. It makes me feel like the world has just given up on me.
15. I hear voices telling me to hurt and kill myself. I have hurt and tried to kill myself several times while in confinement. When I try to hurt myself, the officers often just take me to a Self-Harm Observation cell (SHOS) for a few days without my clothes or any of my belongings and then return me right back to confinement. One time, in January 2020, I was already in a SHOS cell for suicidal thoughts. I was feeling upset and frustrated because I did not have anything. I was cutting myself with the strap on my turtle suit, which is the really stiff and uncomfortable thing they make me wear in the SHOS cell that only covers my front and leaves my bare butt sticking out. They told me to stop. The officers then responded with a cell extraction where several officers came into my SHOS cell and punched and kicked me. They were stomping on my head and hitting me with a shield. It made me feel mad so I started fighting back to protect myself. I was fighting for my life. I thought they were going to kill me during that cell extraction.
16. Another time, also in January 2020, at Lowell Annex in my Close Management Level 1 room, I was tying a sheet around my neck to kill myself and they came to my cell and pepper sprayed me. They then gave me a disciplinary report
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for Disobeying a Direct Order. When they respond this way, by caring so little and punishing me for my suicide attempt, it makes me just want to kill myself even more. I wish FDC provided more incentives to us to help us get out of confinement. They take everything away so I feel like I just don’t care anymore. If I had something to look forward to, or something to keep me going, I think it would help me.
17. All the things I experience in confinement make me feel hopeless and now I have night terrors. Sometimes I feel like the walls are closing in on me. Sometimes I see ants on the floor so I try and kill them but then I realize they aren’t really there. I realize my eyes are deceiving me and I have to keep telling myself this is not real. I try to comfort myself and just try and remind myself that this too shall pass.
18. Confinement makes my thoughts about hurting myself worse. I have called psychological emergencies because of how bad I feel. To get help from mental health staff, we “call a psychological emergency” by telling an officer walking by during rounds or, if no one has come by in a while, by kicking and shouting on the door. Because of my mental health, FDC keeps sending me back and forth from Lowell Annex to inpatient mental health. I do not feel like I ever get the help I really need. When I go back to confinement after hurting myself, I just get the same things like medication and occasional counseling. When I have to go to inpatient treatment, they push back my Close Management review that determines whether I can go to
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the general population. If I could handle my symptoms in confinement without inpatient treatment just so I could get my Close Management reviews done as quickly as possible, I would. But it is too hard – I need mental health treatment.
19. Before I was placed in confinement, I used to be a social butterfly. Now, I am so used to being in my own little cell all by myself that when I get around other

people, I get nervous and scared thinking the world is out to get me. One of the few

chances I have to talk to other people is group therapy, but when I go, I break out in

sweats and feel nervous. I don’t even know how to engage in normal human conversation anymore.
20. I feel so mentally messed up right now. I am scared I will be shellshocked when I leave prison in a few years because of what confinement is like. I’m worried I won’t know how to cope or make anything of my life and that I’ll live the rest of my life seeing things that aren’t there and not being able to make connections

with other people.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on March 25, 2021.

Signed: /s/ Amy Ferguson, DC#F80666

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Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-4 Filed 05/28/21 Page 1 of 11

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JAMES KENDRICK

I, JAMES KENDRICK, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 41-year-old Black man in confinement at Santa Rosa

Correctional Institution. I am a named plaintiff in this case. I make this declaration

based on my own personal knowledge.

2. As a named plaintiff, I have worked closely with my attorneys to

respond to all requests for information to the best of my ability. I will continue

to work with my attorneys, review materials they give me, and share my thoughts as

the case moves forward. When I have questions about the case, I will ask

my attorneys for help so I can understand and participate.

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3. I’ve been on confinement straight from June 2018 to now—almost three years. Before that, I’d estimate I’ve spent a total of about a year in confinement. This time, I was first placed in Maximum Management and now I’m stuck in Close Management 2. It doesn’t matter what you call it—Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, Maximum Management—they all mean being locked in a cell almost 24 hours a day, so they’re all “confinement.” I’ve been in all the different types, especially since I was only 23 years old when I came to prison. That includes confinement at Baker, Hamilton, Taylor, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Florida State Prison. It’s all pretty much the same.
4. Confinement cells are unsanitary. There’s rust and mildew everywhere. In some cells, I couldn’t flush my own toilet. I had to put up a sign asking for a flush. The officers are supposed to come around to do it every 30 minutes, but they didn’t always do it, forcing me to be stuck in my tiny cell with an unflushed toilet. It’s disgusting when they bring chow and I have to eat sitting next to a full toilet. They’re treating me like an animal.
5. I have depression, and it has gotten much more severe in confinement. Depression is the scariest opponent that I have ever faced and I am terrified of losing this battle. Especially in confinement, I feel like life is not worth living. When I was in General Population I was able to manage and cope with my depression
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because I could talk to others and be comforted by them. Having connections with other people in General Population saved my life more times than I can count. Now in confinement I am not permitted to talk to almost anybody. I can get a DR (disciplinary report) for talking to people in nearby cells. I can even get in trouble for trying to get an officer’s attention through the door. No staff stops to talk to me every day. The “wellness checks,” which they also call “security checks,” are no more than passing glances around the wing. I have a window in my cell door but I’m afraid of even looking out of it because officers could accuse me of communicating with the person in the cell next to mine and gas me, put me on strip (property restriction), and give me a DR. Even caged dogs are allowed to bark and caged birds are allowed to sing, but I am permitted almost no human contact or communication. I have been threatened with being gassed just for laughing when the guy next door said something funny. Since then, sometimes I have been afraid to even smile and laugh, although there’s not much to smile or laugh about in confinement. This makes me feel like I am worse than a dog in a cage.
6. Confinement has made it hard to manage my suicidal thoughts. In General Population, I was able to go to the Rec Yard to get fresh air, walk, exercise, and socialize. In addition, I had a job as a Teacher’s Aid which gave me purpose and structure. Since being in confinement, my suicidal thoughts have become more intense and more frequent. I often feel like I’m in a deep dark pool, but instead of
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being surrounded by water, I’m surrounded by pitch blackness. I can’t see, I feel like I’m suffocating, and I am in excruciating pain. Because of feeling this way for days on end in confinement, I came close to swallowing a handful of prescription medication to end my own life. I don’t know where I got the courage to throw the pills into the toilet that day instead of taking them all, but I worry that I will not have that strength in the future.
7. I’ve had to declare psychological emergencies multiple times while in confinement because I was feeling very depressed. We are supposed to declare psychological emergencies when we need urgent mental health care. But the only way to do this is to get the attention of staff who may or may not be the unit. Some people try to kick their door loud enough to get staff’s attention. I wait until staff do security checks and try to tell them then that I would like to declare a psychological emergency. More times than not, they ignore me. One time, I was actually put in DC (disciplinary confinement) after declaring a psychological emergency, which definitely didn’t help me. DC is used for extra punishment in isolation. I don’t understand how even more restrictive confinement is supposed to address my psychological emergency. It only made me feel worse. Another time, when I was in Max, I declared a psychological emergency from the depression I was feeling about being locked in that cage. Another time I declared a psychological emergency, the responding officer just gave me a cigarette instead of calling for a psych doctor.
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8. I have gotten punished by being put on strip before. This only happens when you’re in confinement and officers take away everything you have in your cell. When it’s happened to me, they have left me only with boxers for me to wear. They took away my pillow, blankets, the rest of my clothes, and even my mattress. At least one time, I was even refused toilet paper. I had to try to sleep on cold concrete. Strip made me feel angry and hopeless and backed into a corner. I don’t understand how making me feel as if there is nothing to look forward to is helping anybody.
9. I was gassed when I was in DC at Taylor Correctional Institution. Gassing is when an officer sprays us with a chemical agent. The officer gassed me after we got in an argument. It felt like my skin was on fire, it was hard to breathe, and my eyes were burning and I couldn’t see. It made me really afraid to be gassed ever again. When I was in General Population, it was rare to see people get gassed. Now I see people get gassed just about every day for reasons they never gas people for in General Population, like for kicking the door to get the officer’s attention. I feel like I could gassed at any moment for any reason. It’s traumatizing.
10. Having a roommate in confinement can be hard and doesn’t make it easier. The space is really small for two people, and it’s even worse if you’re not compatible with your roommate. One of the roommates I had was very aggressive and smoked K2. I tried to be nice to him, but he would just threaten me. One time, when I was taken out of that cell for medical attention, my roommate refused to let
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me back in. Officers had to put me in a shower cell for hours while they decided what to do about my roommate. They ended up just putting me back in the cell with him. This was a terrifying experience. Lately, on shower nights, if my roommate refuses a shower, the officers won’t let me come out for a shower. My roommate almost always refuses to come out for a shower. I grieved this, and it was “approved,” but I still have the same problem.
11. I am also diabetic. I didn’t really have issues with my diabetes in General Population, but I’ve had a bunch of issues with my diabetes in confinement. I only started taking insulin in confinement. For a long time, the nurses didn’t take me out of my cell to administer it, or even open the cell door. My arm is too big to stick through the food flap, so I have to get down on the floor and press my arm up against it. Then the nurse sticks her hand with the needle through the food flap while trying to look down through the window. The food flaps are rusted and not sanitized beforehand. One time, a nurse dropped the syringe with the insulin on the floor and still tried to inject me with it even though the needle was bent and had just been on the dirty floor. The nurses are supposed to fill the syringes with insulin in front of me at cell-front, and adjust them based on my blood sugar reading, but they sometimes show up at my cell door with syringes pre-filled with the wrong dose. I am really worried that they will stick me with the wrong dose, which could have disastrous consequences.
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12. When I get to go to the medical examination room, an officer is in the room standing right next to me. Sometimes the officers make little comments about whatever I tell the nurses. This makes me feel very uncomfortable about telling the nurse about my medical problems. When I’m in General Population, it’s just me and the doctor or nurse and I have total privacy. I’m also not restrained when I see the medical staff in General Population. But in confinement, I have to see the doctor while in a black box and with shackles around my ankles. I have pain from a bullet in my shoulder and I can’t show the doctor my limited range of motion because my hands are cuffed to my waist.
13. The nurses often don’t time my insulin with my meals right. Sometimes I get dizzy because the time between meals and my insulin is too long. I’ve had to refuse insulin because it was too soon before a meal and I was afraid I’d pass out if I took it. Other times I have to refuse to take the insulin because I haven’t eaten or don’t know when I will be getting food. If I take the insulin in that situation, I would be at risk of bottoming out, where my blood sugar drops to dangerous levels. Because “security checks” are nothing but passing glances around the wing, I’m scared I could be dead in my cell from poorly timed insulin and no one would know for days.
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14. I had neuropathy in my feet in 2019, which I think was because of the inconsistent way I was getting the insulin. That hadn’t happened to me before, but a doctor told me that exercise would help with my diabetes and my hypertension. But it’s nearly impossible to get exercise in confinement. The guards don’t offer recreation like they’re supposed to. When I ask, they ignore me. If I’m lucky, I get out for recreation one day a week for two hours. I miss sunlight so much. All of this put together makes me scared and makes it hard for me to focus on anything but being trapped in confinement, making my depression and suicidal thoughts stronger.
15. I haven’t gotten any counseling for mental health that has helped me while I’ve been in confinement. When I’ve tried to go to group therapy, it’s a joke – the therapist lets the other inmates talk about women and sports, and even participates in these conversations instead of leading the group. Individual counseling is a joke too because it lasts at most about 15 minutes. The officer is standing outside the whole time. As soon as I start to get to the heart of the matter, the officer is knocking on the door saying “time’s up.” After months of filing grievances asking for medication, I was finally prescribed Prozac. The Prozac sometimes helps a bit, but I still don’t feel like life is worth living. Being able to come out of my cell more often, like for more recreation, would help with my depression, but I can’t because I’m in confinement.
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16. Unlike in General Population, every time I leave my cell, I’m restrained with at least handcuffs, but a lot of times also a black box, waist chain, and leg irons. In General Population, I rarely get strip searched. In confinement, I get strip searched whenever I leave the dorm. A lot of the time, officers search my cell when I leave. I come back and find all my property has been scattered and some of my stuff is missing. It looks like a tornado has torn through my cell. I’ve even come back to find my pictures in the toilet and my legal mail ripped up. I’ve seen officers scatter other people’s stuff in their cells too, when those people come out. It’s why I feel like I have to refuse to come out sometimes, even for things like meeting with a counselor.
17. I don’t know when I’ll ever get out of confinement and I’ve started to lose hope. Even when my classification officer rated me as positive adjustment and recommended that I be reduced to CM III, I was still denied. I try to keep to myself and stay out of trouble, but FDC still keeps me in confinement.
18. The way I’m treated in confinement at FDC has really impacted my mental and physical health. Not being able to come out of my cell is making my depression worse and worse. So is the lack of real mental health counseling. It took a really long time for FDC to do anything about my mental health grievances; it was months before I was approved for Prozac, even though I had complained many times about my mental health issues. I’ve also filed multiple grievances about how nurses
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make me stick my arm through rusty food flaps to get my insulin and asked for a different way to get my insulin, but my request was denied. I feel like there’s really nothing I can do to get the treatment that I need.
19. Based on the conditions I have experienced, I don’t understand how confinement is anything other than punitive. I feel like FDC treats us this way on purpose, worse than they would treat a dog.
20. I agreed to be a named plaintiff in this case because I feel like something needs to be done about confinement and the effect it has on people. I hope that this lawsuit forces FDC to change the policies and procedures of how they run confinement. I don’t think so many people need to be in these conditions for so long. I also think FDC needs to follow their own policies so that people get the privileges they are supposed to receive.
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Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-5 Filed 05/28/21 Page 1 of 7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JUAN ESPINOSA I, JUAN ESPINOSA, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 60-year-old Hispanic man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). I am currently assigned to General Population at Columbia Correctional Institution Annex. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge. I am a named plaintiff in this lawsuit.
2. I agreed to be a named plaintiff in this case because I wanted the opportunity to speak up about the abuse that occurs in isolation and to help stand up for those who may not be courageous enough to speak.
3. I have worked closely with my attorneys to respond to all requests for information to the best of my ability. I will continue to work with my attorneys,

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review materials they give me, and share my thoughts as the case moves forward. When I have questions about the case, I will ask my attorneys for help so I can understand and participate.
4. I have been diagnosed by FDC with paranoid schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. I also suffer from anxiety, depression, paranoia, hallucinations and mood swings. FDC has prescribed me Abilify and Paxil.
5. I am an American with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) inmate because I am unable to speak. I had tumors in my throat that made it hard for me to eat and swallow. FDC referred me to multiple specialists, including an oncologist. I had to have surgical reconstruction of my jaw and surgery to remove all my teeth. In December 2018, I permanently and completely lost my voice after a surgical procedure to remove one of the tumors.
6. When I was in isolation, it was very hard to receive accommodations for my disability. I had to submit a lot of grievances and Accommodation Request Forms asking for an American Sign Language handbook so that I could learn to communicate by signing. My requests were denied several times. FDC also refused me access to a Text Telephone (TTY) for a very long time. Without access to a TTY or similar device, I could not call my family. I miss my family a lot and it was really difficult never being able to speak with them over the phone or know
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how they were doing. Our only way to communicate was by mail, but I never really knew if the prison was sending my mail out or letting my mail come in. Months would go by without hearing from my family. In general population, I have been able to regularly access the TTY device and speak with my family.
7. FDC first placed me in isolation in June of 2018. I spent about seventeen months in isolation, until November 2019. During that time, I was in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management I, Close Management II, and Close Management III. I also recently spent some time in Administrative Confinement in the first half of 2020. I call all of this “isolation” because I was isolated from other people and spent almost all of my time alone. I have been isolated at Martin Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, Reception and Medical Center, and Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.
8. The cells in isolation at all the institutions were filthy and cramped. I saw rodents and bugs everywhere. I was not allowed to hang pictures and photographs on my cell walls. It made the walls feel blank and like they were caving in on me. It was always loud. I would hear doors banging, officers shouting, or the exhaust fan blaring. It made it hard to sleep.
9. No matter the type of isolation, I did not get many opportunities to leave my cell. We were supposed to get recreation at least once a week. A lot of times they would not give me my recreation because they said they did not have
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the staff available to do it. If I did come out of my cell, I felt like I was always harassed by officers and they were looking for ways to do it. They would destroy my cell during the cell searches and mess up all my property. They would serve our food cold to us. I saw a lot of officers hit and beat on people. It made me feel scared to ever come out of my cell.
10. It was hard to get medical treatment in isolation. When I submitted sick call slips, it would take weeks to get a response, or I would have to submit multiple requests for the same thing. For example, I had to submit a lot of requests to finally receive Ensure as a dietary supplement because of my medical diet restrictions related to my throat surgery. A lot of times my sick call slips were completely ignored. Now, in general population, I normally get a response a few days later to my sick call slips. In isolation, officers would also fail to bring me to my medical appointments. I would not even learn that I had appointments until they were already missed. I saw officers offer cigarettes to other people to encourage them to refuse their medical call outs. I haven’t had a problem getting to my medical appointments in general population.
11. In December of 2018, I lost my balance while trying to walk escorted by a correctional officer and fully restrained at my hands and feet. I fell and the strain of the leg irons during the fall broke three bones in my right foot. I had to wait three days in isolation before I finally saw a doctor for my broken foot. A
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doctor ordered crutches for me but FDC staff refused to give them to me because I was in isolation. I had to hop around my cell to move about. When I had to leave my cell, staff would chain me to a wheelchair for transport. FDC staff did not provide me physical therapy in isolation to help rehabilitate my broken foot. I don’t know how I could have done physical therapy anyway since I was always restrained in a black box and leg irons when I left the dorm.
12. It was also hard to get mental health treatment in isolation. Nurses passed my medication daily to me through the food flap in my cell door, but they did not communicate with me or ask how I was doing. Mental health staff only came around occasionally to do mental health checks; it felt like t once every couple of months. Sometimes, they would not even stop at my cell door to check in. I would have to waive my arms and knock on my door to get their attention. When they did come to my cell, these visits were always very brief, normally no more than a few minutes. Since I am unable to speak, I would have to use hand gestures to try and tell them how I was doing. I did not find these mental health checks very helpful since they were so short, through a cell door, they did not ask me much, and I could only communicate with hand gestures or by writing a note sometimes if they let me use paper they had. A few times, I was pulled from my cell to receive one-on-one individual counseling with mental health staff. But these
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sessions were never long or frequent enough to be helpful in managing my mental health symptoms. They were also inconsistently and sporadically offered.
13. I was scared that I would not be able to get the attention of staff if an emergency happened inside my cell. I saw a lot of people on the wing declare psychological emergencies. Staff would take a very long time to come to their cell to respond. Sometimes they did not come at all. I never had an intercom or buzzer in case of emergencies, even though I am entirely unable to speak. I’d have to bang and kick on my door and hope staff could hear me.
14. I was put on property restriction once when I was in isolation. Officers took everything away from me. They took my property, my personal hygiene items, my paperwork, my mattress and my clothes. I was left only in my boxers for seventy-two hours. I had to sleep on my steel bunk without a mattress. It was the middle of winter so I was very cold. I felt mad because it felt like I was being tortured.
15. For over half my time in isolation, I was given even less privileges than my Close Management level because of my disabilities and medical needs. Florida State Prison was unable to take care of all my medical needs so I was sent to Reception and Medical Center (RMC). RMC is not a Close Management facility so when I was there, I had to spend my time in Administrative Confinement (AC). They only gave me AC privileges. For example, I did not get recreation as often as
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I would on Close Management. I also did not get any dayroom, phone, library, or visit privileges. I received less canteen items on AC than I received when I was on Close Management.
16. My time in isolation was really hard. I was stuck in a cell for all hours of the day with nothing to think about but dying from cancer. I thought about suicide often and my thoughts consumed me. I felt like my depression and mood swings got worse and more severe because I was always behind the door. When I was released from isolation, I no longer felt like the same person. I still feel nervous and anxious being around people again. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on April 6, 2021

Signed: /s/ Juan Espinosa, DC# 419680

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EXHIBIT A
PUTATIVE CLASS MEMBER DECLARATIONS
A-1: Tracey Dean ………………………………………………………………....1 *Tracey Dean became a named plaintiff on May 27, 2021, see ECF 309.
A-2: Derrick Grantley ……………………………………………………………16 A-3: Gary Seymour ……………………………………………………………....26 A-4: David Lee Moore ……………………………………………………………39 A-5: Norris Nelson ……………………………………………………………….55 A-6: Thomas P. Robinson ………………………………………………………..63 A-7: Michael Townson …………………………………………………………...75 A-8: Tyrone English ……………………………………………………………...84 A-9: John D. Ponder ……………………………………………………………...91 A-10: Dytrell Jones ……………………………………………………………..109 A-11: Larry Merritt ……………………………………………………………..116 A-12: Destini Matthews …………………………………………………………127 A-13: Demetrius Spires …………………………………………………………134 A-14: Michael Love ………………………………………………………….…141 A-15: Thomas Tingley ……………………………………………………….…147 A-16: Briana (Alex) Beasley ……………………………………………………156 A-17: Jamal Sessions ……………………………………………………………165 A-18: Ha Khelius Moore ………………………………………………………..170 A-19: Kiko Rogers ………………………………………………………………180 A-20: Randy Woullard ………………………………………………………….187

Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-8 Filed 05/28/21 Page 2 of 265
A-21: Marcus Broadnax ………………………………………………………...194 A-22: Odell Lee …………………………………………………………………199 A-23: Kyle Himes ……………………………………………………………….206 A-24: John Gilday ………………………………………………………………214 A-25: Delonte Miller ……………………………………………………………224 A-26: Derrick Devon West Sr. ………………………………………………….232 A-27: Savannah Marie (Chad) Powell …………………………………………..238 A-28: Adarius Dale ……………………………………………………………...244 A-29: Valencia Simms ……………………………………………………….…249 A-30: Scott E. Barnes …………………………………………………………...254 A-31: David Anderson …………………………………………………………..260

Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF Document 311-8 Filed 05/28/21 Page 3 of 265

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

_________________________

)

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

) Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

_________________________ )

DECLARATION OF TRACEY DEAN I, TRACEY DEAN, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am 27-year-old woman who has been in and out of solitary confinement in the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) since January of 2017. Right now, I am in an inpatient mental health unit at Florida Women’s Reception Center. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.
2. FDC put me in Close Management (CM) at Lowell Correction Institution in August of 2018, and I have been stuck on CM ever since. I’m currently on level 3 of CM but my mental health got so bad that I had to go to the Transitional Care Unit (TCU), an inpatient mental health unit, in July of 2020.

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3. I have borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder with depressive episodes. Throughout my childhood, I was in outpatient mental health services and was also hospitalized for my mental health at thirteen and fifteen-years-old. My PTSD gives me flashbacks and panic attacks. My PTSD comes from violence in my childhood and being a victim of domestic violence at the hands of my husband. I also get really bad mood swings from my bipolar disorder. For example, some days, I can’t sleep or eat. But then other days, I only sleep. Now that I’m in the TCU, I see a mental health counselor weekly in a private room for about an hour, plus group sessions, which really helps with controlling my depression, manic outbursts and flashbacks. But I’m very scared of going back to CM at Lowell because I don’t get this kind of counseling there. On CM, I get a “session” with a counselor maybe once a week for usually about 15 – 20 minutes. If I had to go back to CM at Lowell, I’m afraid that I would destabilize in CM at Lowell and end up trying to kill myself or cutting again because I know I won’t get the mental health care I need.
4. Since starting my current prison sentence on March 25, 2016, I’ve been in confinement over fifteen times. Everyone calls Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), and CM “confinement” because in each we’re confined to our cells almost 24 hours a day. I’ve been in AC, including for being a victim of sexual abuse, DC, and all the CM levels (1, 2, and 3). I’ve been in
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confinement at Lowell, Lowell Annex, and Gadsen Correctional Institutions. But it doesn’t really matter what institution I’m in or what level on I’m, confinement is always a disaster for my mental health.
5. In my experience, all the cells in AC, DC, and CM are small and terrible. They all make me feel claustrophobic. They are always filthy with general crud everywhere. I luck out if the toilet and sink aren’t banged up and work like they're supposed to. About half the time, the sinks will spray out on to the floor or there won’t be hot water. I’ve also been in cells with toilets that don’t flush or only flush halfway. One time, I was in a cell and the toilet wouldn’t flush at all. I told an officer like I’m supposed to and then they’re supposed to put me in a new cell. But instead, they kept me in there for three days with a non-flushing toilet before moving me.
6. There is hardly any natural light. If there is a window that faces the outdoors, it is covered or frosted so I can’t see outside. I also can’t open it even a crack to get fresh air. It’s hard to keep track of time, especially because I have no clock. Confinement cells are filled with bright lights from about 5AM to 9:45PM. Their intensity is magnified by the bright, plain white walls of the cells. For someone prone to headaches like me, the lights are excruciating. I only get a few headaches in general population but in confinement, I get at least two to three headaches a week.
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7. There’s not much to look at in confinement cells. There’s no view of the sky or outdoors through frosted windows. All I can usually see through the window in my cell door is the occasional person walking by and more prison walls. But when I try to look out my door because I’m bored or lonely, guards often yell at me. I can’t even look at myself because there is no mirror. I am not allowed to hang anything on my cell walls, not even pictures or letters from my family. In general population, I’d hang pictures of my kids and inspirational quotes to motivate me to keep moving forward and to stay positive. Something small like that can make all the difference to me to get strength to make it to the next day, but that is especially true when I'm all alone in a cell. Staring at the bare walls for hours every day makes me feel detached. It makes it feel like I’m sitting in a dungeon with nothing to look at but those four bright white walls.
8. Confinement denies me the basic dignity of good hygiene. In order to get tampons or pads, I have to ask an officer for them then wait for the officer to bring me them. A couple times, I’ve had to go several days waiting for the officers to bring me them while I was on my period. In general population, I automatically get a week’s worth of supplies every month without even asking for it. In general population, I could also shower basically every day if I wanted to. But in confinement, guards only offer showers maybe once or twice a week, even though it’s supposed to be three times a week. I mostly just stay in my bed when the guards
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offer showers because of the issues that can come with going. First, the guards have to put me in leg irons and handcuffs. Then, guards bring me to the shower, put me in it, close the door. I'm not allowed to talk to anyone during the whole process.
9. One time I went to the showers and the guards put on leg irons so tight that I kept tripping. The guards said I was fine and then made a joke about how instead of self-harming by cutting myself, I should use a razor for my legs. It was humiliating. People laughed at me. A guard then told me it was her job to make people laugh and I should go cut myself. Ever since then, I don’t feel like the showers are a safe place for me to be.
10. Other than the guards who I feel like hate me, I barely interact with anyone. Back in general population, I had regular contact with my mom and sister. In confinement, at most, even on CM3, I only get to make one call, about once a month. So basically, once a month, I have to choose between calling my sister or my mom. I need more calls with them because they reconnect me to the world which helps my mental health.
11. Until September of 2020, I didn’t have a tablet to email my family because I couldn’t afford one. They gave me one in TCU, but if I were forced back to CM at Lowell, I’d be worried they take it. I’ve seen the guards take away tablets for punishment for the littlest of things, like talking on the door to a neighbor.
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12. Having a cellmate in confinement doesn’t help with the isolation. I’ve only had a cellmate one time for a month at Lowell when I was on CM3. I was thinking it was nice at first because I had someone to talk to, but then I don’t know who that person is, what their issues are, and they’re constantly in that small space with me. There is no privacy at all with a stranger, 24-hours-a-day. It is really intense to have a stranger’s eyes on you 24-7. I can also get in trouble for things a cellmate does that I had no part in. Having a cell mate just makes me feel super stressed and anxious in an already stressful and anxious situation.
13. When I was in general population, I actively engaged in programming to better myself. For example, in April 2016, I was regularly attending a substance abuse program and hoped it would help get my life together. I really wanted to change and the program was giving me tools to be successful. I also had a work assignment as a dorm worker and in the kitchen and that made me feel really productive. But when I go into confinement, all my betterment programs end.
14. I’ve tried to take advantage of every program available in confinement, but there is not much. One of the only programs is General Education Development (GED) preparation. I’ve been doing that program so I get can my GED, but it is just a staff member coming by my cell for a few minutes every week to give me worksheets and review ones I completed from the week before. Doing the little bit of GED work feels really good, but I wish there was more of that
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because I finish what they give me pretty quickly, like in a day. Then, I just wait the rest of the week. They didn’t give me a textbook or anything to read or review either, just those worksheets that I’d finish the same day I got them. I want to do a cosmetic or culinary class to learn a trade. Engaging in more programming while I’m in confinement would not only make me feel productive with my days here but also give me purpose and a goal for after prison, rather than just trying to survive as the days go by.
15. They also don’t let us have a work assignment in confinement, except for maybe a few people on CM3. I was able to get a work assignment only a few times while on CM3. I basically filled in as an orderly who cleaned and passed out trays. It made such a difference to be able to get out of the cell. I felt like I had a purpose and was productive again. I think having that would help me stay on track to get out of confinement.
16. In confinement, there is nothing to do which makes me feel like I’m going crazy. There are some things I try to do to combat the idleness. I have a small radio that I like to listen to, which has been taken away a couple of times for punishment. I also like to read, but I can usually only get a new book once a month. I’ll also journal, write letters, or poetry. But it’s hard to fill up day after day with no activities and just myself, a radio, and a piece of paper.
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17. Since I’ve been in CM 2 and 3, about once a week, the guards offer to take me to dayroom for a couple hours. In order to go, first the guards put me in leg irons, thigh restraints, waist chain, and hand cuffs. Then, they take me to the dayroom where they place me on a bench. They take off most of the restraints except the waist chain, but I'm not allowed to get off the bench or move around without permission. I’m afraid of making the guards mad by talking to the other women there with me, so I feel like we’re really only able to just sit on the bench, use the kiosk, and watch TV. In that way, dayroom really just functions as a short change in environment, which can help a little with how hard the isolation of the cell can be. But it offers very little relief because I know that at the end of it, I have to return to the cell.
18. The guards offer recreation time (“rec”) about once a week, sometimes twice. Even though all I want is get out of that cell, my depression gets so bad in confinement that it is hard for me to go. The times I do go to rec, I’m in a cage outside for about two hours. It usually just makes me feel more depressed because I’ve really only moved from a box to a cage, where I still feel alone.
19. The punishments in confinement, whether AC, DC, or CM, are extreme. Being isolated 24-hours a day is bad enough, but the punishments add another layer of stress and anxiety. First, there is property restriction. The guards have put me on property restriction at least five times, usually for covering my door
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window for privacy, for cutting myself, or talking. On property restriction, they take all my stuff, leaving me just with some clothes, deodorant, a mattress and blanket for three days. What is really bad is that they take my toilet paper and toothpaste. You can't clean yourself right without toilet paper. About half the time, I only have one set of clothes, depending on what guards are working. I also use hearing aids and glasses, and they take those too even though I need them. Without my glasses, I get terrible headaches and without my hearing aids, I’m stuck in a blank cell, with nothing to do, nothing to keep me busy, not even noise in the dorm to listen to. It would drive anyone mad, let alone someone like me who is trying to keep my mental health issues under control.
20. I’ve also experienced what FDC calls “cell extraction,” which is when a handful of guards charge into a cell to remove the person inside. They come barging in with shields and helmets, get on top of the person, pull her up off the ground and carry her out. It is extremely frightening and upsetting. It is violent. It makes me feel like I don’t have any control of my body. I’ve experienced a cell extraction like this for simply not putting on handcuffs to go on a call out or covering my window so I could bathe in the sink. One time when I was bathing myself in my sink, they came in and one officer threw me face first into the ground. She and other guards then picked me up completely off the ground to carry me to a shower cell.
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21. Being sprayed with chemical agents is also very common in confinement and painful. Guards have sprayed me more than five times. Depending on the guard, they’ll spray us for various reasons: covering up a window for privacy, kicking the door, talking loudly to another prisoner, or not putting on cuffs to go to a call out. Really, I feel like they’ll spray us for just about any reason. It burns so bad.
22. I’ve also been placed on “heightened security” twice in confinement. This is when they monitor me more, have a Lieutenant present every time I come out of the cell, and use restraint chairs or black boxes, along with all the other restraints to move me. They keep me on heightened security for 60 days at minimum. So, every time I had to leave my cell during that time, the guards had to put me in those heavy-duty restraints. The restraint chairs make it so I can’t move, at all. I’ve been in a restraint chair about ten times, going to and from callouts. There is a seatbelt across my waist, leg irons, handcuffs, and straps that pin my shoulders down to the back of the chair. They keep the straps so tight that it hurts and the nurse has to come every ten minutes or so to check the circulation in my fingers and toes. For example, I had an hour-long legal call while I was heightened security and they put me in those heavy-duty restraints in the chair. I spent the entire hour of the legal call tied to the chair. The nurse came in every ten minutes during the call to check my fingers, toes, and straps to make sure I wasn’t losing circulation. That was true too
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for medical call outs, day room, or whenever I was out of my cell. And even though all I want is to be out of my cell, that restraint chair makes me not want to leave ever.
23. Strip searches are another reason I don’t want to come out of my cell even though I just want to breathe different air so badly. In general population, I only get strip searched when I first arrive at a facility. A person will also get strip searched if they suspect she has contraband hidden on her body, but that has never happened to me. But in confinement, strip searches are the norm. I’ve been strip searched probably 40 – 50 times. In AC, DC, and CM, every time I go out for rec I have to do one and for some other call outs too. I have to get completely naked (even if I have a cellmate). I have to run my fingers through my mouth in front of the guards. Then, the guards make me expose all parts of myself to them, including spreading my butt cheeks when squatting and coughing. The process is downright humiliating.
24. The other thing that makes me scared to leave my cell is that the guards go through all my stuff and mess with it when I leave for showers, rec, or other callouts. The happens more often than not when I leave the cell. They call it a search but it’s really just tossing my stuff around. When I get back to my cell from a callout, my letters, diary, envelopes, poems, pictures of my kids, and clothes are all spread across the cell. That stuff is all I have in confinement. I feel really violated when that happens and it makes me not want to leave the cell.
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25. Everything about confinement makes me feel so hopeless and out of control of my own life, my own body. But I think the biggest problem for me is what happens to my mental health when I’m in confinement. I’ve struggled with dark thoughts my whole life, but confinement is hell because I'm left in my cell with only those thoughts. There is no distraction. For someone like me, who has struggled with self-harm, having nothing to do and no purpose is dangerous.
26. I always had mood swings with highs and lows due to my bipolar disorder, but in confinement, the depression and anxiety becomes uncontrollable. The manic part of my disorder becomes unbearable and I get so claustrophobic in the small cell. My PTSD is also so much worse. I end up having flashbacks like never before and panic attacks where I can’t even breath. It also gets to the point where I start to hear voices and hallucinations. I cut myself more, sometimes just to escape from the relentless thoughts because there are no distractions, or just to get out of the cell by any means because I can’t take living like that anymore.
27. I’ve attempted to kill myself three times while in confinement. I’ve never tried to kill myself in general population. I’ve also been placed in Self-Harm Observation Status (SHOS) over 15 times since I’ve been on CM. One time, in early Spring of 2019, I was in confinement and I was really struggling because I had no contact with family or my children, who were in the process of being adopted. I was cutting myself and couldn’t stop. The guards did a cell extraction, which was violent
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and made me feel worse. They put me alone in a SHOS cell all weekend. Then they put me back in my CM cell, but nothing got better. I ended up right back in a SHOS cell just a few weeks later. This is my typical cycle: self-harming in CM, then SHOS, then back to CM, self-harming in CM, then SHOS, then back to CM, with no end in sight.
28. Whether the guards call mental health during my self-harm episodes is random in my experience. It really depends on who is on shift. At best, they follow protocol and get mental health staff. Second best, they ignore me. At worst, they harass me and say terrible things. While actively cutting myself, I’ve had a guard call me “crazy” and “stupid,” and tell me to go ahead and “kill myself.” This has happened about three times. One time, when I was cutting myself, the guard walked up to my cell door and said “you might as well just kill yourself.” I looked at her and she just walked away. About four times, I’ve had guards see me actively cutting myself and just ignore it. I’d glad they did that instead of spraying me with chemical agents or abusing me during a cell extraction, but I needed help.
29. Because isolation makes my mental health worse, my behavior also deteriorates, and I end up building up DRs that extend my time in confinement. For example, in November of 2018, I had an incident in the shower where I had a panic attack and nervous breakdown to the point where I couldn’t walk. Instead of getting me mental health treatment, the guards physically forced me back into my cell. They
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gave me DRs for failing to follow orders or disorderly conduct or something like that. They put me on property restriction.
30. This has been common in my experience: I get DRs during my panic attacks, manic outbursts, or inability to function because of my mental health. Then, I’m just stuck cycling between a SHOS cell and my CM cell, while getting more DRs that continue my time on CM, rather than getting real help.
31. I agreed to be a named plaintiff in this case because no one should have to go through what we go through in confinement. I’ve seen firsthand how isolation mentally changes people and how the staff mistreats us just because we’re in confinement. I wanted to be a named plaintiff to make a difference for me and others so no one has to go through what I have been through in confinement. It’s not right.
32. I will work closely with my attorneys to participate in this case, including by responding to all requests for information to the best of my ability. I will work with my attorneys, review materials they give me, and share my thoughts as the case moves forward. When I have questions about the case, I will ask my attorneys for help so I can understand and participate.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DERRICK GRANTLEY

I, Derrick Grantley, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 39-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. I am currently assigned to General Population at

Hamilton CI Annex, after spending over 21 consecutive years in various forms of

FDC Isolation.

2. Over the last 2 decades, I have been on Administrative Confinement

(AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), Close Management (CM) 1, CM 2, CM3 and

Maximum Management (MM).

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3. I have done approximately 5 years of DC time, most of which was while I was on Close Management status. The longest stretch of DC time I served was around 22 months straight.
4. I have been in confinement at Apalachee CI – East Unit, Washington CI, Martin CI, Columbia CI, Florida State Prison (FSP), Charlotte CI, Santa Rosa CI, Reception and Medical Center (RMC) and Union CI. I spent almost 18 years at FSP. Each prison that I have spent time at has practically the same rules for people in confinement.
5. Growing up, I was in the Specific Learning Disability (SLD) classes in school. When I got to FDC, at the age of 17, I was placed in special education. But they didn’t pull me out of my cell for classes, a teacher would only talk to me through my cell door FDC took me out of special education when I turned 25 years old because I aged out of the youthful offender (YO) education program.
6. I enrolled in education classes since then, but I could not learn the materials because FDC just dropped off packets of worksheets at my cell door with no extra help. There were not enough worksheets to keep me busy for very long. Now that I’m on the “compound," which is what we call general population, I plan to physically go to the classroom and get help from the teacher. But back in confinement, there are not enough teachers and not enough staff for everyone to get tutoring regularly.
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7. In 2002, I was diagnosed with mild glaucoma while I was on Close Management. I take two eye drops, Timolol and Latanoprost, daily to keep the pressure in my eyes down so I don’t lose any vision. When I read or write for a while, my vision starts to blur up a lot and I have to close my eyes for a while. In confinement, I wanted to spend more time reading and writing to pass the time, but it was too hard on my eyes.
8. I am currently diagnosed with depression (since approximately 1999) and schizophrenia (2003-04; 2020). I have had other mental health diagnoses over the years, too. I take Tegretol, Zoloft and Abilify to help manage my mental health symptoms. I also take medications for high blood pressure.
9. I’ve been in more than 100 confinement cells since 2000. It’s normal to see mold, old food, spit, snot and blood on the walls. In the last cell I was in, the paint was also peeling pretty bad because water seeps under the paint when it rains. When the wings get painted, staff just paint over all of this mess, so it’s really still there.
10. I tried to keep my cells as clean as possible, but it didn’t make much difference. We don’t always get the cleaning supplies we need. Even when we did get the watered-down chemicals and broom, it was impossible to clean everything the way it needs to be cleaned.
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11. There are a lot of rats, roaches and spiders on the wings at FSP. The rats jump into your locker and eat your canteen items. They love honey buns, mayo, and peanut butter squeezes. I have woken up many times with roaches in my bed.
12. There were no windows in my last confinement cell. Most cells don’t get direct sunlight. Depending on the cell you’re in, you might catch a little sunlight from the windows on the catwalk.
13. At FSP, the heaters don’t work well, so in the winter it gets freezing cold. Sometimes the heaters are broken and don’t work at all. Several wings don’t have hot water. In the summer, it’s very hot because there is no air conditioning. On the hottest days, I’ve had to either put on a wet t-shirt or pour water on the floor and lie in it in order to cool off.
14. I never got much sleep in confinement - maybe 4 hours a day. Many of the bunks are just steel slabs that are connected through the wall, so I could always feel any movement happening on the bunk in the cell next to me; it’s like being on a seesaw. In confinement, you learn to live with permanent sleep deprivation.
15. Whenever I did fall asleep, I usually got woken up by all the noise in the dorm. I’d hear steel doors slamming all the time. I’d also hear people screaming from their cells. Sometimes you could tell from the screams people were having nightmares. But sometimes, people just scream to release stress. It can get really
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irritating to hear, but I understand it. I’ve done it, too. Sometimes that is the only coping mechanism we have.
16. I had about 10 cellmates since in confinement, but only for short periods of time. The hardest part of having a cell mate for me was the extra noise. He might want to talk when I really needed a break and there was nothing I could really do about it; there was nowhere else to go.
17. Having someone I didn’t know or trust in my space all the time made me really anxious. At one point, I went over 10 years without a cellmate, so when I finally did have someone in the same cell with me, it just didn’t feel right. I became even more uncomfortable than usual. This made me anxious about what it would be like to finally be back on the compound.
18. One time a cellmate walked past me and accidently touched me. It really bothered me. Nobody had touched me in years other than the officers putting me in restraints. It felt unnatural.
19. The last hug I got was in April 2000 from a Sergeant at Dade County Jail, right after I turned 18.
20. In confinement, I tried to stay out of the officers’ way but when you’re behind the door, you have to rely on officers for basically everything. On several wings at FSP, we were not able to flush our own toilets. We had to put signs in the window and ask officers to flush for us. Sometimes it felt like just asking them to do
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their jobs or follow their own policies made me a target. Before coming to the compound, I had only gone to rec a few times in the last two and a half years. I avoided going just so that I could avoid the harassment.
21. Whenever I had to leave my cell, I had to go through a strip search. The strip search, according to policy, is degrading. I would have to get naked in front of the officers and hand my clothes through the food slot to be searched. Then I’d have to open my mouth, lift my testicles, lift my penis, put my hands up, turn around, squat and cough. Most officers wouldn’t even allow me to wash my hands after you do all this before leaving the cell. A lot of times, officers would tell me to do more than what policy called for and the search would turn into straight sexual harassment. Over the years, I wrote PREA complaints about the abuse, but nothing changed.
22. When I wrote grievances, it was almost a guarantee that officers would refuse me showers, rec, or dayroom. It also more likely that they would run the cell extraction team. Whenever grievances are written on staff in confinement, there’s no telling what retaliation you’d face.
23. I’ve experienced cell extractions myself and have also witnessed a bunch of them happen to other people. The cell extraction team consists of about 6 officers. One officer holds a handheld camera, another usually stands in front of it I think this is to block the camera from showing what’s really happening - and the four others beat the person up. They often run into the cell screaming, “stop
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resisting,” even when the person is restrained and not fighting back. Officers punch, kick, jab their fingers in people’s eyes, twist people’s testicles - it seems like they’ll do anything and everything. There was a time they beat me so badly, they put the spit shield over my face to hide all the bleeding and swelling they caused.
24. Officers also use property restriction, or “strip,” as a way to retaliate and control people. I’ve been put on strip more times than I can count. In July 2019, officers put me on strip and took everything but my boxers. I had no toothbrush, no soap, no mattress and no sheets.
25. I cut myself that night. I started hearing things. I felt like the walls were caving in. They tortured me for no reason and I remember knowing that they were going to get away with it. It was hard to bear. The next day, the warden and the regional director came through the dorm and saw that I didn’t have any of my property. They ended up making the officers give me my stuff back because they said there was no incident report. Then the day carried on like normal, because that sort of abuse is normal behind the door. Officer violence and abuse are just part of the confinement environment.
26. I started cutting myself in 2001 when I was in confinement at Martin CI. Cutting became the only way I could deal with the stress and depression that came from being trapped in a cage. Sometimes I hallucinated and started hearing things that no one else heard. I still struggle with this. In confinement, I started going
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through a lot of dizzy spells from sitting and staring at the same spot for such long periods of time. Sometimes it felt like dying was the only way to be free.
27. I tried to commit suicide several times on CM - there were a few times I almost succeeded. I’ve cut myself. I’ve swallowed razors. I’ve overdosed on pills. I’ve had a lot of blood transfusions in the last 15 years because of my attempts to end my life.
28. I didn’t use to be like this - I never felt hopeless before I got trapped behind the door. One time, when I was 22, I overdosed after a Sergeant wrote me a DR for talking on the vent in my cell. He told me they would never let me off of CM. I believed him. And I honestly felt I would be better off dead. That’s the mindset you develop when you can’t get the help you need, and the doors are literally always closed on you.
29. I’ve been in CSU and TCU several times. The first time I went to CSU was in 2004. Being in CSU or TCU is better than being at FSP. You do get out of your cell more and get more services but it’s not really enough. You’re still really in confinement.
30. When I was at FSP, mental health staff told me that I was on the waiting list for the Secure Treatment Unit at Wakulla but they also said that the list is very long. I ended up getting off CM altogether and a spot never opened up.
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31. A lot of the time, the only contact with mental health staff I got was when they talked to me through my cell door while they walked the catwalk. They’d stop for only a few seconds before moving on.
32. Eventually, I started getting counselling about once a month for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I would be restrained in the dayroom and sometimes I’d be locked in the shower, depending on which counselor I got. Being able to talk, vent, and brainstorm solutions to my problems with someone did help me cope a little better, but I needed it earlier, more often, for longer sessions, and in a private office so I could really engage with the counselor. Maybe I could have avoided all those times where I wanted to just give up and die.
33. It seemed impossible to get out of confinement, like FDC was looking for any reason to keep me in CM because of my past offenses. In 2013, for example, the classification team recommended me for general population. But while I was waiting for approval from the regional director, officers gave me a lewd and lascivious DR for having a hole in my pants. The DR itself even said that I wasn’t gunning - it was only for having a hole in my pants. Most people in confinement have holes in their pants because they give us raggedy clothes. That DR carries 60 days of DC time and had the power to put me back in CM 1. That’s what they did to me. After that, they kept prolonging my CM time, despite my “positive adjustment.” When they finally let me out of CM, I had been DR-free for almost three years.
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34. Being in confinement for more than two decades was exhausting. People are hidden away in CM, and it makes it easier for the officers to get away with the violence and torture that they don’t do on the compound. The abuse made me distrust everyone. It made me hateful. It made me pray every night, for years, that I would die and not wake up the next day.
35. Even though I’m now on the compound, I know I’ll never be the same. I try to just focus on breathing fresh air every day and being able to walk around and talk to people outside of a cage. It gives me hope that my worst days are behind me. But the way FDC is setup, I know that all it takes is one bad officer or one bad moment, and I can be back behind the door, being tortured again. My biggest fear is returning to CM. I don’t know that I can make it out a second time.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on May 18, 2021.  

Signed: /s/ Derrick Grantley, DC# 198328

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

__________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF GARY SEYMOUR

I, GARY SEYMOUR, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 40-year-old white man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”). I am currently at FDC’s Reception and Medical Center because I have some serious medical issues that require surgery.
2. I’ve been in solitary confinement, specifically Administrative Confinement (AC) and Disciplinary Confinement (DC), over ten times. I’ve been incarcerated since February 19, 2014 and if we added up all the time I’ve spent in confinement, it would make up over two years of my life. I’ve experienced solitary confinement at Northwest Florida Reception Center, Washington, Lake Butler, Century, and Gulf Correctional Institutions.

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3. I am a paraplegic veteran. I served in the military from 1997 – 2002. While I was overseas in Baghdad, Iraq in 2001, an underground mine exploded, blowing my Humvee in half. My spinal cord was severed with injuries to my T12 and L1 vertebra. It paralyzed me from my chest down. This means I can’t walk or move anything below my chest. After my injury, the doctors put me in physical therapy where I relearned how to take care of myself and get done day-to-day activities in my wheelchair. My wheelchair became my legs. To protect my spinal injuries while I’m in my chair, I need to use a roho cushion. It is an egg-crate style pillow that goes between my chair and me. Without it, the pressure on my back can cause sores and worsen my vertebra injuries that cause a lot of pain. FDC also gave me a double matt pass, which means I am supposed to get two mattresses to cushion my spine. I also have special boots that keep me from getting sores on my heels when I use my chair.
4. On top of paralyzing me, the explosion in Iraq also left me with traumatic brain injuries. I have a permanent brain bruise and epilepsy that causes grand mal seizures. When I’m regularly medicated, I’ll have a seizure about every two or three months, but when I’m not on medication, they come almost daily. I can feel the seizure coming on too – I’ll start to see auras around things and my hands will shake. I won’t remember anything during the period I had the seizure.
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5. I also have prostate cancer and need to use urostomy bags and diapers. Before I was incarcerated, when I was about 26-years-old, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at a Veterans Affairs (“VA”) Hospital in Tampa. The cancer metastasized and I had major surgery to remove my entire bladder, my prostate, three-quarters of colon, and three-quarters of stomach. As a result of that surgery, I have to use an urostomy bag and diapers for my waste. I am a small guy, weighing about 91.5lbs. This means I wear a Size 6 diaper, which is a child’s size. When I’m forced to use larger diapers, it causes leaks, which not only is unsanitary and foul, but causes sores on my body.
6. I unfortunately also have a heart condition that has caused me two heart attacks before I came to prison. I have stents to keep my valves open and take various medications for it to regulate my heart beat. I also have a cardioverter defibrillator implant (“AICD”), similar to a pacemaker. It will shock me with electrical impulses to keep my heart rate in the right range when I’m at risk of cardiac arrest. This means I can’t get too worked up or agitated because my heart rate up will go up too high and the AICD will shock me, so I try to keep calm and not physically stress myself as much as possible.
7. I also have a hearing loss from the explosion, so I need hearing aids. Without them, I cannot really hear what is going on. It’s like everything is muted so people have to yell at me so I can hear them.
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8. The conditions I am subjected to in confinement are truly appalling. Over half of the time, confinement guard have taken my wheelchair away from me completely even though I have a medical pass for it. The guards have told me that it’s “policy and procedure” to take my chair away, but when I’ve requested a copy of that policy, the guards have never given me anything. It’s infuriating because my chair is how I get around the world -- my chair is my legs. So when they take it away, I am left to crawl on the floor, using my arms to get around with my body dragging behind as I pull myself along. The cells are always filthy and dirty like they’ve never been cleaned. There is almost always a rat or roach infestation too. It is absolutely disgusting to have to crawl around on the floor of a confinement cell, but without my chair, I don’t have a choice.
9. All the confinement cells I’ve been in are essentially the same too. FDC usually places me in an “ADA cell” but when the guards take away my chair, it makes no difference whether I’m in an ADA cell or not. In fact, the non-ADA cells are really not much different than the ADA cells except the ADA cells have two bars near the toilet. There is nothing on the walls, a blocked-out window to the outside, a toilet, and a sink. When I have my chair, whether it’s an ADA or nonADA cell, it can be difficult to maneuver around the cell because of how small it is. But without my chair, I can’t even reach the sink or use the toilet. In the ADA cells there is a bar behind and next to the toilet, but I can’t get myself onto the toilet
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without my chair because I am on the floor, unable to reach and lift myself up. Instead, I have to rely on the limited diapers that the officers give me and they are almost always the wrong size, which causes leaks. Unlike general population where I could go to medical or canteen to get supplies, in confinement, I can't get enough wipes or supplies to clean up the leaks from the diapers. This means my cell becomes completely unsanitary. I’ve asked for cleaning supplies before from the guards, but they never give me any. I even had a guard respond that I should “use my spit” to clean up and laughed at me. It is degrading and disgusting to live like that.
10. Not only is taking my chair from me inhumane but it is downright dangerous. Without my chair, I fall about once or twice a day just trying to take care of myself. For example, the officers put the food tray through the flap in the door that is about midway up, but I can’t reach it because I’m stuck on the floor without my chair. During my last stint in confinement, which was about a week, I was only able to eat twice because of this. The officers know what is going on -- I tell them I can’t reach, but they view this as me “refusing” my food. I try to use the bunk to bring myself up to reach the food tray, but most of the time I’m not successful before they say I refused it and I end up falling. I’ve had some major black and blue bruises from falling in a confinement cells without my chair.
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11. Showering in confinement is also really problematic for someone who uses a wheelchair like me. While the official schedule for showering is three times a week, this usually doesn’t happen because the guards are too busy doing something else. I also definitely have declined showers when offered because of the issues that can be involved. For example, instead of giving me a wheelchair to get me to the showers, I’ve often had officers drag me from my cell to the showers, with one guard on each side of me holding me by my armpits. One time I fell in the shower and I was stuck on the shower floor because I couldn’t get up. I had to call out for help and the officers, instead of helping me themselves, went and found an inmate orderly to get me up while I laid there on the floor. Because I’m paralyzed and can have issues like that, I’ve had officers tell me to clean myself in the sink instead. But in most cells, I can’t really reach the sink to clean myself without my chair, so I’ve had to use toilet water to wash myself about a dozen times. Words cannot express how dehumanizing and disgusting it is to wash myself out of a toilet, all because I can’t use my legs.
12. FDC also often takes my other accommodations I need to protect my spinal injury when I go from general population to confinement. In general population, I get my double matt pass so that I have two mattresses to keep pressure off my injury. But in confinement, not once have they honored the pass. In fact, all the mattresses in confinement are torn up, heavily used mattresses that are flattened
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and in really bad shape. So, not only do I not get the double matts like I’m supposed to, but I’m barely getting any cushion to protect my injury. When they take my chair, they also take my boots that keep sores from my feet and refuse to allow me my roho cushion that I need to keep pressure off my spine. Not having any cushion for my spinal injuries causes really bad pain. I’m always in some kind of pain,but having that pressure on my injuries is excruciating.
13. In confinement, I also don’t regularly get the supplies I need for my incontinence. When I’m in the general population about once a week I get extra small diapers, a bedside drainage bag, a pack of cleaning wipes, and about five ostomy bags. If there is an issue, like I get the wrong diaper size, I’ll go to medical and make sure the order is right and then I’ll go to the supply people to make sure the order is placed correctly. But in confinement, all I can do is tell the guards or nurses if they stop when they walk by. I can also write an inmate request or grievance if I’m lucky enough to have a pen or forms. But even then, the requests often go ignored. Without the right size diapers, I’ll end up with leaks and sores. I have also had to clean my ostomy bag with toilet water because of not having enough wipes and supplies. Again, I can’t often reach the sink, so when I have to do that, I just hope that I don’t get an infection. For me, infections are incredibly dangerous because of my suppressed immune system. I told this guards this when asking for the right supplies, but I've always just gotten nasty responses. I even had
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confinement guards nickname me “diaper boy” because I was trying to get what I need.
14. When I’m in confinement, it is also much harder to address any issues with my medications and the negative health consequences I experience when I don’t receive them as prescribed. I already feel stressed and agitated because of daily life in confinement; add that to missed medication doses and my AICD goes off more frequently and I get more seizures. One time, when I wasn’t getting my meds, my heart and chest hurt and I could feel the regular shocks of my AICD so I declared a medical emergency. The guards did not alert medical though -- they said “we’re not calling medical so you might as well quit asking.” For three days, I requested to see medical but nothing ever happened. It was incredibly frustrating and dangerous. If I had an issue with getting medication in general population or had something going on with my AICD like that, I would be able to discuss it with medical. But in confinement, I’m completely reliant on guards or inmate requests and grievances which often go unanswered.
15. Guards also regularly take my hearing aids away when they are processing me into confinement. This last happened in June of 2020 at Lake Butler CI. They put me into AC but didn’t give me my “keep property” (i.e., property that is approved to be in confinement). Keep property is supposed to include assistive devices, like my hearing aids, so I was stuck in confinement without them. Not
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having my hearing aids while in confinement is hard because I can’t really hear people through the big steel door on my cell. The guards have to scream and bang on the door to get my attention and it puts me at risk of getting a disciplinary report (“DR”) because they act like I’m just ignoring them but I really just can’t hear them without my hearing aids. Not being able to hear also adds to the solitude of confinement even more because I can’t even hear other people’s voices when they’re walking by or talking on the wing. It’s so isolating.
16. Because I’m an “ADA inmate,” an ADA coordinator is supposed to meet with me at least every six months. In general population, we’ll meet to discuss accommodations and issues. They’ll ask me questions and will fill out a form. In confinement, the ADA coordinators have zero conversation with me about issues I’m having in confinement. If they see me, they just ask me to sign the form. But because they didn’t ask me questions, the form doesn’t reflect what is happening to me, like not getting medications, not having my chair, the right medical supplies, and so on. So, I usually refuse to sign the form, and no one fixes my problems.
17. I feel like the guards in confinement really don’t care what happens to us medically or psychologically. I’ve notified them of seizures coming on and been ignored. If I have a seizure alone in my cell, I could seriously injure my head or something else, but no one would know because the guards don’t come around often to check on us often enough. While the guards are supposed to do checks every 30
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minutes, I’ve been on confinement wings where I haven’t seen guards the entire shift, like eight to twelve hours.
18. There is nothing to do in confinement but sit with my own thoughts. In AC and DC, getting a book from the library can be really difficult. I was lucky if I got a book even once a month, if that. There are some programs, like GED classes or substance use available, but I’m not qualified for any of those – I have a degree and I don’t have a drug offense. So, there are no training, programs, classes, or education for me to do in confinement.
19. In AC and DC, we don’t get any dayroom privileges, even for people who have been there for months and months. I’ve served around six months in confinement three different times and did not get dayroom, tablets, or anything like that the entire time. I would get recreation (“rec”) maybe every other week. When I did have my wheelchair with me, guards would wheel me out to the rec yard where individual cages are lined up. The wheelchair the guards would use to transport me was usually not mine. Instead, they would use the shared dorm wheelchair to transport me. It was very dirty, including sometimes with dried urine or vomit from someone who needed it to get to medical. It was disgusting. Once we got to the yard, the guards would put me in a cage where I couldn’t even turn the wheelchair around. The dip bars were within reach but I couldn’t really use them because of how small the cage was with my chair in it. We’re also not allowed to talk to each other when
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we’re out there, even if someone I knew was in the next cage. If we did talk, we risked getting a DR and going back to our cells immediately.
20. When I’m in confinement there really is no socializing for me. When I was in general population in prisons near my elderly parents, they would visit me. But when I was placed into confinement, they weren’t allowed to visit anymore. I would also have calls with them when I was in general population too, but in AC and DC, not once was I offered a call so I could check in with them. We end up writing each other a lot of letters, but unlike in general population, it can take sometimes two weeks for a letter to get out to them or in to me. It’s a long time to not have contact with them. It can also be really difficult to even get a pen or forms in confinement because I have to rely on the guards to provide it. There is a clergy person that comes by maybe every other week, but he just walks by the cells, waiving, and doesn’t stop. He has a security officers with him the whole time too, so I don't feel like I could really talk to him either if I was given the chance.
21. I’m a military man, but the punishments I've experienced in confinement go beyond what any person should endure. The worst is probably property restriction (“strip”). I’ve been put on strip a few times. Each time, they take away all of my property: mattresses, sheets, blankets, clothes, and so on. I’ve had them leave me just with boxers and also one time, with nothing at all -- I was just left naked in the cell. When I’m on strip, I’m forced to sleep on the steel bunk with
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no mattress whatsoever despite my spinal injuries and double matt pass. Having no clothes and blankets also means it freezing, especially at night. I’ve got really sick twice in confinement while on strip. Both times, with my history of cancer, I was scared my illnesses were life threatening. I’ve never experienced anything like strip in general population.
22. The guards will also place us on meal management as punishment. We call it “loaf” because what they do is mush up the entire meal and then put it in a brick form. I've been put on loaf a few times, ranging from a couple days to a week. I’ve never once been able to bring myself to each it. When I refuse to eat it, they’ll put down that I’m on a hunger strike, but I’m not – I would love to eat. I just need to eat food that is edible and the loaf is not something I would feed to a dog. I’ve also gotten “air trays” before, which is where the guards put an empty paper bag on the tray. The empty bag is caught on the cameras so it looks like I’ve been given a meal, when in reality, there is nothing in it. I’ve never experienced anything like loaf or air trays in general population.
23. In confinement, I’ve been sprayed by guards with pepper spray more times than I can count. It’s incredibly painful. It’s a lung irritant that makes a person feel like they’re choking to death. The guards will sometimes give us little warning before spraying us too, like if we’re on the door or looking through the window. I’ve never been sprayed like that with no warning in general population.
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24. To me, it’s clear that confinement isn’t designed to help anyone or keep anyone safe. Most of the people I know in confinement aren’t in there for stabbing or fighting or something really dangerous. Instead, they’re in there for non-violent things, like talking back or disrespect or having a cell phone. It seems crazy to me to put people through confinement for stuff like that when there are other correction actions they could put in place. I think it’s clear that confinement just ends up making everyone’s behavior worse, but they just keep on cycling people in and out of it. To me, the guards and staff just don’t care about what happens to us in confinement or how it will impact us in the long run.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 25, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Gary Seymour, DC#T77153
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

__________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DAVID LEE MOORE

I, David Lee Moore declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 70-year-old, Black man incarcerated in the Florida Department

of Corrections (“FDC”)’s custody. I’m currently in solitary confinement in Close

Management (“CM”) at Suwannee Correctional Institution. I make this declaration

based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have been incarcerated for over 35 years, since 1976. I have been

forced to live in Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC)

and all levels of CM. I’m currently on CM3. I have been in CM this time since 2018.

This is my fourth or fifth time on CM. I can’t remember exactly because all the days

blend together in solitary confinement. I've been in solitary confinement at Santa

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Rosa, Suwannee, Lake Butler, Charlotte, Union, Everglades, and Florida State Prison (“FSP”).
3. I am an “Americans with Disabilities Act (‘ADA’) inmate.” I’ve been reliant on a wheelchair since 2017 due to both an issue with a herniated disc in my back and mobility issues caused by several strokes I’ve had in recent years. If I have rails or a wall to hold myself up, I can stand, but even then, my equilibrium is off so I might fall. The pain from the herniated disc is also really bad. I’m also experiencing issues with my joints locking up, where I’m unable to move them at all. Currently, I can’t put my left arm over my head or behind my body without excruciating pain. It feels like it’s frozen with pain. I can hardly get out of bed and there are times when I can’t get out of bed at all or even sleep at night. I also have a heart condition that requires me to have a pacemaker implant.
4. All the confinement cells I’ve been in are small and not fit for a human being to live in. They have roaches, and I’ve seen rats on the confinement unit as big as little dogs. They leave feces everywhere. I’ve asked the guards for chemicals to clean the cells, but it’s hard to get them. The cells usually have a bunk bed, toilet, and sink. There is one window to the outside and another on the door. The window to the outside is painted over so we can’t see out. Sometimes they open about a half an inch, but most of the time, they don’t. There is a window on the door, but the guards tell us we can’t stand on the door or else we’ll get sprayed with pepper spray
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or get a Disciplinary Report (DR). We're not allowed to hang anything on the walls either. So, we’re just left to stare at blank walls in our cells for days on end.
5. The temperature in confinement units is also an issue. During the summer at Santa Rosa or FSP, the temperature outdoors can get over 90 degrees easily. There is no air conditioning in the units and the concrete floors and walls just soak up the heat. When I was lucky enough to have an outside window that worked, because I was in a wheelchair it still was too high for me to get my face near to the window to breathe in fresh air. It would get so hot that I honestly thought I was pass out or die from heat stroke.
6. Out of all the times I’ve been in confinement, I’ve only been in an ADA cell three times. The current cell I’m now in is an ADA cell, but it is not large enough to accommodate my wheel chair, especially with my cell mate. Before that, I was in a non-ADA cell for months. And I’ve fallen a lot of times when they put me in nonADA confinement cells. For example, I’ll fall trying to urinate because there are no rails to hold onto. The other issue is that the sinks usually aren’t reachable from the chair. I have to stand up out of my chair to press a button to get the sink to run, but there are no rails to make sure I’m stable doing that. Staff also don’t always let me use accessible showers in confinement. The showers they typically let me use are too small for wheelchairs and I’ve had difficulty getting in and out of the shower stall with my chair. I’ve been forced to shower without my chair, which is another
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fall risk for me. When I've showered without my chair, I’ve fallen really hard, scrapping up my legs. It’s to the point that I’d just rather clean myself in the cell when I’m able to reach the sink.
7. FDC has me registered as an “ADA inmate” but a lot of the staff who interact with me don’t even know that. When I first started using the chair in 2017, I was in General Population and I met with an ADA coordinator. The ADA coordinator is supposed to assist ADA people like me with accessibility issues. Since then, I can’t remember meeting with the coordinator even once. I’ve requested repairs on my chair that is falling apart, with the left pedal broken, but I haven’t received any response and no ADA coordinator has meet with me since I’ve been on CM. In fact, confinement guards have taken away my wheelchair twice because they said I was fine without it. They also threaten to take it often. Just this year, the confinement guards told me I couldn’t have my chair, saying it was a “security risk.” They told me I could use a walker, but I really can’t. These threats are just one of the many ways I feel like staff harass me in confinement because of my disability. Another time at Lake Butler while I was on AC then DC status, they took my chair away for over a month until I was able to get to medical to tell security I did in fact need it. Without my chair in my cell, I can’t even get to the toilet. I’d have to crawl to it and once I got there, I would struggle to get myself up. Not having a chair also means I can’t move around as much and I lose mobility from just being stuck in one
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place. It’s important to me that I’m able to get stuff done on my own. Even though I’m disabled, I’m still a full independent and capable person. Being in confinement in a wheelchair makes for a difficult situation though, especially when they’re threatening to take away devices that help me keep my independence.
8. I have not gone to recreation (“rec”) for almost two years. When I was in General Population, I loved going outside. I went outside to the yard every day. Feeling the sunshine and fresh air always gave me a quality space and time to checkin with myself and get some perspective. In confinement cells, there is no fresh air unless I’m willing to deal with all the issues that come with going to rec. The guards are supposed to offer it several times a week, but they don’t really stick to that schedule. Or they’ll skip some people like me because of the hassle of the wheelchair. The rec yard is not built for people with wheelchairs. The paths to the rec cages are usually not cemented, so the guards will often get annoyed and nasty because of the hassle of pushing me out there. I’d rather avoid starting issues with the guards because we’re reliant on them for everything. Once I’m in the rec cage, there is maybe enough room to roll forward 5 or 6 feet, then backward 5 or 6 feet, but I can’t turn around. There is also a dip bar in the cage, but it’s at the wrong height to be useful for someone in a chair. In the winter, for those of us that are indigent and can’t afford boots, we have to go to rec in state-issued crocs (basically plastic sandals with holes in them). At some facilities, it gets down below freezing and
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they’ll put us in cages with just those crocs and whatever inside clothes we have. We’re also not allowed to talk to each other either. With all those issues going on, to me, rec is just depressing.
9. I also haven’t gone to dayroom in a long time. With how intense and stressful confinement is, and how easy the guards will react and write us DRs, I’d rather just keep to myself. If I get a DR for someone else’s issues, I’ll be kept on CM longer. So, I’d rather just lay low and keep out of everyone’s way so I can eventually get out of confinement. If that means skipping dayroom, so be it.
10. Another big disincentive from leaving the cell for rec or dayroom is that the guards will also often do a “cell search” when we leave our cells. They go through the whole cell and tear it up. I’ve come back to my cell with pages torn out of books, stamps stolen, pictures on the floor, commissary goods torn up and so on. I do my best to control my anger when this happens. In General Population, they have a squad that does searches of bunks and they don’t just toss it and tear everything up. But the way they trash cells when we leave them in confinement is extremely destructive. It feels like they don’t have a purpose other than more harassment, just more discouragement from leaving the cell.
11. The guards also make us strip search before letting us leave our cells. Strip searches are one of the main reasons I will refuse rec or dayroom. It’s derogatory and the guards know it. They will make snide and sexual comments, like
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“let me see that eye” referring to my butthole when they ask me to spread my butt cheeks. But I’m in a wheelchair and I can’t easily get up to do that. Depending on the guard, they might just make me lower my pants and move my genitalia around. It’s not right. I do not feel comfortable with a guard looking at me like that and laughing, making rude comments.
12. Another thing the guards do that seems like it has no purpose other than harassment is property restriction. We call it “strip.” I’ve not experienced strip myself, thankfully, but I’ve seen the guards put countless people on strip. When they put someone on strip, the guards take everything. This includes mattresses, clothing, blankets and sheets. I’ve even seen them do this in winter when the dorms are nearfreezing. The officers working the unit will have on big heavy coats, sweaters, thick socks with boots and the person on strip only has his boxers in a concrete cell. It’s torture. I’ve seen other people put on strip for little things, like having a book on the bed or floor. I’ve actually requested a list of enumerated offenses for why a person would be put on strip so I can avoid it myself. Despite asking different staff members about it, no one has told me what offenses or violations will result in strip. Nothing like strip happens in General Population.
13. When the guards take me out of my cell, they put me in full restraints. That means hand cuffs with a black box, waist chains, and leg irons. They’ll also sometimes pull us out of our cells early for call outs and place us in holding cells
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with no bathroom. Just this year, the guards pulled me out of my cell and put me in a holding cell in full restraints two or three hours before my scheduled legal call. I had to urinate and I told the officers this but they just ignored me. I ended up wetting my pants. That wasn’t the first time either. I feel like it’s just another thing they do to keep us from coming out of our cells.
14. Like I said, I try to keep my head down and lay low so I can get off CM. There is not much at all to do, so I try to stay busy by meditating and reading. I once had a radio too, that I would listen to the news on, but when I was transferred facilities, the officer who was responsible for my property broke the radio and I can’t afford a replacement. On my current CM wing, they also just took batteries off our canteen list. So, no one can even replace their radio batteries anymore no matter what. I’ve also been on CM3 for probably half a year now and I still don’t have a tablet to be able to email people or do anything like that. So, I’m just left in my cell with nothing to do. It’s not good to have all that idle time. I try to read as much as possible. I’ll read anything I can get my hands on. Anything. Because of how quickly I’ll go through the few books I get every month from the library, I’ve read the Bible more times than I can count. It’s better to have something to read than nothing and let your mind wander into darkness.
15. While in confinement, I’ve put in requests for educational classes but have never been given any. In General Population, I did a General Education
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Development (GED) class and some vocational trainings. I really liked learning new stuff and wish I could have that in confinement to make good use of my time here. When I was in General Population, I also had work assignments. One time at Baker CI, I had a work assignment as a teacher’s aide which was really fulfilling. But since I've been in confinement, I haven’t been offered a work assignment even though I would like one.
16. On top of having nothing to do, there is no one to talk to. I’ll go a week without have a conversation with anyone. Sometimes, the guards stop at the cell door for a few seconds, but it’s usually not enough time for me to get in my chair and to the door. If I need toilet paper or some other kind of help, it’s really difficult because I just don’t move fast enough to get their attention. When I do wait at the ready for them or get to the door in time, they often just ignore me too or worse, yell at me. Waiting on the door for them can also risk getting a DR because the guards will give DRs to people who talk through the vents or through the doors to their neighbors.
17. Having a cell mate can help get the guards attention, but it can also be a real problem for a couple reasons. First, the cell is way too small for me with my chair, let alone someone else plus me and my chair. Second, there is no privacy at all. We even have to use the restroom in front of each other. If we put up a sheet or something for privacy, we risk getting a DR for destruction of state property. Again, a DR like that could extend the time we have to serve on CM. With all this idle time
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on our hands and it can get really intense to be in such small quarters with people. When I have a cell mate, I have to worry about their psychological impulses and behaviors and my own safety. I’ve had cell mates fight me, including once with a weapon, try and hide contraband in my wheelchair, be gang members who are violent, or even masturbate and say derogatory things when women are on the wing. Their issues become my issues. My cell mate before last had a colon problem that causes him to defecate uncontrollably and he didn't have any diapers. That means our cell had feces all over. And that while I’m eating, or trying to sleep, I was aware of him defecating and then I had to smell it. It’s such a small space. I asked the guards for chemicals to clean but they never provided us with anything. It's not a compatible, safe, or okay way to live. I’d rather not have a cell mate than deal with what can come with them.
18. Without anyone to talk to or anything to do, it’s hard for me to get through every day with the amount of pain I’m in. There are not enough distractions to keep my mind off the pain. In General Population, I’ll go outside, go to the chow hall, go to talk to people because it will distract me from the pain I’m in. It’ll keep my mind on something else. But in confinement, there is no something else. It's just me and the pain. Even though I’ve been practicing meditation for decades, it can be a real toll.
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19. In confinement, the guards will also gas us with pepper spray for just about anything. At Santa Rosa in the confinement unit, I would see at least one person get gassed every day for just standing on their door. They wouldn’t get a warning or reason either. The guard would just walk up to the cell and gas the person. It happens here at Suwannee too. They’ve been gassing people so much that even though I’m not the one who has been gassed, I'll start coughing or sneezing just from the amount of gas in the air. In General Population, I don’t worry about getting gassed all the time because it’s not the norm like it is in confinement.
20. One of the most stressful things about confinement is knowing I am always at the mercy of staff. I don’t have control over whether they know what they are doing, whether they are in the mood to do their job, or whether they like me. It makes me feel useless and weak. It also means that my avenues for help are controlled by them. Every time I’ve been in confinement, I’ve had a hard time getting inmate request and grievance forms. Even here at Suwannee, the guards have refused to give me forms. If the guards don’t give me forms, I have to go through the longer and often unsuccessful process of getting it from the library. Same with a pen. The guards are supposed to give me a security pen upon request, but they usually just ignore me. When I’ve asked inmate orderlies too, the guards tell them not to give pens or forms to me. I end up having to try and trade my food trays for a pen with another person on the wing (risking a DR) or just keep asking until a guard
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finally gives me one. For example, I came here to Suwannee in January of 2021. It wasn’t until mid-March 2021 that I was finally given a pen by a guard to fill out a request form.
21. All people in confinement are dependent on the guards but because I’m in a wheelchair, I’m even more at their mercy. When they take me out of my cell for a call out, I can’t just wheel myself around like I can in General Population because they put me in full restraints. With my hands cuffed to a black box or waist chain, I can’t wheel myself and the guards have to push me. It makes me feel really vulnerable to not be able to control my chair myself. Also, a lot of the guards really do not pay attention and have compromised my safety when pushing me before. One time at Santa Rosa, a confinement officer was pushing me from one dorm to another. He left me in the wheelchair on a hill, and I ended up rolling out of control down the hill. I managed to grab a wall before completely falling off the wheelchair, but it broke the left pedal of my chair and really scared me too. I was in full restraints in my chair with no ability to save myself from crashing into something. I also could have been very hurt if I fell out of my chair while careening down that hill. I’ve also had guards smoke cigarettes while pushing me in my chair and not caring about all the second-hand smoke in my face. It just makes me feel like because of my disability and being in confinement, they think I’m less than everybody else or not a capable person. Not being able to even control my own chair makes me feel like I
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have no control over anything. In General Population it’s not like that. I can at least be in charge of my own wheelchair.
22. Relying on the guards for everything also makes me scared for my life because of my health issues. I’ve had several medical emergencies in confinement that have been ignored by the guards. Sometimes the guards will say they’re not calling medical and tell me to put in a sick call request. This is terrifying because I’ve put in sick call requests that have taken up to a week to get a response, or worse, just been totally ignored. One time while I was on CM, my legs started swelling. I’m not a large man but my calves swelled up to the point where I couldn’t see my ankles. I declared a medical emergency but the officers said it was not and wouldn’t give me a sick call form. I had to wait to request a form from the library. Then, once I submitted the completed request, I had to wait for it to be reviewed. It took around 10 days before I saw medical. With my history of strokes and heart condition, that wait time can be life or death. When I have to wait like that I get very, very scared. But there is no alternative. There is no other way to try and get help, except through the guard. In General Population, it’s not like that at all. I’ve never had to wait 10 days to see medical like I have in confinement. In fact, in General Population, I’ve been seen the next day after submitting a sick call request most times. And when I’ve had a medical emergency in General Population, in my experience, the guard
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will call medical to discuss it with them right then and there. They won’t just make the decision on their own like they do in confinement.
23. I am also constantly worried that I’m going to have a stroke or issue with my heart and no one will find me for hours because I’m isolated in a cell all alone. The officers barely check my cell during security checks. I try to tell myself that a neighbor would call for help but they also risk getting a DR for yelling out for help. If they get a DR, it can add to their own confinement time so I can’t really rely on them to check on me and get help if I need it. One time, I fell on the floor and couldn’t get back up into my wheelchair, no matter how hard I tried. The people in other cells yelled and banged on the door to ask for help. The officers came, looked into my cell and just walked away, ignoring me. After my neighbor persisted that I needed help, the guards came back and said I was “experiencing a K2 effect” and continued to ignore me. They then wrote the neighbor that yelled for help a DR. I also had my first stroke at FSP while I was in confinement. I was in my confinement cell when my leg started jumping and dancing on its own. Next thing I knew, I was on my back, laying on the floor, and couldn’t get back up. I called out to a person in a neighboring cell for help. He called and called for the officers to come. Eventually, an officer came and saw there was a problem. In General Population, another person would’ve seen me and been able to alert the guards immediately.
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24. The confinement guards are also cruel compared to General Population guards, like they have anger issues and are triggered easily. For example, we’re supposed to be able to have our legal mail and paperwork in our confinement cells. I had about 247 pages of legal paperwork sent to me and an officer brought it to my cell. Rather than putting the packet in the cell door flap, the officer opened my package and began putting in my legal paperwork over the top of my cell door, damaging the papers and letting them fly into my cell onto the wet floor. I tried to stop him, telling him the papers were getting ruined, but he said it was “too late” and kept on doing it. He laughed at me while he did this. That's just one example of their cruelty and anger issues that they take out on us. We’re more vulnerable to it in confinement because they control everything.
25. When I’m in confinement for a long time, the stress impacts the way I interact with the world. In confinement, I feel like I use less intelligence and rational thought when making decisions. I try really hard to keep myself occupied, meditate, and focus on daily tasks to keep it from impacting me. In confinement, I’ve seen people hang themselves, cut themselves, eat screws or harmful objects to try and die. People get lonely and that creates problems. It’s awful. I haven’t gotten there though. I mediate and keep my mind busy as much as possible. But confinement is harmful for anyone. Confinement is a “no man’s land,” where there is nothing to feed the
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mind. I’ve learned from experience that if you’re not feeding your mind, it will end up feeding on you. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 7, 2021.
Signed: /s/ David Lee Moore, DC#053877
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF NORRIS NELSON

I, NORRIS NELSON, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 43-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. I have been incarcerated since 1999 and am currently

housed at Northwest Florida Reception Center, in General Population (GP). I am

blind and paralyzed.

2. I’ve spent a lot of time in confinement over the years. Before coming

to GP, I was in CM I and II at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and then Suwannee

Correctional Institution. I was never told what level I was on at Suwanee. But it

wouldn’t have made a difference. They treat you the same, regardless of the level.

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I’ve also spent time in and out of Administrative and Disciplinary Confinement at various Florida correctional institutions.
3. Since I had a stroke while incarcerated in 2011, my vision gradually declined until I became legally blind. I cannot see anything without wearing a pair of sunglasses, and even when I do so, I can only see shadows of shapes and figures. I also have seizures if light hits me the wrong way when I am without my sunglasses. When I didn’t have sunglasses, FDC provided me with a straw hat so that I could have some shade from the light. In confinement, they took it.
4. According to FDC doctors, the same stroke that led to my blindness, also caused me to lose feeling in my legs. I eventually lost all feeling in my lower body, making me unable to stand or walk. I will be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. At one point, FDC provided me with a cushion for my wheelchair to make it more comfortable, but in confinement, they took that too.
5. My blindness and paralysis disrupted my life and took away the little independence I had. I often feel up and down about my day-to-day physical condition. It’s been hard for me, in general, but especially in confinement.
6. In addition to my physical conditions, my mental health has suffered a lot over the years. Prison medical officials previously diagnosed me with Bipolar Disorder and depression. The anxiety and uncertainty that I live with everyday about how I lost my ability to walk has only made things worse. In the past, I was
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prescribed and was given psychiatric medication for these conditions, and other medication for my blood pressure, to thin my blood, and to prevent my seizures. I had a hard time getting any of those medications once I was placed in Close Management. Without these medications, my depression and seizures were more frequent and severe. In CM, I frequently requested that staff provide the medication I previously received and desperately needed, but my requests were either ignored or denied.
7. Because of my blindness and paralysis, FDC designated me as an impaired inmate under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As an impaired inmate, I am supposed to have an ADA Coordinator, who can help with the issues I have that are related to my disabilities, but I only met with an ADA Coordinator towards the very end of my time in Close Management. The few meetings we had were about my eventual transition out of Close Management. We never discussed any of the conditions I had to deal with in confinement as a blind and paralyzed inmate.
8. I need assistance to do daily activities, such as eating, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, or moving about my cell and the prison facility. Before I was held in Close Management, FDC often provided me with a “pusher,” another incarcerated person to push my wheelchair, to help me move out of my cell and do some daily
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activities. But in confinement, I rarely got this kind of help from a pusher or any staff.
9. Every day in Close Management, I struggled to move from my bed to my wheelchair, from my wheelchair to the toilet, and back again. There were plenty of times where I fell out of my wheelchair while trying to get from my cell or from the toilet. More than once, I could not make it to the toilet after blindly navigating my cell, and I would sit in my own filth until prison staff managed to take me to shower. Its dehumanizing.
10. Even though I supposed to be able to shower three times a week in CM, staff did everything they could to discourage me from trying to come out for the shower. Instead, they pressured me to bathe using the sink attached to the toilet. Before they let me come out for showers, my cell had to be compliant. To get my cell compliant I had to blindly move around my cell to find my possessions and organize them without any assistance. Because of this rule, I almost never got showers.
11. The lack of assistance also made it difficult for me to eat if staff decided to pass out meals. Without assistance, I didn’t know what food was on the tray or even how I should try to eat it. Even though I would be starving, sometimes, I just went without eating to avoid the challenge of getting out of bed and approaching the cell door.
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12. In confinement, I spent almost every minute of almost every day in my cell, blind and almost always alone. I didn’t know what time it was and sometimes couldn’t even tell if it was day or night. I had no access to a radio to pass the time. All I had were some documents, a few pictures of my family, and an audiobook.
13. To pass the time, I would listen to the two or three audiobooks a month that were provided to me. I’d listen to these books over and over again to pass the time. This time alone only made my depression worse.
14. My time in Close Management prevented me from having any normal contact with other people. The most common interactions with other people were when I would shout to inmates in neighboring cells through the vents.
15. At one point, I was temporarily housed with another person, but our cramped living space and my struggling daily to get necessities and move around because of my disabilities, did not promote a good social situation. Even though I was desperate for some help, I felt safer alone.
16. I almost never got rec, even when other people got to come out one or two times a week. In the couple of instances I got rec time, I was brought to small cage outside, to do the exact same thing I was doing in my cell: nothing. But for a time I was grateful to at least have some fresh air.
17. Eventually, the fresh air wasn’t even worth it. Each time I was brought back to my cell, it was completely torn up. My few possessions would be out of
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place and sometimes destroyed. State property would also be thrown everywhere. By my best guess, it took me hours to figure out what was moved and to try my best to re-organize my cell.
18. I only ever had access to a phone once every two months despite being told that I would receive access to a phone once a month while in Close Management.
19. There were so many times when I needed someone to talk to but was not allowed to by security staff. When mental health would do rounds, I’d try to get the counselors attention, but officers would prevent me from calling out, for “security reasons.” There was one time that I overhead someone from mental health speaking to someone in a cell close by. I yelled out, begging for someone to speak with me about my mental health issues. No one ever came.
20. I’ve been placed on property restriction, where guards took all of my personal items from my cell, including my clothes. All I could do was sit in my wheelchair in just my underwear for three days with no sheets on my bed to keep me warm and with nothing to do to occupy my time. It’s meant to drive you crazy.
21. The abuse isn’t limited to property restriction. I’ve been subject to frequent strip searches. During these strip searches, guards would put their hands everywhere on my body. Because of my disability, sometimes I could not defend myself and they’d touch me inappropriately.
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22. If I was being transferred around the facility for anything, officers would usually place me in the black box handcuffs and a belly chain. Sometimes they’d shackle my legs to my wheelchair, knowing that I already couldn’t move my legs and had no ability to walk, at all.
23. I went through a lot in confinement. I faced the same issues everyone else faced, but it was even harder because of my disability. I felt helpless. I faced a lot of difficulty learning about my right to submit grievances, let alone actually writing them. I learned about the grievance process from other inmates. FDC staff never told me about it. When I decided to submit my first informal grievance, I had to rely on the help of an inmate in a neighboring cell.
24. To get grievances out, I would speak my grievances to my neighbor through the vent connecting our cells and he would write the grievance on my behalf. There were times I didn’t get any response back.
25. Later, I submitted a formal grievance with the assistance of lawyers. I complained about the lack of disability accommodations for my disability, the retaliation against me by prison staff, the lack of mental health treatment, and FDC’s failure to communicate to me the details of my physical and mental health evaluations. Despite all my grievances, things never improved.
26. Confinement caused me a great deal of physical and psychological harm. During my time in CM, I fell many times trying to blindly move around my
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cell. I had frequent, painful seizures because I couldn’t control the light in my cell. I would spend long periods of time on the floor seizing in pain. No one passed by for rounds. If they did, they either didn’t look in my cell well enough to see me or didn’t care. Sometimes, not only did FDC staff refuse to help me, they mocked and threatened me.
27. After the long periods of time alone in my cell with no sense of the world around me, I often heard voices in my head. They told me to harm myself and to end my life in any way that I could. I eventually tried to hang myself in my cell.
28. When killing myself was unsuccessful, I tried to declare a psychological emergency. In response to my calls for help, the prison staff ignored me, told me that I wasn’t having an emergency, and provided me no mental health care or assistance. Instead, they put me on property restriction and gave me a DR.
29. Confinement is unbearable. Its an experience that scarred me. I’m not the same. I am relieved its behind me and I am working on recovering physically and psychologically, if I can. I just want to stay positive and improve myself.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 19, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Norris Nelson, DC# 123290
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF THOMAS P. ROBINSON

I, Thomas P. Robinson, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 36-year-old American Indian man incarcerated in the custody of

the Florida Department of Corrections. My legal name is Thomas, but I’ve gone by

“Talib” since I converted to Islam in 2017. I am currently in General Population at

the Reception and Medical Center. I have previously spent time in Administrative

Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), and Close Management (CM),

which I refer to interchangeably as “confinement” or being “behind the door.” It’s

all the same thing, whatever they call it.

2. I became a quadriplegic in 2002, long before my incarceration, after I

broke my neck in a car accident. Over the years I have regained some mobility but

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have only 20% neurological functioning in my hands and cannot feel hot or cold from the chest down. I developed progressive myelomalacia, a neurological condition that causes my spinal cord to soften over time, cervical myelopathy, and complex regional pain syndrome in my neck. I struggle to keep my balance because my equilibrium is always off, and I have drag foot on my right side. People call me “crazy legs.” I can walk short distances without an assistive device, but it is very painful. After a surgery I had in October 2020, I need a wheelchair to get around.
3. I also need a CPAP machine when I sleep. Without it, I wake up gagging when I sleep on my back, and it’s really hard for me to get up in the morning. I feel really groggy.
4. I have a 12-inch metal plate and 16 screws in my right humerus, which limits my range of motion. It’s excruciatingly painful for me to be handcuffed behind my back, so I have a “front cuff pass” that allows officers to cuff me from the front instead. When I was behind the door, I do not remember ever meeting with an ADA coordinator. I don’t know why they did not meet with me regularly or at all, but some officers used to tell me I didn’t have “real” ADA needs because I used a walker, not a wheelchair.
5. My most recent period in confinement was from September 2018 until November 2019. I went to AC in September 2018 when I was at the Columbia CI Annex. I was approved for CM I in November, but I stayed at Columbia for another
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three or so months. During that time, staff treated me like I was on AC, not CM, in terms of access to dayroom, recreation, and phone calls. It wasn’t until February 2019, when I moved to Union Correctional Institution (UCI), that FDC began to apply the CM rules. I think I was approved for CM II in April or May, and CM III in August 2019, when I transferred to Santa Rosa CI. I stayed there for about a month and a half, then I went to RMC while still on CM. In November 2019, I was released to the general population. I spent time in confinement before this 14-month stint as well. I was in AC and DC for about 60days at Suwannee CI in May 2016, and in AC and DC for over a month at Cross City CI starting in August 2017. My experiences were generally similar in all these types of isolation.
6. The cells in confinement are really gross. They smell like urine and there are semen stains down the wall. There are huge roaches crawling around the dorms. At UCI, I was in a “dry cell,” or a cell in which I couldn’t flush my own toilet. An officer had to do it for me. I had an extra shirt I used to lay over the toilet to mask the smell. I tried to schedule my bodily functions for when I knew I could get my cell flushed immediately—I used to wait until I saw an officer walking around the wing. But even when I wasn’t housed in a dry cell, it was bad. Being in a confinement cell is like living in a port-a-john. Who wants to go to sleep in the bathroom? My bed was always within three feet of my toilet, sometimes closer. It
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was even worse when I had a roommate. If he flushed the toilet when I was in bed, I’d feel like I could taste it because my face is right next to the toilet. It’s rough.
7. My rollator, which is a walker with wheels and a small seat, was always in the way. It made my already small cell feel even smaller. I felt claustrophobic all the time. It was even worse the few times I had a roommate with me. I would use the rollator as a nightstand, or my roommate would use it as a chair. But it left barely any room for us to move around the cell. It was really aggravating. Sometimes I would put the rollator by my cell door to get it out of the way, but this made it hard to grab when I needed it. I would spiderman my way over from my bunk to the door—put my arms on my bunk and push myself back toward the wall, and then again to the door.
8. I had very limited ways to talk to others when I was behind the door. I could pass notes, yell on the door, or talk at the vent. I was afraid an officer would put me on property restriction if he caught me talking though. I couldn’t risk that— my spinal issues would make it extra painful to sleep on concrete without a mat or pillow. I also didn’t like talking to people from inside my cell because I couldn’t see their faces. It’s so impersonal and not at all engaging. So I usually only had short exchanges with people. Officers didn’t stop and talk to me during their rounds, and I’d call out to them only if I needed something, like asking them to flush my toilet.
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9. Books and my radio were my main forms of entertainment in confinement. There wasn’t much else to do. But ever since I broke my neck, I get headaches and start feeling cross-eyed when I’m reading, so I could usually only read for 30 minutes or so at a time. And the radio stations we got were limited. A lot of them played music I didn’t like, so I got bored pretty easily. I spent a lot of time in my confinement cell laying around. The days blended together, but my five daily prayers helped me keep track of the time. I’d look out the window and, based on how much light I could see and the shadows, I knew when it was time to pray. I got through each day from one prayer to the next.
10. During my time in confinement, I only went to recreation a handful of times. There are different reasons for this. For the first few months at UCI, officers refused to take me to recreation because I did not have a front cuff pass. When I finally got the pass, it was already summer. I felt like the sun shocked my body because it had been so long since I was outside and being in the rec cage during what feels like 100-degree weather is brutal. There is no protection from the afternoon sun in the cages at UCI. Guards passed around water, but it wasn’t enough. I almost passed out from the heat.
11. Even when I did go to rec, I didn’t have enough room to get a good workout. The rec cage is basically a concrete slab surrounded by a chain-link fence with a dip bar and pull-up bar in the middle. I couldn’t use the equipment because
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of my injuries. With my rollator, I could barely walk five steps in each direction. It wasn’t enough to get a stride going. I think what I needed was to be able to go to a rec yard with a track I could walk around—or at least a larger cage that I could take more continuous steps in! Once I submitted a request for in-cell exercise training materials, hoping I could learn some exercises that I’d be able to do by myself. But I never got it.
12. Between spending most of my time locked in a cramped cell and being very limited in how much I could move around on the rare occasions I went to rec, I felt my body get weaker and weaker over the time I spent in confinement. My muscle strength deteriorated. If you don’t use it, you lose it, I guess. I would wake up feeling lethargic, making it hard for me to drag myself out of bed in the morning. Even after the times I spent just a couple months in DC, I felt a difference in my body. When I went back on the compound, walking to the chow hall felt like a workout, even though I had no trouble doing so before. After the 14 months I spent behind the door, I felt a world of difference in my body. I couldn’t walk without my rollator anymore. I’d get dizzy walking to the chow hall and would need someone to push me there.
13. One of the hardest things for me about being in confinement was that every time I came out of my cell, I had to expose myself for a strip search. The officers would tell me to lift my penis, lift my sack, bend at the waist and spread my
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cheeks. I don’t know why they do this—they used to just make me squat and cough. It made me feel ashamed, embarrassed, and insecure. Not only was it humiliating, my disabilities made it hard for me to balance. I had to hold onto the wall while squatting and coughing. Pretty much every time I would stumble, and sometimes I would fall. Officers would cuss me out and laugh when that happened.
14. Officers almost always did a cell search when I left my cell, and a lot of times they tore the cell up. They throw property all over the cell floor. Once when I was in confinement at Columbia CI, me and my roommate both had a lot of legal work. The officers threw the paperwork all over the floor during a cell search, mixing mine with his. It took a really long time for us to separate everything out. Other times, officers have thrown my paperwork in the toilet. Sometimes I’d refuse to leave my cell for a shower or rec because I didn’t want to go through the indignity of a strip or cell search.
15. Every time I’d leave my dorm when I was in confinement, officers would put me in handcuffs, a black box, a waist chain, and leg irons. At UCI, officers would usually put me in a wheelchair when I had call-outs. But in other places, I had to rely on my rollator with all these restraints. Most shackles don’t fit around my leg brace, so officers would put one shackle on my left leg and the other on my walker. It was hard to walk. Because of the black box, I could only hold one side of the rollator. My balance is really off, and my legs go crazy all over the place.
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Once, I slipped and fell because I had nothing to hold on to. The officers didn’t help me up. I quickly learned that I needed to take my time while walking with these restraints, but officers would try to rush me.
16. Confinement is one of the worst environments because of the way the officers use pepper spray and property restriction. When they gassed someone in my dorm, it made it really hard for me to breathe. I felt like I was being punished too. And I lived in constant fear of going on property restriction.
17. I felt like I was going crazy when I was in confinement. My only reprieve was to make wudu, the ablution Muslims make before prayer, say the athan, the Muslim call to prayer, or practice reciting the verses of Qur’an that I know. I reminded myself of the verse in the Qur’an that says that Allah does not burden man with more than he can bear. But I had no other religious outlet to help me cope. A Christian chaplain sometimes used to make the rounds in confinement, but never a Muslim imam. I couldn’t go to jum’ah, or Friday prayer, like I did when I was in the general population.
18. I’m a lot more introverted now—the more time I do behind the door, the worse it gets. I’d rather just lay on my bed, listen to music, and play some games. I get aggravated when people try to talk to me. I catch myself feeling that way all the time. I just want people to go away, and they won’t go away. I no longer know how to deal with other people, it’s overwhelming.
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19. All throughout my time in confinement, I felt like I was being punished for my disabilities. One time I had to sit in a holding cell for seven hours while I waited for them to put me in an ADA cell. Another time I had to sit in a shower for six to eight hours while I waited for a cell where I could use my CPAP machine.
20. I had a lot of issues getting my ADA accommodations in confinement. My front cuff pass expired when I was in the box at Columbia in 2018. I tried to get it renewed, but staff told me I didn’t need one because I had a rollator—it was obvious that I needed to be cuffed from the front. When I got to UCI, officers told me they couldn’t cuff me from the front because I didn’t have the pass. They wouldn’t allow me to go to rec because I couldn’t cuff up behind my back. It took about 3-4 months before I got the pass.
21. I can’t bend over to grab things because of my lack of balance. So I need an ADA locker, which is up on legs about 16 inches off the ground. But I didn’t have an ADA locker when I was at UCI; my locker was underneath the bunk. I’d have to get down on my hands and knees to get things out of my locker. I felt like a dog. I requested an ADA locker, and they “approved” it when I was transferred to Santa Rosa CI. Even at Columbia CI, I only had it some of the time. Other times officers would tell me, “You just have a walker; that’s not considered ADA.”
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22. I got a CPAP machine when I was at UCI. But when I transferred to Santa Rosa CI, there was no plug inside my cell. The officers had to run the cord through the food flap and plug it outside. In the first wing I was in, I had to sleep on the floor because the machine didn’t reach the bed. Not only was it really uncomfortable, it was also really gross because there were ants and roaches in the cell. Staff moved me to another cell about a week later, where the plug was a little closer to the cell door. I would put the machine on top of my rollator and the hose would barely reach the bed. I was forced to lay on my side on the edge of the bunk. I was pretty much stuck in the same spot all night. I had similar issues at RMC, too.
23. In one of the wings I was in at Santa Rosa, the ADA shower with a bench was also a cold-water decontamination shower. When I complained to officers about not having hot water, they started “accommodating” me by giving me a bucket to sit on in the regular non-ADA showers.
24. FDC did not always accommodate my need to be in an ADA cell, which have grab bars next to the toilet. At RMC, I don’t think I was ever in an ADA cell. Officers told me there weren’t enough and they had to prioritize people with wheelchairs. This was the hardest for me when it came to using the restroom because there were no grab bars by the toilet. I’m like an old car when I wake up; it takes me a second to get going and to find my balance. I need something to grab on to.
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There were times when I couldn’t make it in time to the toilet. Sometimes I’d pee a little on the floor.
25. There were a lot of times that FDC applied more restrictive CM rules to me just because of my disabilities. I spent more than a month in the CM I dorm after I was approved for CM II. Officers told me it was because there were no ADA cells in the CM II dorm at Union CI. They kept treating me like I was in CM I. This meant my access to phone calls was limited, I could not go to day room, and I had less opportunities to go to rec. The same thing happened when I went to Santa Rosa CI. Even though I was on CM III status the whole time I was there, I did not spend any time in a CM III wing and did not get CM III privileges.
26. It is obvious to me that people in confinement need more programming and rehabilitation. It makes no sense to take me out of general population and confine me in a box because I supposedly can’t adhere to the rules when confining me does nothing to teach me how to adhere to the rules. There is nothing to better me in confinement, it only worsens my attitude toward the rules and regulations. This is especially true because the officers are so nasty in confinement – it makes me have a negative outlook toward authority figures.
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Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.            Executed on May 6, 2021
Signed: /s/ Thomas P. Robinson, DC# V19126
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF MICHAEL TOWNSON I, Michael Townson, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a fifty-one-year-old white man incarcerated at Dade Correctional

Institution. I am currently in open population at Dade Correctional Institution after

my transfer from open population at Apalachee Correctional Institution.

Immediately before that, I was in Administrative Confinement at Columbia

Correctional Institution. I make this statement based on my own personal

knowledge.

2. I have been in prison serving a life sentence since 1994. During my time

in prison, I have been in Disciplinary Confinement and Administrative Confinement

many different times, as early as the nineties and as recently as the fall of 2020 until

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early 2021. Some of these placements have been for days or weeks at a time, other times it has been for months at a time. I have been in Disciplinary Confinement or Administrative Confinement, what I call “the box” or “iso,” at several different institutions: Wakulla Correctional Institution, Tomoka Correctional Institution, Dade Correctional Institution, Jefferson Correctional Institution, Columbia Correctional Institution, and Martin Correctional Institution. All of these different experiences have seemed very similar from one place to the other. I call it “the box” because I would get thrown into a room and the door was slammed shut. I felt like I was literally in a box and that there was no way to get out. I felt closed in with nothing I could do about it. I also call it “iso,” short for “isolation,” because I have been in a cell completely alone while it sounds like a madhouse outside my door with people talking and screaming at the same time. I used to make ear plugs to try and drown out all the noise. It’s an odd and helpless feeling to have so much noise going on around me yet be so utterly alone inside my box.
3. The Florida Department of Corrections knows that I have suffered from seizures since I was about twelve years old. They have prescribed Keppra medication for this condition on and off for the last thirteen years. I have to wear a medical helmet for this condition because there are times I have hurt my head while I’m having a seizure. Staff didn’t always let me wear my helmet when I was in the box even though I had a pass for it. One time in January 2019, I had a seizure in the
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shower without my helmet. I fell to the floor and my head repeatedly banged on the floor. If it wasn’t for the people in nearby cells who banged on their doors to get the officers’ attention, who knows what would’ve happened to me. There was blood everywhere as they took me out to see medical. There was another time in iso when I had another seizure and split my head open. No one came to help me for a very long time; the blood on the floor was nearly dried. I had requested the prison to not house me alone in case I needed help while in the box. I submitted an ADA request for a cellmate but didn’t get a response. I have been diagnosed with depression, mood swings, and schizophrenia, and take Zyprexa and Cogentin medication. I also have restless leg syndrome. I didn’t sleep very well in confinement; I was lucky if I could get two hours of sleep each night. Now in open population, I am able to get about five to six hours of sleep each evening.
4. I have been on the ADA list in the past. I have a really hard time seeing. I have glasses, but I can’t wear them at the same time as I wear my medical helmet because both won’t fit together on my head. So I either risk severely hurting myself again or not being able to see even a few feet in front of me. Without my glasses, I can’t even see the food on my chow tray. Recently, I had a seizure in open population, and the guy sleeping next to me heard and put my helmet on for me. There was no one to do that in the box. So every time I took my helmet off to wear my glasses in the box, I was risking giving myself a head injury if I had a seizure.
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5. The iso cells I’ve stayed in were disgusting and offered no privacy. The cold, metal toilet faced the cell door. The bed frame to hold a dingy mattress was either a concrete slab that looked like a coffin or a metal shelf that came off the wall. It felt like my iso cells were hardly ever cleaned while I was in there. There were rats running around and roaches flying around. When there were cracks in my cell walls, I stuffed toilet paper there to keep the pests away, but they ate right through the paper. There was mold on the cold food trays.
6. The conditions in the cells made me feel crazy. When it was cold, I wanted to crawl underneath my covers to escape the freezing air bouncing around the concrete walls from the fan, but I was afraid to because officers have put people on property restriction for doing that since we have to keep our beds made from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I couldn’t hang anything on my walls or else I would possibly get a disciplinary report. I didn’t always have control over my toilet or lights so sometimes my toilet would flush randomly. Other times, if the lights were turned off in my neighbor’s cell, they would also go off in mine. I felt dehydrated a lot because we could only keep our water cup during mealtime before giving it back. My windows were pretty useless because they were mostly painted over and wouldn’t open, so I couldn’t see what was going on outside or get any fresh air. Meanwhile, the exhaust fan that was constantly blowing drowned out any natural noises outside, like birds singing, the wind blowing, or rain coming down. In open population, having a
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window open makes a world of a difference. I feel a little bit more in tune with the world, even while locked away. Without anything to do or exercise my mind in the box, I would just lie there. Being in those cramped conditions day in and day out felt never-ending. I’m afraid to ever go back in the box.
7. When I was in iso, I didn’t get to have many conversations. And the few that I had were not meaningful. Any civil conversation only lasted about thirty seconds, if that. The nurses would come and go by very quickly to give out medication and leave without another care. The chaplain didn’t come around much, sometimes not even once a month. The officers were supposed to do checks every thirty minutes but some days they would do one check in the morning and then not come around again until lunch. Even during these checks, they didn’t say much. They mostly kept moving and besides that, I didn’t have anything to say to these people because I was afraid of or angry with them because of the way they treated us. It’s hard enough to keep in touch with my family, and my time in the box made it even harder because there were no visits or phone calls. We’ve drifted apart and are no longer in contact. Maybe if I was able to communicate with them more while I was in the box, we’d still be in touch. But now I have no one out there.
8. I’ve had a cellmate in iso where it did not go well. He beat me in the head with a lock while I was asleep and called me a snitch, all because he wanted one of his friends to be his cellmate instead. But at the same time, I needed to have
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a cellmate while I was in the box because of my seizures. It caused a lot of stress and anxiety not knowing who I could get, yet knowing I needed to have someone there in case anything happened to me.
9. Each day in iso went by extremely slowly and blended into the others. I had no access to the dayroom or tablets. And there were long stretches of time when I had no access to books or educational materials. When I had a book, I would try to read it slowly because there was a limit on how many books I could get and it could take a while before I got more. I didn’t have access to a clock or watch so I was only able to know what time it was if a guard gave it to me correctly. I tried to pass the day by pacing up and down my cell, talking with my neighbor, eating, and reading. Talking with my neighbors was risky, though, because some of the officers put people on property restriction for this.
10. It was very difficult to exercise and take care of myself in iso. The recreation cages looked and felt like dog kennels, no more than about fifteen feet long, and some of them were covered with black mesh. It was very depressing. If we went, they’d lock us in whether it was blazing hot or pouring rain. I used to try and exercise inside my cell, but it was too small and the concrete floors were too hard to do much. Then I would get so stiff from not moving around and this stiffness affected my sleep. I felt like my muscles weakened over time. Even though the lack of meaningful exercise, sunshine, and fresh air affected my mental health and I had less
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energy, I preferred to stay in my cell than go to rec because going out there made me feel like an animal. I felt like a tiger who walks back and forth in a cage at a zoo. I didn’t want to give the guards that satisfaction. Now that I’m back in open population, I do not feel as stiff with all of the opportunities for movement I have, including basketball. I’m getting some of my energy back.
11. It seemed like the officers felt inconvenienced to take us out of our cells so they would discourage us from wanting to. They searched my cell during every shower, which was supposed to be three times a week. On top of the shower cell searches, there would be a “routine” cell search about once a month. There were certain officers who would sling people’s stuff everywhere. I’ve had some of my stuff broken and pictures torn apart. I have found my mattress ripped to shreds, but I couldn’t just leave things as they were; if I didn’t pick everything back up, the officers could’ve put me on property restriction. We were also strip searched before the showers. When they made us get all the way naked, we had to lift up our private areas; turn around for them; and spread our bottoms, bend over, and cough. It felt humiliating and embarrassing every time, but there was no other choice but to go through it if I wanted a shower. Having no other choice made me feel helpless.
12. Property restriction, and the thought of being put on it, was terrifying. The officers would take everything and leave me in only my boxers for seventy-two hours. My body would become very cold and I could never get even just a little bit
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comfortable. I would just stand there with nothing and could not fall asleep on the cold steel and concrete. I felt tested with my will to keep going. Being on property restriction is normally when I’ve seen other people start kicking the door because they couldn’t take it anymore. When they would start kicking, they would get gassed. I’ve been gassed before while in iso and it burned so badly. One time they gassed me because I refused to cuff up when they wanted to put me on property restriction. They wanted to put me on property restriction because I overslept and hadn’t made my bed before they came around for rounds. It was petrifying to think that any little misstep could land me in that hell for three days straight.
13. There were times I tried to escape the box by overdosing on pills or banging my head against the door. They put me in SHOS [Self Harm Observation Status] about eight to ten times and sent me to an outside hospital at least two times over the years after I attempted suicide. I felt constantly on edge while in iso and incredibly stressed out that I would not get the right medical care in an emergency. I was also afraid of officers, some who threatened me after I wrote up their lack of permission for me to bring my walker or helmet a day I had a seizure in the shower. When I was moved into open population, I didn’t really sleep the first few days because I was paranoid about the people around me and about anything that could happen to me. All of the conditions about iso would feel like too much and contributed to my past suicide attempts.
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Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on April 16, 2021.
Signed: /s/Michael Townson, DC# 103964
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF TYRONE ENGLISH I, Tyrone English, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 30-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. Right now, I’m in Close Management Level 1 at Florida

State Prison. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have high blood pressure and take 3 different types of blood pressure

medication.

3. FDC has diagnosed me with bipolar disorder, severe depression, and

impulse control disorder. I have a psych grade of 3. Being in confinement has

worsened my mental health because I have nothing to do all day while sitting behind

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the door. I cope by trying to block out negative thoughts. If I think about my situation too much, I'll go crazy and feel anger and sadness.
4. I have been in prison for 12 years and about 90% of that time, I have been in confinement, including the last eight years in Close Management and Disciplinary Confinement. Everyone calls both of these “confinement” because they are pretty much the same. I have been in confinement at Charlotte Correctional Institution, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, Union Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, and New River Correctional Institution. My experience in confinement at these different prisons has basically been the same. I feel like I have wasted a lot of time in confinement being unproductive due all the restrictions.
5. All my confinement cells have been horrible. Human beings shouldn’t be forced to live like this. The cells are very small, filthy, and old. Staff don’t give me toilet brushes, so I can’t clean my toilet and no one else does. In a lot of cells I have been in, only staff can flush the toilets. They are supposed to come around every 30 minutes to flush the toilets, but they don’t always do it. There are cockroaches everywhere. In some wings where I have been, there are rats running in the cells. If I leave food out, the rats will come out and steal it. Dealing with the living conditions of confinement makes me feel less than human.
6. In almost all my cells, staff control the lights. On weekends, typically whether the lights are turned off depends on if the wing is quiet. Staff will turn the
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lights off only if the noise is kept down, but it’s almost always noisy. I normally have to put a towel or shirt over my eyes to escape the light. Not being able to control my own lights makes me feel powerless.
7. I don’t have a lot of contact with people. I can’t send emails, like I can in the General Population, because I don’t have a tablet. It’s even hard to talk to staff. They don’t say much to us during security checks. And if I need their attention for an emergency, I have to yell or kick on the door even though I can get a Disciplinary Report (DR) for doing it. The lack of human interaction makes me feel anti-social. I feel like my social skills are messed up. I feel like I won’t be able to interact properly with people, in certain situations, on the streets once I am out of prison.
8. I am not in any programs. I tried to enroll in anger management, but staff did not select me to participate. I have been dealing with anger problems all my life and I want to learn how to control my anger, especially around authority. I want to participate in programs for self-improvement. I feel like being in a program will improve my mental health because I would get out of my cell and have meaningful experiences. I want to leave prison a better person than I was when I came in.
9. Cellmates do not make being in confinement easier. The cells are too small for one person, and especially two. When I have had a cellmate, I got agitated easily because I couldn’t move around very well. I like to pace in my cell, but with
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a cellmate I can’t pace whenever I feel like it. In order for me to pace in the cell, my cellmate has to be in his bunk because the cell is too small for both of us to be walking around. If we disagree on something, such as hygiene, things can get heated. It’s very uncomfortable to use the bathroom with a cellmate just a few inches from you. There are arguments, and I have to focus on how to protect myself, which is stressful. There is always tension because the conditions, such as extreme heat and dirtiness, put us on edge. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.
10. I don’t even try to go to recreation because I’ve learned it’s not really an option. When I try to go, staff comes up with excuses not to pull people out and recreation doesn’t happen. Most of the time, I feel like there is no point in getting ready and waiting just to get turned down.
11. It’s also not worth it to me to go to recreation because of the strip and cell searches that are required. Strip searches are dehumanizing. When I am being strip searched, I feel like I have no control over my body. And when certain officers conduct cell searches, they leave cells in disarray. My stuff never is in the same place I left it. It takes me over an hour to get my cell back in order. Having my stuff tampered with and destroyed makes me feel like a child. It pisses me off. Why would I go through all that just to go stand in another cage for a few hours?
12. In confinement, I have been on property restriction multiple times. Property restriction is especially painful in the winter because they take all my stuff,
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including my clothes and mat, and leave me freezing cold. I have also been cell extracted several times. Cell extraction is when a person is pepper sprayed, forcefully extracted from their cell by several officers wearing helmets and carrying big shields, jumped by those officers, and then taken to a decontamination shower. I have gotten injuries such as a chipped tooth, a black eye, and a dislocated shoulder from cell extractions. Officers have also pepper sprayed me repeatedly. The pepper spray burns and makes it hard to breathe. This level of force and punishment makes me feel hopeless and powerless. I also feel depressed, paranoid, and sad. I try to cope mentally, but it sometimes comes out as rage.
13. Late last year, I was cell extracted twice and ended up in a suicidewatch cell because I was so upset about how the officers treated me. I was cell extracted the first time that month after I got into a verbal altercation with an officer. I was on the door, so an officer called the Lieutenant on me twice. The second time the Lieutenant came around, I had complied, but they still pepper sprayed, and cell extracted me. I was put on property restriction for three days after the first cell extraction. When they finally returned my property a few days after the first cell extraction, there were many things missing. I was beating on the cell door and yelling for the Captain to come to my door to handle the situation with my property. An officer told me to cease my disorderly conduct, but I did not because I needed all my property back. So they pepper sprayed and extracted me from my cell a second time.
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Then the psych doctor decided to give me an Emergency Treatment Order (ETO) and inject me with a sedative. I spent the night in a suicide-watch cell and then they put me back in my cell the next morning. That morning, I felt beat up. I felt anxious and depressed after being put back in my cell. I feel like officers bring their anger to work and take it out on me.
14. I feel like I am stuck in a vicious cycle. It is so hard to get out of confinement. If I get even just one petty infraction, FDC will keep me in confinement for six more months. Getting additional confinement time because of petty infractions makes me feel discouraged. I feel like all the good time I have done in confinement does not matter when I get sent all the way back to Close Management (CM) Level 1 for one bad day. Being in Close Management is like when you are in school and there is a bully who wants to take it out on you. In my case, confinement is the school, the officers are the bullies, and I am the one being bullied.
15. Because of everything I go through in confinement, my mental health is getting worse. I have become anti-social since I don’t have the opportunity to socialize with people. I have become angrier. I feel hatred building up inside. I feel like I am going to have to deal with these feelings for the rest of my life.
16. I have declared psychological emergencies and been placed in suicidewatch cells multiple times for self-harming. I self-harm as a cry for help and to get attention for more mental health care. I have cut myself several times while in Close
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Management (CM). When I self-harm, I feel worthless and tired. I feel like I am in a nightmare. I look at my scars today and think about what I have done to myself. I have had to go to an inpatient mental health unit multiple times because I cut myself so bad.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on April 2, 2021.

Signed: /s/ Tyrone English, DC#X67154

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF PERSON JOHN D. PONDER

I, JOHN D. PONDER, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 53-year-old white man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections (“FDC”). I am currently in general population at

Apalachee Correctional Institution.

2. I have been in prison for about 30 years, since 1991. I have been in

some type of confinement at approximately 14 FDC institutions: Florida State Prison

(FSP), Santa Rosa, Avon Park, Union, Everglades, New River West, Taylor,

Hamilton, Charlotte, Hardee, Sumter, Okeechobee, Cross City, and Apalachee

Correctional Institutions. Most recently, I served two months in DC here at

Apalachee from early December, 2020 to the end of January, 2021. All added up, I

have been in confinement for over ten years of my life. Since I became incarcerated

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in 1991, I have been in Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), all levels of Close Management (CM), and Maximum Management (MM). I have been in CM four times: 1) August 1995 to September 1997, 2) April 2000 to May 2005, 3) July 2006 to December 2008, 4) October 2018 to April 2020. I was on MM only once from November 2002 – December 2002.
3. In my experience, confinement cells are basically all the same: small and dirty. The cells have a window to the outside, but usually it is frosted over so I can’t even see out of it. If the dorm is climate controlled, the window will also be sealed so it won’t open. If not, about half the time it opens and closes right, but the other half they’re broken. I remember during one stay at FSP, the window was broken and would not close at all. There were maintenance orders to fix it, but it never got done. FSP is located in Northern Florida, outside Jacksonville, where the temperatures can get in the low 40’s at night in the winter. And there I was in a concrete cell with an open window. The guards didn’t give me any extra clothing or blankets. They yelled if I tried to cover the window to block the cold air. If that wasn’t torture, I’m not sure what is. The confinement cells also always have a small window in the door, but we aren’t allowed to stand at it and look out. When people do, I’ve seen or heard the guards scream at them, or worse, spray them with pepper spray and/or write them a Disciplinary Report (DR). I’ve also just seen them spray people without any notice or anything, just for looking out the window.
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4. The cells feel like they’re never cleaned. Since I’m in there 24/7, I usually try to clean it myself. I’ll use a sock and soap that I bought from canteen, since they rarely give you cleaning supplies. I do my best with what I have, but there is often crud and residue that you can’t get off. Even the ceilings are filthy, which I can’t reach to clean, especially with the pain from my hernia. In my most recent time in DC at Apalachee, there was what looked like food and bean juice all across the top of the wall and ceiling. It looked like it had been caked on for years. I couldn’t reach it to clean it. It was absolutely disgusting and depressing to look at it every day.
5. The cells always have a sink and toilet, but a lot of times, the sink doesn’t work properly or have hot water. For example, at Union while I was on CM, the sink ran continuously and would often spill over and flood the cell. I filed grievances to get it fixed but no one ever came to fix it. It was like that for three months until I moved. Then, in my last DC stay here at Apalachee, the faucet would sometimes shoot out water all over the floor. I told the guards but no one ever fixed it. I ended up using a tooth paste tube rigged up to keep the water from going everywhere.
6. Similarly, there are often issues with the lights not working in cells. At Union, I didn’t have a light in my cell for three months. Other people on the quad told me that they didn’t have a light either. I filed grievances on it and I told the staff
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when they came around to do inspections, but it never got fixed. I wear glasses and one of the only comforts I have is to read but without proper light, it is really hard on my eyes. Just this past Winter while I was in DC at Apalachee, a guy in a nearby cell told me that he didn’t have a working light in his cell the entire time I was there.
7. The mattresses on the beds have plastic covering for hygiene reasons, but I can’t remember a time where the plastic wasn’t torn up or the inside padding wasn’t coming out. Really, I don’t think the mattresses get cleaned or even wiped down between residents. Here, at Apalachee, we had to quarantine when I was in confinement for three days because of scabies coming from the mattresses. It’s disgusting.
8. I have Hepatitis C (“Hep-C”), hypothyroidism, and an inguinal hernia. My Hep-C is controlled for now, but as a side effect of the treatment I got for it, I have hypothyroidism that causes intense migraines. The hypothyroidism also gives me high cholesterol levels, which caused me to almost have a heart attack while I was in confinement. My inguinal hernia causes really sharp, intense pain in my lower abdomen. I have not received treatment for it. All FDC did was give me a “bottom bunk” pass since the pain prevents me from climbing to a top bunk. I can’t stand or walk for more than ten minutes because the pain gets so bad.
9. I also have serious mental health diagnoses. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 12-years-old. Back then, they called it manic depression. I was
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put on lithium from about 12 to 14-years-old. I’ve been incarcerated for 30 years now and been prescribed a variety of medications for my bipolar disorder.
10. My hypothyroidism makes me exhausted and tired, but when I’m in confinement, it gets worse. It's harder for me to move around and get going. If I’m out of confinement, I can walk and focus on other things. But in a box, all I can think about is how my body aches. In 2012, I almost had a heart attack due to my hypothyroidism. I was at Hardee in DC when I fainted twice. Luckily, I had a cellmate who called out to the guards for help. It took about five minutes for an officer to come to my cell. Once he got there, he said because I “wasn’t bleeding,” it wasn’t an emergency. When I finally saw the doctor, he said I almost had a heart attack because of my triglycerides were at dangerous levels. I could have died because one guard thought it wasn’t an emergency. Or, what if I hadn’t had a roommate to call for help?
11. My migraines also come more often and get so much worse in confinement. When I’m not in confinement, I get migraines about once a week, but in confinement, I get them three times a week. Not only are they more intense but I can’t do much to treat them. I try to meditate and rub my temples because I don’t have regular access to my medication for them. When I’m out of confinement, I take Topamax, aspirin, or ibuprofen to help ease the pain, but in confinement officers have to bring me medication. They usually don’t have medication on them and often
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don’t bring it back when asked. Nurses couldn’t help either because they don’t bring anything other than prescribed medication in confinement. Coffee can help too, but again, I can’t get that easily like I can in general population. So, in confinement, I don’t have the same options to ease the relentless pain that goes from the back of my head to my eyes and jaw.
12. My ability to live with the pain from my hernia is also much more difficult in confinement. First, just like everything else, the pain is more intense and present because there are no distractions, nothing else to focus on but the pain. I can’t move much with my hernia to begin with and can’t stand for more than five or ten minutes without shooting pain. I also have issues with going to shower, because there is never a chance to sit down during the time it takes to get to and from the showers. In general population, I can make it work because I can take breaks and rest, but in confinement, I’ll often skip showering because I know it will be too painful to go.
13. Confinement breaks me mentally. Before confinement, I don’t remember having paranoid thoughts. But when I was first in confinement for a long period of time, I started having them. It feels like there are people behind me, even if I am only by myself or with one cellmate. It's a terrible feeling, especially when I’m using the toilet and have my back to the door of my cell. I know when I’m alone, I’m alone, but I can’t help but have this really intense impression that someone is
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behind me. It makes me have trouble sleeping, thinking someone is there watching me. In confinement, I get maybe four hours of sleep, maybe. And I wake up and that same feeling of being watched, of someone else’s presence, is there. I feel like I can’t control these thoughts. I try to sleep with a light on when I can, but usually I can’t control the lights in my cell, only the guards can. So I’m just left in the dark, scared.
14. At the same time, now when I’m released from confinement, I start to panic because I worry that being around people in open spaces with no control will be too much, too much of a shock for me to handle. I remember first feeling this way after my first long stint of confinement at Charlotte. Coming back into general population, I felt as if people were watching me and I didn’t trust anybody around me, and that feeling just got more and more intense. I could feel people following me and watching me. I soon found myself back in DC for violations and then eventually on CM. In that way, I’m worried I’ve become dependent on confinement. That it has warped me from being a normal person, like I can’t handle anything outside of that small world.
15. My thoughts of hurting myself, of giving up, also get so much worse in confinement. I’ve cut myself in general population, but when I’m in confinement, it gets to the point where it’s hard to stop. That’s because there are no distractions, nothing to keep you busy. I'm just alone with dark thoughts. I can’t shut my mind off alone in a box.
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16. I’ve had to go into Self-Harm Observation Status (SHOS) several times for trying to kill myself, as well as the Transitional Care Unit (TCU). In confinement, I’ve tried to kill myself by taking pills, hanging myself, or starving myself by not eating or drinking water for over a week. FDC calls it a hunger strike, but really I’m trying to die. I’ve even thought about killing someone else just so I’d get put on Death Row, waive all my appeals, and be killed by the State. I’ve had thoughts like this and psych emergencies in general population, like wanting to self-harm or kill myself, but I can usually distract myself. Even just changing my scenery, like going from my cell to chow hall or yard can provide a relief from the thoughts. But in confinement, there are no distractions. The thoughts are more immediate, more present, and harder to push away.
17. I need actual mental health care but I don’t get any real help when I’m in confinement. The most frequent mental health counseling I got while in confinement was at Charlotte, where I saw a counselor maybe once a month. But even then, it felt more like the counselors are just checking a box as opposed to giving any sort of meaningful help. The “sessions” are about five minutes, in a small room or cell front. When the sessions are cell front, there is a custody officer standing there who can see and hear everything. Sessions in the small room are a bit better, but there is still an officer outside. No matter what institution I was at, the officer would regularly look through the window and make eye contact with me during the
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session. Even though they were in the hallway, they were always just outside the door. It is intimidating. I could also hear them cough or even their belts hit the chair if they sat down. This made me concerned about what they could overhear in my “confidential” session and definitely impacted what I would say and share.
18. Most recently, when I was released from CM in Spring of 2020, I started seeing a counselor regularly in general population. It was really helpful. When we had our sessions, sometimes I could hear people walk by in the hallway, but no one was waiting outside or anything like that. It feels much more confidential and that means I’m able to share and get a lot more out of it. But when I was put back in confinement around December 2, 2020, I wasn’t able to see her anymore. I requested mental health counseling right when I got placed in confinement, but I didn't have a “session” with anyone for weeks. When I finally saw someone, that “session” lasted five minutes with the door open and an officer outside. This is normal in confinement. And terrible when it comes to fighting back thoughts of giving up.
19. In addition to not getting therapy, I also don’t get my medication regularly when I’m in confinement. During my most recent stay on CM, the nurses would rarely distribute my medication right. They’d bring me the wrong amount or the wrong kind. I would ask them to correct it, but this almost always created issues. I even had guards lie on my forms saying I “refused” or straight up say to my face
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that they gave me the right medication. It was so frustrating that the guards were able to lie about someone’s health care. It got to the point where I just didn’t want to deal with it or risk becoming their target. I’d rather not take the medication than get it infrequently or cause issue with the guards, so sometimes I’d just quit taking it cold turkey. I want to take my medication. I want to get better. I want to live. But when I’m in confinement, it just all seems impossible and I’m all alone, with no one to reach out to for help.
20. When I’m having an uncontrollable psychological break in confinement, like cutting and wanting to kill myself, I’ll call for a “psych emergency.” This means that the guards are supposed to immediately come to the cell, have me strip to my underwear and take me into a holding cell for observation, until a nurse or mental health staff are able to arrive. While I’ve had guards follow through sometimes, a lot of times, they do nothing and just let the person who declared a psych emergency go through it alone in their cell. This last time I was on DC from December through January 2021, I heard at least five or six people declare a psych emergency and not once, not once, did the guards report it and get the person help. A handful of times, I did see them put a person who declared a psych emergency into a holding cell (a shower cell in this case) for awhile. But then, the guards just put the person back in their cell with no nurse, no doctor, no mental
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health person ever coming to check in on them. They just went back to their cell with no help.
21. I’m a Catholic and especially when my mental health is bad and I’m thinking about ending my life, I try to use my faith to keep me safe. When I’m in confinement though, there is no real way to practice my faith. There is supposed to be a clergy person that comes around so I can do communion or penance (confession), but they rarely come around. If they do, which again is rare, they’re accompanied by an impatient guard, who stands next to them and hears everything.
22. Keeping a connection with the outside world is really important to my sanity in prison. When I’m in general population, I’ll get visits from my mom, my niece, or my older sister, especially when I’m housed closer to our home in Ft. Lauderdale. I’ll make calls pretty regularly to my step-dad when I’m not in confinement, too. But in confinement, it is really hit or miss whether the guards would actually allow me to make calls like they’re supposed to. Those calls are important to me because it keeps me grounded. I really feel beyond frustrated when my calls are skipped. From what I can tell, the guards would skip taking us to calls because they just straight up didn’t care. It also really bothers me that I’m not given an opportunity to tell my family that I’m going into confinement and that they won’t hear from me for a bit. I worry about their worry, since they have no idea why I
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stopped calling. I also think it hurts our relationship when they just stop hearing from me.
23. It’s also really difficult to send letters from confinement because I have to figure out how to get a pen or paper to write the letter to begin with. In order to get a pen or paper, I have to put in a request or canteen slip to get a security pen, which is the kind of pen allowed in confinement. But how do I write a request or canteen slip without a pen? It’s ridiculous. I usually ask the guard for a pen, which is rarely successful, so sometimes I’ll ask an inmate orderly, who, at his own risk, will loan me one. If I’m lucky and have a roommate, he’ll loan me one and then I can get my own from canteen. But otherwise, I’m at the mercy of others just to write to my family to tell them I’m okay.
24. I'm all alone in confinement, like really alone. I don’t really socialize with other people because we can get in trouble for talking between cells. When I'm in confinement, I feel like I slowly lose my vocabulary and feel a lot more anger from not being able to talk with anybody. I never knew what it was like to lose words, to lose the ability to communicate person to person. It’s terrible. It makes me feel like my life doesn’t matter anymore, that nothing matters anymore.
25. Having a cellmate has never helped me with that feeling and honestly, it can make surviving confinement harder. Unlike in general population, when I can get space from a cellmate, in confinement, we are always together in a small cell,
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living our entire lives with absolutely no privacy for 23-24 hours a day. Think about that. When I have a bowel movement, he's right there. And same with him to me. There is already so much tension on all of us that it’s hard to have someone else there, especially when they’re a complete stranger to you. In general population, there is more privacy, but it is non-existent in confinement. If we try and put up a sheet or something between us, the guards will yell at us.
26. It’s also really hard to manage someone else’s stress when I’m struggling with my own and that can create even more tension in an already tense situation. For example, one of my CM roommates at Union was a conspiracy theorist. He took heavy psych meds for his paranoia. I tried to keep our conversations to only mundane things because when we did talk, he would argue with me, which is really scary in such a small space. Physical fights in confinement between cellmates are the norm, so that is another worry. I always want to get out of confinement, but if I get a cellmate who doesn't care, he can get me into trouble by causing a disturbance or fighting. Then, my stay is confinement is extended. I’ve also seen people get killed by their cellmate. So, my own mental health and feelings of paranoia can actually get worse when I have a cellmate because I’m so worried about what my cellmate will do, especially when we’re alone in such a small space all the time. If it were up to me, I’d rather just be alone than deal with all that.
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27. There is almost nothing to do in confinement. I’ll read or listen to the radio, but it isn’t enough to combat the idleness. When I was in general population, I’d stay busy all the time, including getting work assignments. I’ve worked as an inmate teacher’s assistant and other houseman type positions to keep myself busy. I really enjoyed having work. A few times on CM3, I was able to get a job assignment as a runner or rec orderly, but that was only a small time of my years in confinement. Having work like that, that kind of connection and responsibility really helps me give my life meaning but there’s little opportunity for that in confinement.
28. I’ve also rarely gotten access to education or programming in confinement. While I was on CM at Santa Rosa, I had to submit a request for GED education because it was never actually offered to me. Once FDC approved it, I got worksheets dropped off every week or so by a staff member. Someone would grade those worksheets. But I never got any formal instruction, classes, or anything like that.
29. While there are rules for when and how often we get to go to dayroom and recreation time (“rec”), they’re barely followed. To me, it seems like the guards don’t want to take us out of our cells for anything. They’ll use any reason to skip us. It really depended on the day and who was on shift. It was hard for me mentally at first because I would look forward to going, get ready, and then just get skipped. I got tired of being disappointed so I just started convincing myself I didn’t want to
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leave my cell anyways. Since exercise helps me cope, I tried doing exercises in the small cell, but there wasn’t much I could do other than pushups, squats, and that kind of thing before I got the hernia. Even though I can’t workout with the hernia now, going outside to get sun and fresh air and just moving my body helps my mental health.
30. When the guards do decide to take me to rec or dayroom, they put me in full restraints, meaning handcuffs, waist chains, and often a black box. It is the norm for a guard to squeeze the handcuffs when they put them on so they’re super tight. I’ve had skin broken on my wrist from them doing this. If I complain though, I’m worried it would get worse. Sometimes, the guards would leave me like this, all restrained, in the dayroom or in a rec cage. At Union, they also just put you in a cage for all of dayroom. All there was to do in the dayroom was watch TV. Sometimes, we’ll even get yelled at for talking with one another. It doesn’t seem worth it with all the trouble that can come with leaving the cell to begin with.
31. The threat of a strip search alone will make me not want to go to dayroom, rec, or even a call out, even if I’m desperate to get out of my cell. First, through the door, the guards tell me to get naked. They then tell me to expose all parts of myself, including to squat, spread my butt cheeks, and cough. Some guards will say “bust it” while I'm doing this, which I take as a reference to them looking at my rear end in a sexual way. Probably more than ten times, I’ve also had guards
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make me lift my testicles and move them around. Then, immediately after that, they tell me to put my fingers in my mouth to show nothing is in my mouth. A lot of the confinement cells don’t have air conditioning and it gets really hot. We also don’t get showers regularly. So, when the guards do this and say it with a smile, it seems to me that they know that the sweat from my privates will be in my mouth. When I’ve refused to do that, they say I’m refusing my call out, or rec, or dayroom, or whatever it is. Then, I’m just stuck in the cell with my thoughts, feeling hopeless, helpless, and violated.
32. If I get a guard who doesn’t do something like that, then I’ll get to leave my cell, but while I’m gone, the guards will almost always do a “cell search” which basically means trashing my cell. So, usually when I come back to my cell, my stuff is thrown everywhere. I’ve had pictures torn up and papers crumpled. It is really, really frustrating and feels violating. It is another reason that I just try to stay low and not leave my cell, including for showers.
33. To me, it seems like the confinement officers will punish people for anything, everything, and nothing. And the punishments are no joke. Property restriction is awful. Property restriction is where the officers take everything from an inmate, and by everything, I mean everything. They take a person’s mattress, pillows, toothbrush, toilet paper, all his clothes, shoes, everything. You are just left with your boxers to sleep on cold steel or concrete. At Avon Park, almost every
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single morning, the guards inspect the cells. If a cell isn’t orderly or the person isn’t awake and ready, they put him on property restriction and take everything from him. At Union, it was common practice that if an inmate stood and looked through the cell window in the door, the officers would put him on property restriction for 72 hours. They would also put people on property restriction for talking to someone else in another cell. When I first was on CM, I saw that happen about three or four times so I did everything to keep to myself to avoid the risk of getting put on property restriction. One time, I remember I didn’t talk for two weeks, just because I was scared of being left with nothing but my boxers in my cell.
34. The guards also regularly use pepper spray on people. We call this getting “gassed.” At FSP, I saw people get gassed regularly for talking to the person in the neighboring cell. Sometimes, the guards won’t even ask someone to stop what he is doing -- they’ll just gas him with no warning. I've only been gassed once but that is because I try to keep my head down and out of the guard’s way. When a dorm is climate controlled though, it’s like the whole dorm gets gassed because if a person is gassed in his cell, it ends up in all the neighboring cells through the vents. It burns and makes it hard to breathe, especially for people with respiratory issues. The guards will also mess with the climate control, leaving the heat off in winter and not turning the AC on in summer. It felt like 40 degrees when I was just in DC in
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December and January here at Apalachee. In summer, it can be in the 90s out, and the concrete confinement dorms feel downright dangerous with how hot they are.
35. Over ten years of being in isolation from other people has fundamentally altered who I am and how I feel about other people. Now that I’m back in general population, I’ve had people who knew me before confinement tell me that I’m a “bug” now – that I’m paranoid, looking over my shoulder, and have OCD. I’m worried I’ll never be the same. It’s really hard for me to be in groups of people and in open spaces now. It’s messed up, but at this point, I feel almost more comfortable in confinement. I know this is a bad thing. But in confinement you have to get used to not being able to make decisions for yourself, keeping your head low, not talking to anyone, not asking anyone for anything, and never leaving your cell. Outside confinement, it feels overwhelming after so much isolation. It makes it hard to be a person again. Sometimes I just want to give up on my life.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on March 24, 2021.

Signed: /s/ John D. Ponder, DC #666136

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DYTRELL JONES

I, DYTRELL JONES, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 29-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. I am currently in Administrative Confinement at Lake

Correctional Institution. I make this declaration based on my own personal

knowledge.

2. I have Epilepsy that causes me to have seizures and jolts. When this

happens, I twitch uncontrollably and sometimes blackout. I am also a psych 3 patient

because I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD,

Cognitive disorder, and ADHD. I take Effexor for my mental health condition. But

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these medications don’t help me that much in confinement. I just had a seizure yesterday and I’m really stressed out.
3. I have been going in and out of confinement since 2015. I have been in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and Close Management I, II, and III. I call all these “confinement” because in each of them I spend the majority of my time isolated from other people. I’ve been in confinement at Desoto, South Bay, Columbia Annex, Florida State Prison, Santa Rosa Main Unit, Hamilton Annex, South Florida Reception Center, and Lake Correctional Institution. Confinement across all prisons is the same.
4. Confinement wings are extremely dirty. The floors are not clean and the water from the faucet is disgusting. There are rodents everywhere. I constantly have to worry about them. Once, a rat bit me when I was sleeping at Hamilton Annex. I told the nurse who came to my cell during pill call about the bite, and she didn’t do anything to help me. This kept me from sleeping for a few days because I was worried about being bitten again.
5. In each type of confinement, after about three days, I notice my mental capacity deteriorating. I feel more depressed, lonely, and angry. I feel like I am suffocating because I cannot move more than a few feet before reaching the walls. Sometimes I pace to shake off the feeling of being in a cage.
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6. The first time I went to confinement, I was at Desoto, and I spent two months without having any sort of conversation with anyone. I just sat there, sat there, sat there, not knowing what to do. I felt so disheveled. The staff performed their duties without paying any real attention to me. It was like I was not a person. Another time, when I was in CM 1 at Florida State Prison, I started shutting down and internalizing my emotions because I felt like no one would understand me. It made me want to give up. I was thinking about life after death. I just felt so isolated.
7. My days in confinement feel like an endless cycle of repetitive sequences. With no clocks or watches in sight, it’s hard to tell time. When I’m in general population, I found distractions to cope with feelings of loneliness, depression, and boredom. One of the things that used to distract me from my feelings was work. When I was in general population, I used to do yard work from 5:00 AM to 4:00 PM. I’ve never had a job in confinement. It would help keep me from getting so down.
8. Depending on their mood, the guards use their status and power to make sure nobody in different cells talks to each other. If the guards are not in a good mood, they will make sure everyone who is speaking gets in trouble. That may look like a verbal warning, disciplinary report, or property restriction. One time, I was put on property restriction at Santa Rosa CI for speaking to one of my neighbors. When I was at Hamilton Annex last year, I talked to one of my neighbors through
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the vent when I thought the guards weren’t paying attention. He told me about his

mental health issues. I did not want him to be alone, so I helped him by talking him

through his feelings. He helped me deal with some of my feelings too. Although I

knew I might get in trouble for talking to him, sometimes it was worth the risk.

Because at the end of the day, we are all we got. We need to help each other. A

simple conversation may stop someone from hurting themselves. I want to think we

have helped each other with these minimal yet needed interactions.

9.

Even though I need to talk to people sometimes, it’s too hard to have

a cellmate in confinement. My cell is ridiculously small. It is hard to put into words

to someone that has not been on the inside. The cell is too small for one person;

imagine sharing it with someone else. You are constantly in each other’s space.

When I have to use the restroom to defecate, I have to do it right next to another

person in their bed. There is no place to escape the smell and the embarrassment.

Whenever I start to feel angry about it, I try my best not to react. But sometimes, my

anger gets the best of me because I have no distractions. I have gotten into three

altercations with cellmates because of our different personalities and the lack of

space to accommodate the both of us.

10. Leaving my cell for any reason is dangerous. Because once I leave my

cell, the guards will search my property and mess up my room. My property ends up

all over the floor. I believe they use this tactic to discourage people from wanting to

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leave their cell for any reason, including showers, recreation, and exercise. I also have to get strip-searched when I leave my cell. It’s degrading to squat, show my private parts, and cough. So often, when it’s not a legal call, I choose to stay in my cell instead of going through this dehumanizing experience. They don’t treat us this way in general population.
11. I have been on property restriction many times. Being put on property restriction means being deprived of my personal property for 72 hours. The officers take my clothes, mattress, toiletries, sheets, and personal property. I have to sleep on the steel bunk, even when it is cold. This experience made me feel paranoid and very fearful. Now I get up and go to the door whenever I hear someone approaching. Whenever I hear the doors, my survival instincts kick in. I need to be prepared because the guards might come to my cell to buse me. My bunkie even just asked me why I am so paranoid. I know the worst that could happen is to get severely injured or killed.
12. It is terrifying to have Epilepsy in confinement. I live with constant fear. It is impossible to predict when I will have a seizure or jolt. Whenever the guards do their security checks, they only stop for a few seconds. Some of them walk past by without checking inside of the cells. Sometimes I am scared that I would have a seizure, and no one would notice.
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13. Sometimes in confinement I hallucinate about the elves that make Keebler’s cookies. Keebler’s cookies are a brand that I used to eat before my incarceration. In my hallucinations, the elves form a pyramid while dancing. They look real. I try directing my attention somewhere else, but the elves keep following me. Whenever I start hallucinating, I know my mental health has deteriorated.
14. Without any distractions in confinement, I suffer from psychotic episodes. Whenever I have these episodes, I yell or bang on the door to get the guard's attention. The majority of times, their response is to either spray me or ignore my cry for help. When they sprayed me, I felt a mix of a burning sensation and panic because I couldn’t breathe. It was painful and scary.
15. The way officers respond to psychological emergencies is cruel. Officers laughed at me when I declared psychological emergencies. Knowing I could be laughed at or beaten for declaring a psychological emergency often discourages me from asking for help.
16. Once you get in confinement, it seems like you can never escape it. It feels like whenever you are close to getting off confinement, the officers will either lie or find any excuse to give you a disciplinary report to keep you in longer.
17. All aspects of confinement are harmful. It hurts me physically and mentally. Being in confinement turns me into someone I do not recognize.
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Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.            Executed on April 15, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Dytrell Jones, DC# M75660  
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF LARRY MERRITT

I, Larry Merritt, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 56-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. I am currently assigned to Close Management (CM) II

at Charlotte Correctional Institution.

2. I have asthma and hypertension. I use two different inhalers for my

asthma and am on an HCTZ water pill, Norvasc, and lisinopril to control my blood

pressure.

3. I also have several mental health conditions, including paranoid

schizophrenia and chronic depression. I’ve been on psychotropic medications for

over 40 years; now I’m on valproic acid, Zoloft, and Risperdal. Even with the

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medicine, my mental illness gets to me. I spent most of the last 22 years in Close Management or getting inpatient mental health treatment. Being in CM had a really big impact on me. For many years, I would cope by hurting myself.
4. I think my mental illnesses are disabilities. I’m always paranoid about certain things, and I can’t turn the paranoia off. When my depression is bad, I can’t talk to anybody. I just lay in bed. Despite my serious mental health issues, I don’t meet with an ADA coordinator or get asked what accommodations I need for my disabilities.
5. I’ve been in confinement for the last two years. I went to Disciplinary Confinement (DC) at Columbia CI in December 2018, and from there I was approved for CM I in February 2019 and transferred to Charlotte CI in March 2019. I did almost a year on CM I, followed by six months on CM II, then I went to CM III. In August 2020, FDC put me back on CM II.
6. I have a long history in isolation before this though. In my first 9 years of incarceration, I was in Administrative and Disciplinary confinement a lot. I went to CM in 1998, and I was not released to the general population until 2018. I tried to kill myself several times over those 20 years, so I spent a lot of the time in CM in inpatient mental health units. From 1998-2018, I also spent a lot of time (both in and out of inpatient mental health) in DC. Officers applied DC, not CM, rules to me during those times. I experienced confinement at Union CI, Everglades CI, Florida
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State Prison, Santa Rosa CI, and Charlotte CI. I was on CM III briefly in 2002, then didn’t make it back to that level until 2018, shortly before my release to the general population.
7. The cells in confinement make me feel dirty, unhuman—like I’m a nobody. The windows are covered with grill gates that are caked with mold, mildew, and gas. A lot of times I can’t see out my window because of this. At night, bugs come through the window and fly over the lights. There are roaches. At Charlotte, I’ve seen some snakes. At FSP, there were big rats running around. The mattresses have a foul odor. The pillows too. The sheets and pillow cases don’t seem properly washed. I can smell other people’s sweat.
8. Runarounds, who are inmate workers, occasionally bring chemical agents to clean cells, but when they do, it’s not enough to clean everything, like the urine that splashes on the wall when I use the bathroom. The runaround passes me a broom or mop through my food flap, but they’re usually really dirty—like they were used to clean feces or something. I don’t get a toilet brush. In some wings at FSP, I couldn’t flush my own toilet, which made the smells worse. The cells are just nasty. It’s hard to explain the emotions that go through me confined in a cell like this nearly 24 hours a day, with very few opportunities to go outside and get some fresh air.
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9. It’s hard to have normal conversations with people in isolation. A lot of my conversations are through the vent. The vent is next to the toilet. When I want to talk to someone, I have to stand in a little corner wedge between the toilet and the bed and put my face all the way up to the vent and yell really loudly for them to come to the vent. There’s four people on each vent; two upstairs and two downstairs. So if I’m talking to one of these people, the rest can get in on the conversation too. There are no secrets and no privacy. We have to talk pretty loudly for the sound to carry, so other people on the wing can usually hear what we’re saying too.
10. In confinement, my family could visit only for a short amount of time, and I’d have to sit behind a screen that makes it hard for us to see each other. The longer I was on CM, the less frequently my family came to visit. It was hard for them to come see me when we couldn’t have physical contact and we couldn’t hug. It really hurt when they stopped coming. There are times officers make it even harder to deal with the family separation. In August 2020, I was really worried about my sister because she had bypass surgery. Officers refused me my phone privileges, which added to my depression and anxiety.
11. Being behind the door took away my social skills. I don’t know how to talk or interact with people like I used to. My whole vocabulary has changed, because a lot of times I get angry and frustrated, and the smallest things people do
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agitate me. Even when I’m able to have conversations with people, I don’t develop solid relationships. I think it’s the impact of not being able to have face-to-face conversations with people, not being in each other’s presence when we talk. This makes it more difficult to build trust.
12. There’s very little to do inside my cell. It’s hard to keep track of time. If someone on the wing has a watch, I sometimes holler and ask what time it is. I can guess what time it is based on mealtimes. But the days blend into each other. Losing track of time makes me feel like less of a person. I have to create things for myself to do, like working out in my cramped cell or writing letters. The library usually doesn’t bring us books like it’s supposed to, and when I order from a book company, it can take 3-6 months for the book to come. But I get bored doing the same limited activities over and over again. The cycle of nothingness makes me feel lazy and depressed. I lose interest, energy, or motivation to do the things I ordinarily enjoy, because I can’t break my time up by socializing with different people on the yard or play games. So most of the time I just sleep.
13. At all the institutions I’ve been at, officers make it really hard to go to recreation. They come up with reasons to cancel rec, like if they see anybody standing at the cell door. Even when they do offer it, they speed through the dorm really quickly after announcing it’s time to go to recreation so I’m not able to get ready quickly enough for them to take me out. At Charlotte, officers only take
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people on my wing out to rec once a week, for six hours at once. It’s really frustrating because even when I do get to go, it means they won’t take me out of my cell again for the rest of the week. The only exercise I can do inside the rec cage is pull-ups and dips. If I need to use the bathroom while at rec, I stand in the corner of the cage and let it free.
14. I feel like all my years behind the door have also broken my body down physically. It’s gotten so used to not moving when I’m in a small space all day every day. I used to jog a lot, but now I can barely do any cardio without losing my breath.
15. Officers restrain me with handcuffs, a black box, waist chain, and leg irons whenever I leave my dorm. It’s one of the worst parts of being in confinement. I feel like I’m a slave—like I’m not even human, that I’m some sort of animal that needs to be restrained at all times. The strip searches are sick. Every time I leave my cell, officers ask me to remove all my clothes, bend over, spread my butt cheeks, grab my penis, grab my balls, lift them up, and drop them. After that, they ask me to put my hands inside my mouth. It’s abuse.
16. Cell extractions put fear in me. When I see it happen to someone else, my first thought is, “that could be me.” It’s hard to describe the feeling I get when it is me. Adrenaline rushes through me, my mind goes crazy, and my heart beats really fast. I worry that they’re going to mess me up bad. I’ve been assaulted by officers six different times during my time in isolation. I’ve also been sprayed with
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OC spray a lot of times in the past. Once at Santa Rosa CI I had an asthma attack so bad after I got sprayed that the nurse didn’t know what to do with me. They rushed me to the ER and gave me an emergency breathing treatment. I think the only reason I survived is because I had just taken my asthma inhalers before the officers sprayed me. Even though I’ve had asthma for a really long time, it wasn’t until 2018 that FDC said I shouldn’t be gassed because of my health condition. Still, in 2019, officers sprayed me at Columbia CI.
17. Officers have put me on property restriction so many times over the years, mostly in the winter. It’s miserable. It’s cold. They leave me in my cell with absolutely nothing other than my boxers, usually for at least 72 hours. I get really sore lying on steel. I can’t sleep. One of the worst parts was that medical and mental health staff would see me like this and walk on by like it wasn’t a big deal. I’ve been on strip twice since I’ve been back at Charlotte CI, once after a mental health emergency and cell extraction. I’ll never understand how they do this—throw me in a cell with nothing like I’m trash.
18. All of this has had a big impact on me. The 20 years I spent assigned to CM felt like a really bad cycle of mental health crises and isolation. I don’t know how many times I’ve hurt myself over the years. But I think my healthcare file is around 56 volumes long, if that’s any indication.
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19. I’ve gotten really depressed in these rooms. I sometimes feel like the walls are closing in on me. I get negative thoughts in my head and I want to scream out for someone to help but I have no one to turn to. When the thoughts get clogged up inside my mind, I start thinking about suicide. I just want to give up. When I get to that point, I don’t stop to think about things, I just act on it.
20. My first several years on CM, my depression used to get so bad that I would suck on my finger, then I’d cut myself or try to overdose. I’d lash out when people would try to talk to me. One of the hardest periods for me was after my mom and grandma both died in 2005. I was in DC so my family couldn’t come visit me. I couldn’t talk to them like I wanted. I was all alone. I tried repeatedly to provoke the officers, hoping they would kill me, and tried to kill myself. I just lost it. I know that God does things on his own time. But I prayed that he would take me, to get me out of the isolation I was in.
21. Repeatedly I’d declare psychological emergencies in isolation. But a lot of the time mental health staff would say I was a security problem, not a mental health problem—like my condition wasn’t bad enough to treat me. Nothing they did helped me cope with my depression, paranoia, and anxiety. It drove me to extreme levels. I’d hurt myself. Then I’d get written up and go to disciplinary confinement— like my mental health symptoms really are a security issue!
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22. Over the years, officers have given me many DRs and sent me to DC for things I’ve done while hurting myself, like self-mutilation, overdosing on pills I wasn’t supposed to have in my cell, or disobeying a verbal order for continuing to cut myself when an officer told me stop. Once they accused me of destruction of state property because I used a piece of my mattress to create a noose and hung myself. I almost died; I was in the hospital for several days. Shortly after I got back from the hospital, they sent me to disciplinary confinement.
23. Every time staff discharged me from SHOS or the inpatient mental health unit they sent me back to CM—the same environment that was causing me harm. Once, in 2004 I think, I got discharged from the inpatient unit at UCI back to CM. I was really going through it. Within the first four days back, I cut myself three different times and went to medical each time. Once the cuts were so bad I needed stitches. But staff just took me back to my cell after. So, I overdosed on some pills, and finally they took me back to the inpatient unit. They don’t care about our lives. Officers have watched me cut and have waited for there to be a lot of blood before they even react. Many of them want me to die.
24. The mental health care I get behind the door has never been enough to help me cope with the symptoms that being locked down triggers. I need more time out of my cell and better and more frequent counseling—not being stuck alone with my thoughts in a cramped cell nearly 24 hours a day. The individual counseling I
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get rarely helps. When I tell my counselor that I’d like to meet with her more regularly, she usually says her case load is too heavy. Many times, I’ve had to speak with a counselor while standing in a locked shower. It’s humiliating, and there’s no privacy. An officer stands close and there are people in nearby cells, so I can’t speak openly about what I’m going through because I’m afraid others will hear me. But even when I get to meet with a counselor in the dayroom, it doesn’t do much for me. Our meetings are short—not enough to really get into what I’m going through—and the counselor usually asks me a standard set of questions. I come back to my cell feeling just as depressed as I was before. My anxiety creeps up on me and I get panic attacks. When I don’t have an escape, things escalate. It’s why I’ve hurt myself so many times.
25. As I spent more and more years behind the door, I began to develop some coping skills. I had to learn on my own because the mental health services in isolation are really bad. I read books about yoga and meditation, processed them, and began to act on them. I learned to take my mind off of my situation and focus on things that are positive. When it works, meditation makes my heart happier and my mind more at ease. I feel tranquil. But it doesn’t always work. Lately, I haven’t been able to turn off the depression, but I’m taking it one day at a time.
26. I wake up each day, expecting the worst. I never know if it will be a day that officers mess with my food or put someone in my cell to abuse me. I try to
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take it one day at a time, but it’s hard. Between the loneliness and the abuse, I know
every single day is going to be bad.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on May 19, 2021.

Signed: /s/ Larry Merritt, DC# 602100

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DESTINI MATTHEWS I, Destini Matthews, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am twenty-two years old and incarcerated at Lowell Correctional

Institution in Close Management Three. I came to the Florida Department of

Corrections (FDC) in March 2020 as a Youthful Offender and I’m scheduled for

release in February 2023. I make this statement based on my own personal

knowledge.

2. Since I came to prison in March 2020, I have been in Administrative

Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and Close Management Levels Two and

Three, all at Lowell. Sometimes I have been on two kinds of statuses at one time.

When I add up all the time I’ve spent in confinement, it has been about eight months

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of my year in prison. All placements in confinement have been torturous and I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. Even though FDC calls them different things, they’re all “confinement” to me and they all make me feel about the same. It’s so hard not being able to communicate with my family while living within the same four walls every day.
3. I have had epileptic seizures since I was very young. Before I came to prison, I was taking medication for my seizures, but I haven’t gotten any of my medicine since being in prison. I feel scared that I’ll have a seizure in confinement because I don’t have the medication that was helping me. I’ve fallen while having a seizure and have gotten knots on my head and sprained my wrist.
4. It’s hard for me to deal with my severe asthma in confinement, especially because they won’t let me have an inhaler. FDC staff once told me they will not give me an inhaler because they think that Youthful Offenders, like me, sell their inhalers. All I want to do is to have peace of mind that I can have it if I need to breathe. The stuffy and dirty cells do not help my asthma and I don’t feel safe knowing I won’t necessarily have help if I need it. If I am having an asthma attack, I’m afraid there won’t be anyone to help me.
5. I was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder when I was pretty young. It can be hard for me to stay focused and sometimes I feel myself
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getting angry easily. Being by myself without anyone to talk to regularly makes me feel more irritable when I do talk to someone.
6. Being in confinement has made me depressed and anxious. While in confinement, I hear voices telling me to hurt myself and others. Sometimes hurting myself relieves the pressure of being alone.
7. I have an ADA epilepsy pass but I don’t know if I have an ADA coordinator. The pass informs staff that I’m not allowed to be on the top bunk of any cell or operate machinery. But I also shouldn’t be in a cell by myself, yet most of my time in confinement has been spent alone. Without a cellmate, there’s no way for staff to know I’m having a seizure unless they happen to be walking by my cell window.
8. My cells in confinement have been so nasty and depressing. I can’t always tell what time of day it is because the window to the outside is blurred out and it doesn’t open. There is nothing on my walls but mold, stains, dirt, and bugs. I’m not allowed to have any pictures, clocks, calendars, or anything on my walls; I could get in trouble with a disciplinary report if I did. Another disciplinary report could mean staying in confinement even longer when it already feels like I’ve been here for so long. Roaches, spiders, crickets, and ants have crawled all over my cells. They come in through all the holes in the walls. At night, it’s super creepy because you hear all kinds of noises moving through the walls and floors when you’re trying
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to fall asleep. We can’t always control when our lights go out and that makes it even harder to sleep through the night.
9. It’s hard to feel like yourself in prison, especially in confinement. The officers are so mean. I already feel gross enough in our dirty cells, but I feel even worse when officers refuse to give me any sanitary pads for my periods.
10. It’s also hard to make friendships or even have regular conversations in confinement. There was once a mental health lady who seemed to be the only person who cared about me, but now she’s gone. The only time nurses say more than a few words to me is when I have a seizure. I submitted a grievance to FDC about not getting to visit with a chaplain and FDC did not respond. It would help so much with my time here if I could be with others in keeping the faith. My next door neighbors are only a few away from me and we’d be close enough to talk to each other and get to know one another. But I’m afraid to try because I could get a disciplinary report. Instead, the only ways we’ve been able to talk are through the cement wall between us while lying down on the cold, dirty floor or by talking and listening through the toilet drain.
11. Keeping in touch with my family is harder in confinement. I haven’t seen my mom’s face since before I came to prison because we aren’t allowed to have video calls in confinement. This weighs me down so much and pulls me into a depression that feels hard to get out of and I can feel myself get stressed, anxious,
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and panicked. When I was in General Population, I was allowed to keep in touch with my family through video calls and email. Not only am I denied video calls in confinement, but I also couldn’t even email them until recently when I got on CM Level Three. So, we basically only communicated through a few letters for months because it’s difficult for my family to put money on my phone.
12. The days and nights blend together in confinement. I try to stay up all night so that when the lights come on and the day begins, I can sleep all day. It helps make the time go by. At night, I quietly sing to myself. I write in my journal and I have some letters that I read over and over again. I don’t have a lot of access to books and, even though I’ve requested educational materials, FDC hasn’t given me any. I wish I had more because I love history and want to learn about stuff that happened before my time, like the Black Plague and the Holocaust. Sometimes the entire day will go by and I’ve spent it entirely inside my cell without doing much of anything, or making eye contact with anyone, or having a full conversation.
13. I try to go to rec when it is offered to me. But I don’t get it very often, and when I do go, I’m in a cage by myself but lined up next to other rec cages, like we’re dogs.
14. I have to go through a lot with the officers just to come out of my cell. The officers search my cell every time I come out for a shower, rec, or anytime I’m coming out of my cell. They trash my cell and take some of my property. They strip
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search me too. Sometimes there are multiple officers around when it only takes one officer to tell you what to do. Sometimes they snicker while you take your clothes off. I hate strip searches, especially when I’m on my period. But sometimes I feel like I have no choice but to leave my cell, like if I really need to take a shower. So then I have to take the risk that they’ll tear up my cell and humiliate me with these orders.
15. I am scared of getting pepper-sprayed in confinement. The officers use pepper spray a lot more often in confinement than in General Population. They pepper sprayed me once even though I have asthma. I blacked out, couldn’t breathe, and my face was burning. They had to take me to medical for twenty-four hours to observe me. Confinement is bad enough already, but it’s even harder to live with the fear that almost anything could set the officers off into spraying me again.
16. Everything about being in confinement has made me feel like an animal, or even worse, like how I feel, what I think, or what I can remember do not matter.
17. The thought of killing myself never crossed my mind before FDC sent me to confinement. I’ve been breaking down over time in here. I’ve tried to hurt myself at least five times since being in confinement. I cut myself in November 2020. The last time FDC knew I hurt myself was in October 2020. I was cutting myself because the voices were telling me to hurt people. I didn’t want to act out on
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anyone so I took it out on myself instead. They then put me in SHOS for twentyfour hours. In SHOS, officers, not nurses, came by to check on me every thirty minutes for what felt like not even a minute each time. After my twenty-four hours in SHOS, they put me right back in my confinement cell, where I’ve felt alone and afraid.
18. I feel like my time in confinement is never-ending. Whenever I get new DRs, no matter what kind, it affects my review and then I can’t get out of CM. I feel stuck in Close Management and like I won’t get out before it’s time for me to go back home. And then what will I be like? Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 10, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Destini Matthews, DC #F70468
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DEMETRIUS SPIRES

I, Demetrius Spires, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 45-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections. I’ve been in some type of confinement off and on for

about 18 years, with 13 of those years being continuous from 2003-2016. I am

currently assigned to Close Management (CM) 1 at Santa Rosa CI. I make this

declaration based on my personal knowledge.

2. FDC has a lot of names for solitary confinement, like Close

Management and Disciplinary Confinement. All of them mean that you are isolated

in a cell almost all day and night, so they are all basically the same in my experience.

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FDC put me in confinement for the first time in 2003, and I didn’t get out until 2016 because they kept extending my time.
3. I have serious medical issues and medical care is hard to access in confinement. I was diagnosed with hypertension in 2005 and was told that I had issues with my kidneys that same year. I eventually went through stage 3 renal failure. In General Population, I can put in a sick call on my own. In confinement, nurses carry sick call slips on them but they often don’t stop to give them out when we ask. The nurses often tell security to pass them out, but security doesn’t always do that. When I am able to see a doctor while on confinement, I have to wear a belly chain, handcuffs, and shackles during the appointment and there is an officer in the room. I can’t speak freely with the doctor with an officer listening because I worry the officers will use that information against me. I have witnessed this happen, where an officer spread the information that one of the other incarcerated people here is HIV+. I don’t want something like that to happen to me.
4. These aren’t the only reasons it’s hard to be in confinement with medical issues. When I was a kid, I had two bones broken in my left leg and my left knee had to be reconstructed. Because of this injury I sometimes need a knee brace to walk. I had one in confinement from 2003-2008, but they took it when they put me on property restriction one time and didn’t give it back. When I’ve requested to have one again, they say it’s a “security risk” even though I had one without issues
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for 5 years in confinement and a knee brace is just as easy to take off and search as my clothes are, and officers strip search me anyway. Anytime I’m active, my knee hurts without the brace and so because I don’t have it in confinement, I can’t really do any exercise either in my cell or when they let me out in the cage.
5. I’ve also been diagnosed with multiple mental health conditions including paranoid schizophrenia and depression. When I was a kid I was diagnosed as emotionally handicapped and was in a mental health program from ages 12-16. Being in confinement really messes with my head. In confinement, I’ve felt like hurting myself. I’ve even thought of killing myself and have acted on those thoughts. I’ve been in SHOS at least five times. I think the last time was in May 2020. Being in a SHOS cell is scary and unhelpful because you are put in a turtle suit and have nothing else. Other times when I have tried to declare psych emergencies, the officers would ignore me and just keep walking or retaliate against me. I’ve seen other people hanging themselves and get gassed for doing it. When I do see mental health staff, counseling sessions are just 15 minutes, and when I’m out of my cell, officers ransack my belongings, leaving them on the floor and in the toilet. In confinement, there’s a price to pay for trying to get psychiatric help.
6. I’ve been placed in the Transitional Care Unit (TCU) and Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) numerous times. TCU at Union was less stressful than being in confinement at Florida State Prison (FSP) where I’ve spent most of my
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times in confinement. In the TCU, officers can’t pepper spray you. I got to come out of my cell more in the TCU because I had to come out for group therapy. Officers also had to take me out so I could shower in the TCU. I went to group therapy almost every day - sometimes twice a day. In confinement, I’m stuck in that cell all day, every day. It’s hard to describe how it feels. People need to socialize, it’s in our genes. But it is against the rules to do that when you’re stuck in confinement. Being caged in confinement stresses me out mentally and my physical health degrades.
7. Officers in confinement are more aggressive than officers in general population. The confinement officers talk to me like I’m a dog. One time, an officer got mad at me, and lied and said that I had taken some pills. I was taken to medical where they pumped my stomach, forced a tube down my throat, and poured water down the tube. It felt like I was drowning. It was one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been gassed with pepper spray a few times. Once, in December 2020, I did not get a DR but was gassed anyway for no reason. The gas messes with your breathing and burns your skin. Sometimes, the gassings are so bad that the smell of the pepper spray just sits in the air- even if it happened to someone a few cells away.
8. Officers have also put me on property restriction, which doesn’t happen when you’re in general population. We call it going on “strip.” When I’ve been on strip, all my belongings are taken away and I’m left in my cell with no mattress, just
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wearing boxers. A lot of the time, I’ve been put on strip when it’s been cold outside. With nothing but boxers to wear and only steel and cement to sit or lay on, I was freezing, shivering, and could not sleep. It is torture. I was once transferred to a cell while on strip that had a window that wouldn’t close even though it was freezing outside. Even worse, the exhaust fans were pulling the cold air into the cell for the entire three days I was on strip. If I try to avoid getting put on strip by refusing to take off my clothes or give them my belongings, officers gas me with pepper spray.
9. I get strip searched every time I’m taken out of my cell. When I get strip searched, officers make me squat and cough. Sometimes, officers tell me to spread my buttocks during strip searches. It feels like they are trying to humiliate me like this on purpose to try to stop me from coming out of my cell. I’ve also left my cell and come back to find all my property thrown all around the room and some of it missing. I’ve found my belongings destroyed before and have even come back to find my radio broken or in the toilet. All of this treatment makes me not want to come out of my cell because there’s nothing I can do to stop it. When I wrote a grievance about it, all I got back was a response that says “The officer stated that’s not true.”
10. It doesn’t help to have a cellmate in confinement because the cells are so small and you’re in them all the time. At Suwannee and Santa Rosa, the cells are so tiny that if I have a roommate and I’m out of my bed, he would have to be in his
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bed. There’s not enough room for both of us to pace the cell. The cell is just too small to have enough space for even just one person when there’s nowhere else to go.
11. The cells in confinement are disgusting. The walls have dirt on them that just gets painted over. Every time I change cells in confinement, I get on my hands and knees and scrub the floor, because it’s just so dirty. Every morning I sweep my cell to try to keep it as clean as I can, but it’s really hard to do. Officers don’t always bring cleaning supplies around and I have to just use whatever I have. When they do bring cleaning chemicals, they are watered down and there isn’t enough of it. In some of the cells, you can see crusted urine around the rim of the toilet and smell the urine in the air, even after its cleaned. In some of the cells I’ve been in at FSP, I couldn’t even flush the toilet myself – I needed to have an officer do it for me by putting a sign up in my cell window that says “FLUSH.” Sometimes, the officers just wouldn’t do it. I think they thought it was funny. It wasn’t. It made me sick, angry, and even more depressed.
12. I don’t get to interact with people when I’m on confinement like I could in general population. You’re not allowed to talk to other people through the vents or on the doors. I write to my family, but I don’t get much phone time.
13. I try to distract myself from the issues in confinement, but it’s hard. I listen to the radio a lot, especially NPR and political talk shows. Sometimes, all I
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can do is listen to the noises of the wing and the dorm itself. I love to read so I try to do that, but it’s hard when the few books you have can get taken away during a cell search.
14. All of this together makes my experience in confinement unbearable. I know the rules in prison. I know that every morning I need to make my bed. I wake up around 3:30 every morning and the lights come on at 4. I get up and make my bed. I say my prayers. I try not to get on the door and yell or talk unless there’s something I really need. But I don’t understand why they need to add things like property restriction, gassings, and getting stripped. It feels like it’s for the purpose of humiliating us. Being in confinement is already bad enough.
15. I feel like the confinement system is designed to tear you down and break you. I don’t wish this on anyone. I’m losing myself in here.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 18, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Demetrius Spires, DC# 890758
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF MICHAEL LOVE I, Michael Love, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 37-year-old white man in prison at Santa Rosa Correctional

Institution (SRCI). I am on Close Management Level 2 and Disciplinary

Confinement. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have several physical and mental health conditions. I have psoriasis,

hypertension, migraines, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. FDC currently

prescribes me Effexor to treat my mental illness. In the past, I’ve had to go to

inpatient treatment because of my mental health problems when I was in

confinement.

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3. I have been in confinement for almost five years now. During this time, I have been in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management I, Close Management II, and Close Management III. I call all of this “confinement ” because I am confined in a cell by myself and cannot come out. I have been in confinement at Marion Correctional Institution, Charlotte Correctional Institution, Northwest Florida Reception Center, Washington Correctional Institution, Miami-Dade Correctional Institution, Apalachee Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison (FSP), and Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI). Confinement has felt the same everywhere. We are always treated like scum by the officers. They are always cussing at us and acting like we are less than human. We have to rely on them for every single thing when we are locked behind the door so they hold all the power over us. It feels like they abuse this power a lot. They can deny us showers, food, dayroom, phone use, etc., at any minute. The fact that we are so dependent on them is very different from General Population.
4. The confinement cells at all the prisons are filthy, including my current cell. The water in my sink constantly leaks so I have to stick a spoon up the faucet to keep the water from always running but then the water just trickles behind the sink and causes mold. I can never get rid of the mold because we are never given enough cleaning supplies. In fact, sometimes weeks go by without being given any cleaning supplies at all. There are a lot of spiders, earwigs, and cockroaches in the
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cells. I have also had rats run under my cell doors in the past. I hardly ever get to talk to other people. We are not allowed to talk to other prisoners on the wing. So the only way to make friendships is if I break the rules. I am scared to do that because I do not want to get any Disciplinary Reports (DRs) that can keep me in confinement longer. The nurses don’t even talk to me when they deliver my medications through the food flap in my cell door. If I try and ask them something, or get their attention, they just tell me to write a sick call request and keep moving. Most of my sick call requests never get answered in confinement. I have not seen a chaplain walk around the wing in months. The only time I can talk to my family is when we are offered the kiosk, which only happens very sporadically. It is hard never knowing when exactly I will get to talk to my family again.
5. Sometimes we have cellmates when we are in Close Management Level 2 and Close Management Level 3. Having a cellmate normally just creates more problems. A couple months ago, my cellmate at the time got into a verbal argument with an officer. The officer walked away saying he had something for my cellmate. When he came back he rolled the door open and told me to cover up. I was resting on my top bunk at the time. They then started pepper spraying our cell. I begged to come out of my cell because I had nothing to do with this argument, but they told me they could not bring me out because of security concerns and continued spraying our cell. There is no way to “cover up” from that gas. I was punished with pepper
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spray for something I did not do and had nothing to do with just because I had a cellmate. When I am gassed, it feels like all of the air in the room is sucked out. I feel like I am dying and can’t breathe.
6. I rarely get offered recreation. I feel like they skip me a lot and claim that I refused, but that is not true. I can’t really exercise in my cell, especially when I have cellmates. I am on the top bunk so in order to exercise, I would have to be on the cell floor. The cells are so small that the space available on the floor would only be inches away from my cellmate in his bottom bunk. It would probably annoy him if I was sweating everywhere and jumping around inches away from his space. It is just easier not to exercise than risk creating any tension between my cellmate. It is really hard on my body to never get any exercise. It makes me feel weak and lethargic all the time.
7. The constant cell searches and strip searches make me reluctant to come out of my cell. They destroy our property during the cell searches. I have had them throw photographs, mail, and paperwork in the toilet, and break my radio. Once, they destroyed photographs of my now deceased mom. It makes me sad that I can never get those photographs back. I also have to deal with strip searches every time I come out of my cell and I hate them. It makes me feel violated and harassed. I have to get completely naked, lift my genitals, and squat and cough.
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8. I have been placed on strip [property restriction] several times during the past almost five years of confinement. Last time, I had a picture of my daughter on my cell wall. They got mad at me for this and said I was going on strip. They took everything away from me and I was left only in my boxers. It was during the winter. The window in my cell was broken so cold air was getting into the cell. I just remember freezing and never feeling so cold in my life. I curled up into a ball in the corner of my cell and just prayed for three days for it to end. I was never able to sleep during this time because the cold was too much.
9. I have cut myself a lot over the past five years. A lot of times this is triggered by officer treatment. When they put me down, treat me less than human, or torture me, it makes me want to kill myself. For example, in the past I have cut myself in strip as a means to escape the pain. When this happened, they brought me to medical, glued my arm back up, and brought me straight back to my cell to serve the rest of my remaining time on strip. Once, I was even threatened that if I cut my arms again they would beat me up. I deal with a lot of suicidal thoughts, but cutting does not get the help I need. I need more counseling and access to programs outside my cell.
10. I feel like I can never get out of confinement. They can continue me in CM for a DR and they make it almost impossible to go DR free for any long period of time. Recently I went months without DRs and thought I was going back to
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General Population, but then I got one DR and I was bumped back up to Close Management Level 2. I have been on Close Management Level 3 twice now, but instead of going back to General Population, they find reasons to upgrade my level and keep me here longer. I’m afraid I will remain in confinement until I’m released from prison.
11. One of the biggest problems in confinement is that we are all dependent on officers for every single thing. It feels like the officers get overwhelmed with their jobs and then take it out on us. At every confinement wing, almost every time I try to get an officer’s attention during their rounds, they don’t acknowledge me and just keep walking. When they ignore me, it dominates my mind and makes me feel angry and frustrated. For example, I might think I am getting the kiosk one day and look forward to speaking to my family. That day will come and go with no kiosk or response from the officers about why not. It makes me feel like I should give up and stop caring about life anymore.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on March 29, 2021.

Signed: /s/ Michael Love, DC#R32082

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF THOMAS TINGLEY I, Thomas Tingley, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 57-year-old white man and am incarcerated in the custody of the

Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). I am currently assigned to Close

Management 1 at Apalachee East Correctional Institution. I make this statement

based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have been in and out of confinement isolation for almost two years. I

call it “confinement isolation” because there is very little stimulation and I feel kept

away and isolated from everything. During this time, I have experienced

Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), and all three

levels of Close Management (CM) at over four different institutions: Columbia

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Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, and Apalachee Correctional Institution. In all these different places, there wasn’t enough recreation, I hardly ever talked to anyone, there was little to no control over my lights and toilets, and the cells were too small, making all of my experiences in confinement feel pretty similar.
3. FDC identified an issue with my prostate about six to eight months ago and prescribed me with medication for this. Before I got help, I had to use the bathroom frequently. I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). I use two inhalers for my COPD, one that I use daily as medicine and the other is for “rescue” situations. I have also had blood clots and so I take Coumadin for this once a day and wear compression socks. I get body aches and joint pain that I’m worried is from lack of exercise and moving around while in confinement isolation.
4. I take Trileptal, Vistaril, and Effexor for depression and claustrophobia. There was a period when I was released back into General Population and my depression eased up. It helped when I wasn’t so alone.
5. My confinement isolation cells have been nasty. In some of my confinement cells, there has been black mold on the walls and ceiling, and I’m worried about what it does to my COPD. The backs of the doors have been in terrible shape, sometimes flakey with all the rust that has built up over the years. I’ve been in cells where the flap in the door had rust and so when I’ve had to get injections
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through the flap, I’m anxious that some of the rust will flake onto my body. Sometimes staff will give us cleaning supplies, but weeks can go by in between getting these supplies. When I don’t have these supplies, I have to clean my cell and toilet bowl with the same bar of soap I use for my hands and body.
6. The cells have been infested with bugs and rats, some worse than others. The rats get inside the cells through the holes caused by the rot around the toilets. I’ve tried to keep these pests out by stuffing paper into the holes, but that hasn’t stopped any of them from invading. In one of my cells, there was a trail of bugs crawling up the walls and nesting inside the lights. Red ants bite during the day but they’re even worse at night -- I’ve woken up with 15-20 bites on my face and on parts of my body underneath my clothes.
7. Being in confinement makes me feel like a monkey in a cage, except I think monkeys in a zoo might be treated better than us. Sometimes, like now, I don’t even have a window in my confinement cell. When I have had a window in my confinement cell, the windows have been clouded so that I can’t see what’s going on outside. Hardly any natural sunlight comes into the cell and most of the windows don’t open, so the air is stuffy. The stuffy air is worse when my toilet is filled with feces and that smell takes over the whole cell, even during meals. In one of my cells, I did not have full control of my toilet, otherwise I could have flushed it when I
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needed to and helped the stink. It’s freezing in the winter and I feel so cold in only one layer of clothing and sometimes without any socks.
8. I only get about two hours of sleep at night because the lights are on for nearly twenty hours a day and there is constant noise throughout the quad. I try to sleep when I can during the day, but it’s hard with the gun range outside and when people on either side of me are yelling and banging on the walls. If I don’t try and block some of this out, it drives me even crazier than I already feel. I feel like I can’t escape sometimes, like there’s no getting away from feeling so trapped and crazed.
9. I haven’t developed any meaningful relationships with anyone or had true conversations with people while in confinement isolation. The contact I have with FDC staff is minimal. When staff or run-arounds drop our food off and slide it through the flap about three times a day, they hardly say anything to me and we know barely anything else about each other’s lives. If mental health comes around for weekly rounds, most of the counselors will only ask me if I’m alright just as they continue on to the next cell, without waiting for an answer. Most of the nurses who come by with medicine don’t want to hear anything from you -- they just want to drop your medication off and then they’re gone. It’s helped to talk to the chaplain, but they only come by once a week at the most, and sometimes all he does is slip a pamphlet under the door without saying anything. I don’t talk to my neighbors because I’m afraid of getting in more trouble that will keep me in confinement
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longer. Many days can go by in my cell without meaningful conversation with anyone.
10. In General Population, I was in an open unit and was able to communicate with so many different people. It was therapeutic to have somewhat normal contact with other human beings, build acquaintances, learn about similar interests as other people, and talk about different family issues we might be having from being in prison. That helped me get through the day. Being in confinement isolation takes so much of that interaction away. I’ve only been to the dayroom twice, so I don’t really have the chance to talk to people there. I miss staying in touch with my family and friends. Without access to a tablet or regular use of a phone, I’m only able to stay in touch with them through a few letters each month. My sister wrote a letter to me recently, informing me that my ninety-nine-year-old mother passed away. The letter went to the chaplain first, but he did not come to see me. I had to bring this up to my psychiatrist during a follow-up appointment and he increased my dose of Trileptal. Not being able to communicate with my mother her last months pushed my depression to the envelope.
11. I’ve had a cellmate in some of my confinement isolation cells and it’s made those times worse. The amount of time we have to be together in such a small space isn’t normal. Some people constantly needed to use the bathroom. When my prostate issue is not under control, I need to urinate frequently and have had to while
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my cellmate has been just a few feet away. It feels like I’m living with someone inside of a bathroom and you can’t get away with doing anything without being in each other’s space. You also never know who FDC will put you with inside those tiny cells. I’ve been stuck with cellmates who want to masturbate thirty times a day. I’ve had another cellmate who wanted to fight out of boredom. One of the guards has watched us hurt each other and done nothing about it. It’s times like this that make me feel even more like an animal in a cage.
12. The time inside of my confinement isolation cells feels wasted and unproductive. I don’t always get to order books or magazines from the prison libraries. There have been times where FDC hasn’t given me the little property I have until well after I’ve been transferred from one facility to the next. If it wasn’t for the occasional time check or afternoon shadow on my wall, I would have no measure of time other than when staff come around for meals and medicine. There are blocks of time where all I do is stare at the wall and pray or lie in bed, deepening my depression.
13. I don’t think I’ve ever been out to rec since being in confinement isolation. Sometimes it feels like too much of a hassle because some officers will tear up your cell when you leave. Sometimes it’s too cold outside and without any extra clothes, my body on blood thinners is extra sensitive to the weather. I have requested extra clothing, but FDC did not respond. Trying to exercise in my cell is
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tough. I don’t like doing push-ups and sit-ups with the bugs and rats on the floor and I don’t get as much cardio as I would like. It takes me about five steps to walk from one end of the cell to the other. When I try to go back and forth, I get dizzy and can’t keep going for too long. Plus, when I have a cellmate in there, I have to think about what’s going on with him. I know I don’t always like it when my cellmate is huffing and puffing and sweating within a few feet from me. So I don’t get the exercise I need to help me stay healthy.
14. Guards make us go through demeaning “strip searches” and cell searches that make me not want to come out of my cell. I used to come out for oneon-one counseling, but when I did, certain officers would tear my cell apart and some things would go missing. Some things have also gotten planted in my cell. They once put my cellmate’s tattoo gun in my stuff, as if they were trying to cause trouble between us. Now I hardly ever come out for psych counseling because the anxiety and harassment from the strip search and cell search outweigh the few minutes I spend with the counselor. I don’t go out for showers at every opportunity. Instead, I take bird baths with my sink. When I have a cellmate, we’ve put a sheet up against the wall for a little privacy, but some sinks are beside the door so anyone who walks by the door can see you through the window. Just like an animal in a cage, I feel totally exposed.
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15. There are other things that make me feel like an animal too. Sometimes I have to fight off my cellmates in order to eat my food. Sometimes I have to shove my food down so quickly because I’m afraid I won’t be able to eat it all before the guards or orderlies come back around and demand the tray back.
16. I had minor depression before going into confinement isolation, but nothing like what I experience now. I didn’t experience claustrophobia in General Population but I do in confinement isolation. This claustrophobia causes me to feel a tightness in my chest as if there’s an elephant sitting on top of it. I feel more claustrophobic at night when it’s dark and I have a cellmate on the top bunk a few feet above me. I feel anxious because I don’t know what my cellmate might be thinking, and this can also make it hard to sleep. I hyperventilate about twice a week and I’m highly anxious when it feels like the walls are closing in on me. I also never had thoughts of hurting myself before coming into confinement isolation. Confinement has taken me to places of darkness and despair.
17. Being in confinement isolation is stressful enough, but it’s added stress to not know how long I could be kept away like this. I was moved from Disciplinary Confinement to Administrative Confinement around March 2021 and recently FDC informed me that I’m now Close Management 1. I’ve been afraid of any move I make and anything I say during my time in confinement isolation because I’ve seen
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people get in trouble for seemingly small things, like having extra clothes, extra sheets, and talking. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 6, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Thomas Tingley, DC #616700
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

__________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF BRIANA (ALEX) BEASLEY

I, Briana Beasley, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 27-year-old Black transgender woman incarcerated in a men’s

prison in the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). I make this declaration based

on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have been in confinement for over 6 years. During that time, I’ve been

in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and Close Management

(CM) I, II, and III. We call all of these “confinement.” FDC first put me in CM when

I was 18 years old. Right now I’m on Close Management I and Administrative

Confinement at Florida State Prison.

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3. Before I came to FDC, I was diagnosed with several mental disabilities, including Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and Depression. FDC categorizes me as a Psych 3 (S-3) inmate.
4. I also have seizures for which I receive medications. 5. In my experience, confinement is harmful and messes up your mind no matter what prison you are in or what level of confinement you are on. 6. Confinement cells are really dirty. Even if I clean my cell, the floors and tiles are constantly dirty because dirt and dust comes in through the vents. There is mold on the walls and toilet. I get a lot of rashes that I think are caused by the mold and dirt. I have only seen staff or the orderlies clean the cells or paint over the mold if someone is coming to inspect the prison; otherwise, FDC does not seem to care that it is dirty and unsanitary for us. 7. In some confinement cells I have been in, I have not been able to control the lights. I need to control the lights because they can trigger my seizures. I often have to lay down and cover my eyes with a shirt so I don’t get a seizure, but I could get in trouble for covering my head. In 2014, I got a Disciplinary Report for putting a shirt over my eyes and was put on “strip,” which is what we call property restriction. 8. The guards are supposed to come around and check on us every 30 minutes. Sometimes the guards just walk by and do not even look in the cell to make
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sure I am okay. This makes me especially afraid because, if I’m alone in a cell, I’m worried I will have a seizure and get hurt and no one will know.
9. In some confinement cells, I could not flush the toilets on my own. Instead, I had to ask the guards to flush the toilet for me. Sometimes when I ask the guards to flush the toilet, they say “no” multiple times. They say it is part of the punishment of being in prison. Sometimes the cell smells like urine and feces for hours. It is degrading and dehumanizing. It is hard to eat. It makes me stressed and depressed. They treat me like a dog forced to live in its own waste.
10. Officers give me one roll of toilet paper every week, but sometimes they run out of toilet paper and I have to wait to buy one from canteen. When I don’t have toilet paper, I use a sock and wipe myself with that. Or I get a sheet and rip it, fold it, wet it, and wipe with that. I flush the whole thing. If I get caught ripping a sheet, they might put me on strip. A few years ago, they put me on strip and gave me a Disciplinary Report (DR) for Destruction of State Property and 30 days more in DC just for ripping a sheet and using it as toilet paper when I didn’t have any other option.
11. I have been put on strip at least six times for things like talking out of the back window or through the vent, in addition to when I ripped my sheet. Strip is a horrible and cruel punishment. Officers take everything out of your cell even though I think they are supposed to only take your state property. They take your
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mattress, your blanket, your sheets, and all your clothes, except for your underwear, usually for 72 hours. It is really cold and it is impossible to sleep on the metal bed. When I am on strip, I feel like everyone is looking at me naked. It makes me feel very violated. I was raped in the past, and this makes me feel like I am getting raped again.
12. Strip is so unbearable that sometimes I cut myself really badly so that I can go to the hospital. I would rather hurt myself than be on strip, that’s how bad it is.
13. In all types of confinement, I have to eat in my cell. The trays FDC uses to deliver meals to me in my cell are really dirty and often moldy. Sometimes the food is moldy too. I am supposed to receive Kosher meals and food that is wrapped or sealed and has been blessed. But often in confinement, FDC does not follow protocol and my meals are opened or I receive the same food as everyone else.
14. I get very little human interaction in confinement. Dayroom would help a lot because it gives me the chance to talk to other community members while we are all together, if staff would actually pull us out. But on some days, I was supposed to get dayroom, staff didn’t pull me or anybody else out of our cells. They claimed they were short on staff or that none of us were ready to be taken to dayroom. When I was on F-Wing at FSP for about a month in December of 2020, I remember going to dayroom only one time.
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15. I usually don’t get recreation in confinement. Like with dayroom, officers will say they are short staffed, or I wasn’t ready, even if I was. When they do take me to rec, it’s in a cage that’s about 12 feet by 6 feet. There’s nothing to do but work out on the pull up and dip bar. I’d like to be able to talk to people at rec, but it’s risky because they often put people in every other rec cage and if I try to call to the person who’s two cages over, they might say I am yelling, and I could get in trouble for that.
16. Throughout the day there is nothing much to do in confinement. The lights turn on at around 4:00 in the morning and they start distributing breakfast around 4:30 or 5:30 am. It is impossible to continue sleeping, because it is so loud in the wing. There are constantly sounds of people yelling or banging on the cells, flaps clanking, and cells opening. I don’t always have a book to read. I have never had a tablet in my 6 years in confinement.
17. Whenever I leave my dorm, I have to be strip searched and shackled. Officers shackle my feet, and they use a black box, on top of handcuffs, that is shackled to my waist. I have been sexually assaulted before so being observed and touched in this way by male officers makes me feel molested and violated. I also get very nervous when I am shackled because I am vulnerable to being jumped, which is especially scary as a transgender woman. Being shackled makes me feel like a
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slave. Even when I have legal calls, I am fully shackled. It makes talking to my attorneys very uncomfortable and painful because the shackles cut into my wrists.
18. Officers use force regularly in confinement. I have seen them jump on people in confinement who turned in grievances. About two years ago, I wrote a grievance about the conditions of confinement and how solitary is messing with my mental health. No one helped me in response. Instead, soon after I turned in the grievance, officers would not let me go to rec and called me a snitch. They started yelling at me to pick up the stuff on my floor, which I did, but they still called in the cell extraction team. A group of 5 male officers in full body armor came into my cell and pinned me to the ground, kicked me in the ribs, punched me in the head, and dislocated my elbow. I had to go to an outside hospital, and my elbow still hurts to this day. The risk that officers will hurt me makes the conditions in confinement so much worse.
19. I have problems with my asthma in confinement. Officers have taken my inhalers, along with all of the other property in my cell, in response to my mental health episodes in confinement. Also, the staff use chemical gases more frequently in confinement, which triggers my asthma. Even when the gas is used on a different floor, or down the hall, the gas still reaches me through the air vents. When I complain to the guards about this, they tell me to simply hide under my blanket, which does not help alleviate my asthma, and can actually make it worse.
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20. In addition to the lights, I believe that the stress of being in confinement triggers my seizures.
21. I believe confinement, over the years and across various FDC prisons, has triggered symptoms of my mental disabilities and made them worse. With ADHD it is difficult for me to sit still for long periods of time or go without exercise or talking to other people. It stresses me out to be so restricted in my everyday movements. It makes me want to pace. It makes me to talk to myself. It makes me bang my head on the wall. The voices I sometimes hear get stronger. My paranoia also increases.
22. Confinement makes me cut myself because it feels like the only way to cope. Cutting helps me calm down so I don’t snap or lose it. If I snapped, I would bang on my door or yell and I would get a disciplinary report and have to spend even more time in confinement.
23. In addition to cutting myself and banging my head against the wall, I have also harmed myself in confinement by putting sharp objects up my rectum, swallowing batteries, overdosing on medication, and attempting to hang myself.
24. As long as I clean up the blood, the guards don’t seem to care if I cut myself. Sometimes, they’ve told me that there is no point in putting me in a mental health unit if I am just going to cut again when I get out. But when my self-harm
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inconveniences the guards, they punish me for it. Officers have gassed, beaten me, put me on strip, and given me DRs for harming myself.
25. I find it hard to get help for my mental health in confinement. For example, once I told a guard I needed help because I was seeing dead people chasing me. The guard refused to get me help. When I ran into a wall, hurting my head and shoulder, because I was trying to get away from the dead people, the guard just laughed at me and called me crazy. Other times I’ve tried to ask for mental health assistance and the officers ignored me until I did something more extreme like cut myself.
26. Even when I get mental health services in confinement, it has not always been helpful or consistent. For example, when I am pulled out of my cell for counseling sessions it’s only for very short periods of time. One time the counseling service was harmful because after I shared very private information about myself with my counselor, I heard the guards joking about it. That made me feel that I cannot trust the counselors, which makes me feel even more isolated and unable to cope with my mental illness. I don’t always receive my medications, which causes me to hallucinate badly, feel as if the walls are closing in around me, or feel the urge to self-harm.
27. During my time in confinement, I have cycled between confinement, Self-Harm Observation (SHOS) cells, the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU), and the
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Transitional Care Unit (TCU). I’ve also been in a mental health treatment facility at Lake Correctional Institution multiple times, which I believe is the highest level of inpatient treatment I can get in FDC custody. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been in inpatient. Every time FDC puts me in one of these inpatient units, they send me right back into confinement when I’m released. Any progress I think I’ve made with my mental health goes away and pretty soon I wind up back in inpatient care. Most recently, I spent less than 90 days in the CSU and TCU at Suwannee before they put me right back into confinement at FSP. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 14, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Briana (Alex) Beasley, DC# N26228
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JAMAL SESSION

I, JAMAL SESSION, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am an 18-year-old Black young man incarcerated in the Florida

Department of Corrections. I am assigned to Close Management (CM) I at Suwannee

Correctional Institution. I am also in H Dorm, a mental health unit, because I was

feeling suicidal. I will probably only be in this unit a few weeks before I go back to

the CM Dorm. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have been diagnosed with depression and ADHD (Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder). In February 2020, I was transferred to a Transitional Care

Unit (TCU) at Reception and Medical Center because I did not pass an IQ test. But

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then in May 2020, FDC transferred me out of the TCU to CM at Florida State Prison (FSP) and then to Suwannee.
3. I have been in and out of confinement since I was 16 years old. “Confinement” is what we call Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and Close Management. First, I was placed in Administrative Confinement for about two months. Then staff moved me to Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management II. It doesn’t matter what type of confinement I’m in—they all make me feel the same—less than a human being, more like an animal. I feel controlled all the time. Staff harass and threaten me in confinement. Like they have given me an “air tray,” which means a tray without food. When that happens, I have no food until the next meal, which could be the next day. Other times they have spit on my food.
4. Living in a tiny confinement cell for so many hours makes me feel like I am going crazy. Sometimes, I feel like the walls are closing in on me. Because of my ADHD, I get hyper and feel like I need to move around, but there is not a lot of space to move. I try to stay in bed, but that only makes my depression worse.
5. Confinement cells are nasty. There are big rats and roaches crawling everywhere. I can hear and see them at night. It makes me feel paranoid, angry, and out of control when I see them and cannot get rid of them.
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6. For a while at FSP, the window in my cell door was barricaded. I could barely see through it. If something happened to me in there, I do not know how the staff could have seen inside my cell to notice. I spoke to the guards about this issue many times, but they ignored me. They finally moved me to another cell after lawyers in this case came to FSP for an inspection on December 8th.
7. I have gone up to five months without having a real conversation with anyone in confinement. At FSP, I started to feel really lonely. I tried to get help by yelling and banging on my cell door. The guards did not help me and told me to “wait because I am not going anywhere."
8. In all types of confinement, my days feel like an endless cycle of the exact same routine. It’s hard to keep track of time. Without a clock and watch, one of the only ways I know the time is when the guards come to my cell with meals. I wake up, read, do my schoolwork, eat, exercise, and sleep in my cell. I do this routine over and over again. There is only so much reading and exercising I can do before I start feeling like I am going crazy. When I can, I try to cope with the loneliness by reading letters from my family or looking at personal pictures. Sometimes, I cannot do that when staff takes them during cell searches.
9. The last grade I attended before being incarcerated was middle school. In confinement, the teachers bring me schoolwork only once a week. Most of the time, they talk to me through the cell door. The schoolwork is not helpful. They
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repeatedly give me the same materials. The schoolwork is also not appropriate for my aptitude because I already know some of it. It’s what I was doing in middle school and I should be getting high school work. But I have to wait to take the TABE (Test of Adult Education) test until I am in CM III. I am frustrated because I do not think I will be ready for the TABE test with the education I am getting.
10. There are so many things in confinement that make me feel like an animal. One thing is the strip searches. I have been stripped searched in confinement more times than I can count. Before I leave my cell, the officers come to my door and ask me to take all my clothes off. Then, I have to squat and cough. It is so humiliating. Another thing is the restraints. They always handcuff our wrists and shackle our feet. I remember one time I had to wear to wear a spit mask, and handcuffs, and shackles on my feet.
11. I hardly ever go to recreation. I do not go because whenever I leave the room, I am afraid the officers will go through my stuff and take my personal property, like my letters, legal mail, and pictures, like they have done before.
12. There is a big difference between who I was before confinement and now. I feel more depressed, lonely, and get angry faster. My thoughts race. Sometimes I am paranoid. I have hallucinated footsteps or shadows. I have gone to a suicide watch cell multiple times because I declared psychological emergencies. I
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was not planning to cut or hang myself, I just wanted someone to come and talk to me.
13. It seems like I can never get out of confinement. They tell you if you obey the rules, you will get out of confinement. But even when I obey the rules it doesn’t matter. It feels like the officers will use any excuse to keep me in confinement.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on April 14, 2021.

Signed: /s/Jamal Session, DC# G80286

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF HA KHELIUS MOORE

I, HA KHELIUS MOORE, declare under penalty of perjury: 1. I am a 28-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida
Department of Corrections. I am currently assigned to Close Management I (CM I) at Union Correctional Institution. I make this declaration based on my personal knowledge.
2. I have been in confinement three times, across several institutions, totaling over 3 years spent in confinement. During that time, I have experienced Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), Close

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Management (CM) 1, CM2, and CM3. Often, I was on two different statuses at once, such as being on DC status while housed in CM1.
3. I have experienced AC, DC, CM1, CM2, and CM3 at Santa Rosa CI, Suwannee CI, and at Union CI where I am currently confined.
4. The different types of confinement are mostly the same except for some small differences in security management, like whether you are shackled while transported. It doesn’t matter the prison or level of confinement, they are all still solitary, where you are confined to a small space for an extended period of time, and it messes with your head.
5. All confinement cells are extremely dirty. The paint peels. There is mold on the ceilings and in the vents. There is rust on everything.
6. Confinement cells are about 8 feet by 6 feet. They have either metal bunk beds or concrete slabs for beds. There are no mattresses in confinement. Instead, you lay on a piece of plastic cloth material, but there is no padding whatsoever. I was stabbed in prison in the past, and my wounds were not treated properly, so now it is even more painful to sleep on a concrete slab. My back hurts all the time, despite me being a healthy 28-year-old.
7. The cells have a toilet in the corner, about 2 feet from the bed. I can’t always flush my own toilet -- I once had to wait 10 hours to have the guards flush my toilet for me.
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8. The lights in the cells are very bright. When I cannot control the lights, it is hard to sleep. I will put a shirt or sheet around my head to block out the light. However, this is risky, because you can get a Disciplinary Report (DR) for Misuse of State Property if you wrap something around your head.
9. The cells can get really cold. The AC runs all day. Sometimes, there is not enough clothes or blankets to cover up with. If they don’t give you an extra blanket, you just have to suffer through it.
10. I have been put on Property Restriction for things like Misuse of State Property or Destruction of State Property. Often the officers will just claim you misused state property to mess with you. For example, one time I was put on strip for 3 days because one of the strings from the seam of my pillowcase was coming loose, and the guards claimed that I was trying to make a fishing line out of it.
11. When you are placed on strip, the officers take everything from you except your boxers. You have no sheets, no clothes, no property. I have been placed on strip a few times, and I don’t have words to explain just how terrible strip is. In the winter, or if there is AC, it is so cold that you cannot sleep. I once stayed up for a day and a half until my body finally was so tired that I was forced asleep.
12. The worst part about confinement is that we have practically no connection with people. Sometimes I will go about 3 or 4 weeks at a time without talking with anyone, aside from exchanging a couple of words with the orderlies
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who deliver food and clothes. If you talk to other inmates from your cell, you risk getting a DR for being disorderly. I have to sneak around just to talk to the guy down the hall or next door. We try using sign language just to have a little bit of contact.
13. In confinement, the only opportunity to leave the cell is for Dayroom or Rec time. But often the officers will not take you out of your cell for Dayroom or Rec. Also, many inmates, including myself, choose not to go to Dayroom or Rec because every time you leave your cell you have to be strip searched. The strip searches are so invasive and dehumanizing, that it makes it not even worth it to go. Typically, I will only choose to go to Rec once a week, even if it is actually offered three times a week.
14. I also don’t like going to Rec because it is unhelpful. Rec cages are about 7 by 10 feet. There is not enough space to truly exercise. There is only a dip/pull up bar, but it is all rusted. There is nothing to look at but the other cages, fences, and barbed wire around you. Being in the Rec cage makes me feel like even more of an animal, like I am in a doghouse outside.
15. The institution doesn’t recognize my religious doctrine. Since I’ve been in CM, I have been going through the process of trying to get the prison to recognize my religion. I have to use my own resources to purchase books and materials to keep me grounded in my religion. Anything they deem that empowers
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us, that gives us some sense of solace, ambition, is something they are against – my religion connects me to my culture, my people, but they want to break me down, that’s what CM is about, so I feel that’s why they want to keep it out.
16. I am fortunate to have family support. Being on CM1 the visits are behind a plexiglass wall, I’m on one side, about 2-3 feet apart, the family member is on the other side for a couple of hours. And most of my family now, that are still in Florida, are many miles apart. I don’t want them coming down seeing me in this type of setting. I refuse visitation right now, because I can’t hug them, meet them eye to eye. The feeling I can’t explain – it's crazy to say – I have almost lost my sense of emotion. I am in an environment where I have to be on guard 24/7. And I have to be a different person from who my family knows.
17. My mind is now programmed to the routine of CM. It is really not healthy. I wake up automatically an hour before breakfast comes around, get dressed – in class A full uniform, get boots on, make my bed, clean my room - all before breakfast comes around. If your cell and your uniform are not in compliance, they’ll skip over you for breakfast and maybe give you one more chance when they come back. After breakfast, if it is a Rec day, I am usually standing by my door, lights on, uniform clean and proper, facing a certain direction – they have to determine that I’m ready for Rec if we are scheduled for it and if the officers want us to go. Nothing can be out of place, not even a soap bar. If there’s no Rec, then I need to find a way
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to pass the time. I get to my morning prayers, my summons, stretching, breathing, and then I read my letters and write my people back.
18. The passing of time is measured solely by mealtimes, security checks, medication passes, and the few hours when the lights are off at night. I have lost a lot of money buying watches, every time I buy one, they find a way to confiscate it, taken for inspection, and it’s gone. They want you to depend on their motions, their routines, to program your mind to do what and when they need you.
19. When I am taken out of my cell for infrequent out-of-cell time, the way in which I am taken out, well it is dehumanizing and makes me not to want to come out. There’s something about a man making me take off my clothes, staring inside my cell, and then the officer will make me turn around real slowly, bend over at the waist, it is disrespectful, I have no control over my body. I don’t agree with this level of disrespect and making me do something I don't feel comfortable doing.
20. When I am being escorted, the officer will hold my arm, like a lion grip, I am already cuffed up, restrained, but they want to brandish their control – you move when I want you to move, you do as I say. At every step they are brandishing that control. While I’m gone from my cell, the officers search it. It will look like a hurricane came through there. Your pictures are everywhere, they go through them, inspect them, your paperwork is all over the place. I try not to keep my legal papers, because they’ll destroy them, especially for retaliation for talking to lawyers.
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21. When people come by to help us, they find a way to hurt you. When the Harvard attorneys came by, they warned us, we got people coming around, if you talk to them, say the wrong thing, you might regret it later, something will be coming your way. My name was on a list for the visit, and as a result, two days later they came by, saying I had a torn pillow, which it wasn’t, charged me $7.60 for the pillow, and put me on property restriction. This same thing happened to 3 other people on the list. I gave the Harvard team my word that I would speak to them, and I couldn’t keep my word because of this. They want to control everything even when we seek help.
22. All of these things have made me an angry person. They have caused me to lose my mind. I have to put aside my morals, my principles, just to maintain. I have family and people who depend on me to make it from this spot, I have to survive this, but they don’t make it easy. I sometimes don’t recognize myself. I am a compassionate, caring person, I like to study, I consider myself smart. But this experience has numbed me up. I feel like I’m on guard 24/7, I can’t escape this track they have me on, and I find myself programed to their agenda. These officers treat you like you are scum, like you don’t deserve any human dignity. It makes you mad. It is very dehumanizing. Extremely.
23. I lost my uncle recently; this is the guy that raised me like a father figure. I couldn’t cry, I’m hurting, but I couldn’t cry. I wanted to speak to a
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counselor, because I was harboring these emotions. I declared a psych emergency; they didn’t come get me or help me. I wrote a request form, and I never saw anybody. When the counselor came by eventually on her rounds, I called to her so we could talk. Two big white male officers stood next to her, listening and intimidating me, making me feel like I can’t express what I need to express for fear that they will use it against me later.
24. I feel trapped in CM, oppressed. I just can’t get out of confinement. I have been continued twice. They will make sure you stay on the path they want for you. The DRs listed at my hearings are for disrespecting authority, put on strip, destruction of state property – incidents that they fabricate and pile on – always in proximity of my review. I will be completely DR free, and then all of a sudden, they pile it on thick. Just a few weeks ago, they came to me, searched my cell, threw away all of my canteen items, saying I have a phone – they don’t find one, saying I have drugs – they don’t find any – but now I have all that history and my hearing is coming up in 30 days.
25. I lost a relationship with someone, a woman I cared a lot about for 17 years. I have lost the ability to communicate, to be a human being. She knows me for being me, but not the guy who is hurting from all they have put me through. She knows Ha Khelius Jaquan Moore, not Q23754. And I snap or react in ways I would never have in the past. I hate that they’ve done that to me. It hurts. It hurts a lot.
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26. The experience of being in isolation has changed me. My senses are heightened. I am constantly paranoid. I am not fit, in my own opinion, for society, mentally, it would take a lot of therapy for me to get to a place where I could be. And honestly, I think that’s what they want. I know that. I see it in everything they do. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 4, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Ha Khelius J. Moore, DC#Q23754
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF KIKO ROGERS I, Kiko Rogers, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a thirty-one-year-old Black man incarcerated at Union

Correctional Institution. I am currently confined in Close Management One. I make

this statement based on my own personal knowledge.

2. When I first came to prison, I was in the General Population at South

Florida Reception Center and was taking medication for bipolar and schizophrenia.

Since then, I have been moved around to several different institutions for placements

in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management One,

and Close Management Two.

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3. I’ve been in confinement for over three years now at Santa Rosa, Charlotte, and Union. First I was placed in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement before FDC recommended my placement in Close Management. Since then I’ve been in Close Management Levels One and Two. Although the officers at the different camps are different, the conditions for nearly everything else in the different types of confinement feel pretty much the same.
4. Most of the confinement cells I’ve stayed in have felt so depressing. The windows do not open all the way and it’s hard to tell what’s going on outside because the windows aren’t always clear. For example, the window in my cell at Union is shaded on the bottom and for me to be able to see anything out of the top part, I have to stand on top of my pile of legal mail. The cell lighting messes with my orientation of time because I don’t always get to control when my lights go on and off. Sometimes they go off at 11 p.m., but other times they go off at 9 p.m. just when I’m trying to read legal mail or write letters to my family. When the lights are on, they’re really bright. I’ve tried covering my face with a shirt so that I can get some sleep, but this doesn’t always work. And officers make you take the shirt off, so I don’t do it anymore because I don’t want to get into any more trouble.
5. Most of my confinement cells have also been disgusting, crawling with roaches and rats the size of baby dinosaurs. I’m scared of the rats, but the rats aren’t scared of me. Some people think of the rats as pets, but not me. I once turned in my
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bed in the middle of the night and saw a rat looking at me from across the cell. I felt afraid and threw my shoe at it, but it didn’t move. The dirty and moldy trays we can get in confinement do not help the infestation of rats and roaches. The mosquitoes also get really bad in the summer and they’ll buzz and bite you. It’s hard enough living in such a small space and having to share it with these kinds of pests doesn’t make it any better.
6. A whole day can go by without me leaving my dirty cell or speaking to anybody. Sometimes the officers will try and joke with us, but I can’t trust them because even though they appear to be friendly one day, they’ll threaten to hurt you or get you in more trouble the next day. I can’t have a real conversation with any of them. The nurses won’t talk to us unless we talk to them first, and even then they’re not going to stick around for longer than a minute or two. The chaplains aren’t available at all of the institutions I’ve stayed in, and when they are available I only get to briefly talk to them through the cell door no more than once a week.
7. Before coming to prison, I got through the 11th grade in high school. I’d like to get my GED, but I can’t get the educational materials I need in confinement so that I can pursue this. I have little hope that I’ll be able to get my GED before I’m released.
8. The only person I’ve been able to really talk to the last three years was my neighbor at Santa Rosa. He and I would either talk through the cracks in our
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doors or through a vent in the wall we shared while lying down on the floor. But we had to be careful because officers threaten to put you on strip if you talk on the door. We didn’t have any face-to-face contact except for one time in the rec cage. That’s one of the few times I’ve been able to have a conversation with someone in confinement while making eye contact. Except it was still strange because we were talking to each other through a fence while we stood in our own little cages.
9. It’s scary to be alone in these cells all the time. If something were to go wrong inside my cell, I would have to wait until one of the guards comes by for one of the thirty-minute checks. Otherwise, I’m afraid I could get a disciplinary report for making too much noise. This has happened to me before. FDC staff have sprayed me and given me a Disciplinary Report because they said I was yelling out of the door.
10. Having a cellmate in these tiny confinement cells doesn’t really help anything. You would think that having someone else to talk to might help, but it can really make things worse. My cellmate and I were constantly in each other’s space and got into fights. Plus, if he ever got into trouble with the guards for anything, I would get punished too. Once I got a fighting disciplinary report because he did. The cell space is too small for two men to live together and still respect each other.
11. The time inside my confinement cell goes by so slowly. My faith in God is important to me and it would help me so much if I could spend time with
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others and pray together. I try to get through the day to survive so that I can make it to the next day and make it out of here. I like to read, but I can only do that for so long. I find myself talking to myself to kill time and make the day go by. So many of the days seem just like all the rest.
12. It’s hard to get exercise in confinement. The staff do not always offer rec when they are supposed to, but sometimes I skip going out altogether to avoid my cell getting destroyed and feeling awful after a strip search. If I have a legal call scheduled during rec and I choose the legal call, I won’t get time to make up for rec later. If it’s raining hard outside, staff will keep rec at the same time because they know we won’t go. When it’s cold out, we don’t have extra layers and it’s hard to really work out because my hands are too cold to hold onto the pull-up and dips bars. It’s even harder to exercise inside my cell because I need more room than the tiny space we get, I need more air. It’s hard to work out if I have a cellmate because we get into each other’s way.
13. The cell searches and strip searches make me hardly ever want to leave my cell for any reason. The strip searches make me feel so bad. I have been strip searched down to nothing on my body. The worst part is when they make you squat down and cough. That whole time, you’re naked, even when it’s very cold. During cell searches, the guards have torn my cell up to the point where I can’t find all of my legal mail or the pages are all out of order. They have taken my mattress off the
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concrete slab. Some of my stuff has gotten thrown into the toilet, ripped up, or completely lost.
14. When I do come out of my cell, like for a legal call, they often restrain me in a blackbox, which keeps my hands cuffed with a belly chain and shackles around my ankles. It hurts to use the phone during legal calls after a while because I’m holding the phone up with the heavy blackbox up to my ear and shoulder. This can make it hard to stay focused the whole time and hurts my back and arms. But I still come out for my legal calls because it’s one of the only times I can talk to someone who will actually listen to me.
15. I’ve been sprayed and put on “strip” before in confinement. Using the spray is how the guards throw their weight around. The spray hurts so badly but I can’t let them see that it hurts me. If they know it hurts, they’ll keep spraying me. It stings your eyes and your skin. It gets into your private areas so that it hurts when you use the bathroom. When you’re on strip, they take nearly everything out of your cell so that you end up sleeping without a mattress on the concrete slab or cold steel for three days straight. You don’t have anything to wear except for your boxers. You aren’t allowed to go to rec. You might be able to get a shower but even while on strip, the officers will make you go through a strip search. All that’s left for you to take off at that point are your boxers, but they make you do it and make you go through the rest of the humiliating process.
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16. Everything about confinement has made me feel less than the person I was before. I tell myself all the time that I can’t let the guards know that they’re affecting me, but they are. I try to tell myself that I’ll be better once I’m off of CM.
17. Since being in confinement, I’ve had thoughts of self-harm. They put me in CSU and TCU [inpatient mental health treatment units], and I found it more helpful than being in confinement because there were more programs that helped with my mental state. After I left inpatient, though, they put me back in confinement where I started to feel terrible again.
18. I sometimes feel hopeless about how much longer I’ll be on CM. It’s hard, but I try to stay out of the officers’ way. The more I stay out of their way, the more I feel like I can finish my CM time and get out of these boxes. But just when I have a little hope that I’m going to move off of CM, they keep me in. When I thought I was going to move from CM2 to CM3, they put me back in CM1. They keep giving me all kinds of disciplinary reports and the cycle keeps going.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 5, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Kiko Rogers, DC# B06280
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF RANDY WOULLARD I, Randy Woullard, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 45-year-old Black man in prison at New River Correctional

Institution in the Step-Down program. Even though I’m in the Step-Down Program,

I am still assigned to Close Management Level 3 and Disciplinary Confinement. I

could go back to a CM camp at any time. I make this declaration based on my own

personal knowledge.

2. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and arthritis in both feet. I do

not receive medication for my IBS and it gets worse with stress. I am always stressed

in Close Management.

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3. I also have anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). FDC prescribed me Zoloft and Buspar to treat my mental illness. In the past, I’ve had to go to inpatient treatment because of my mental health problems when I was in segregation. I feel caged in and left alone with my thoughts.
4. I have spent six years in segregation. During this time, I was in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management I, Close Management II, and Close Management III. I call all of this “segregated housing” or “segregation” because I am separated from others so it feels segregated. I have been in segregation at Martin Correctional Institution, Washington Correctional Institution, Okaloosa Correctional Institution, North Florida Reception Center, Everglades Correctional Institution, Union Correctional Institution, Charlotte Correctional Institution, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI), and Florida State Prison (FSP). I was moved to the Step -Down Program at New River Correctional Institution on February 24, 2021. In this declaration, when I refer to “segregation” or “segregated housing,” I am not including the Step-Down Program.
5. Segregated housing has felt the same everywhere. It is like staff is programmed to deal with segregated prisoners a certain way. In regular housing, there is more freedom to interact and talk with staff. In segregated housing, we have to ask officers for everything we need for survival. I feel like officers’ attitudes towards me in segregated housing is very negative. I feel like they can get angry at
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me at any minute if I ask for something. They yell at us all the time and never use our names. We are only referred to as “inmate,” as if we are less than human. In General Population, I feel like they use my actual name more often and that rarely happens in segregation.
6. The segregation cells at all the prisons are dirty and disgusting. There’s a lot of mold. I see a lot of cockroaches, spiders, crickets and centipedes in my cell.
7. I do not get much interaction with other humans in segregation. I receive my medication once at night. When nurses deliver the medication, they pass it through the side of the door and keep walking. It feels like they don’t care if I take it or not. They do not talk to me or ask how I am doing or feeling. Most of my time in confinement I have had no access to the dayroom. Without dayroom, my only other opportunity to develop friendships with other people on my wing is to try talking to them from my cell. But I am worried if I get caught trying to talk to other people, I will get a Disciplinary Report (“DR”). I have seen several people in segregation get DRs because they get caught talking on the door or window to other people. I am trying really hard to get to General Population so I do not want to risk getting caught talking to anyone else in segregation.
8. A normal day for me in segregation mostly involves laying in my bed and doing nothing but dealing with my anxiety. I’m guessing the cells are around 9 feet by six feet. There is not much you can do in there. When the weather is cold,
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my cell is freezing. When that happens, my mind is unable to escape the cold. I just sit in my cell and think about how cold I am.
9. I do not leave my segregation cell very often because I am afraid if I do, staff will harass me or tear my cell apart. In the past, when I have come out for recreation, staff have thrown my belongings all over the room, thrown my mattress on the floor, ripped my sheets off, thrown my pencils in the toilet, and torn up my paperwork during cell searches. I do not have many personal belongings and I am always afraid they will destroy everything I own. The same treatment happens when I come out for showers. To avoid the destruction and harassment, I normally clean myself by taking bird baths in my cell sink even when my cell only has cold water. This makes bird baths hard and uncomfortable. It has taken months for them to fix my hot water when it was broken in the past.
10. The few times I do come out of my segregation cell, I have to remove all of my clothes for a strip search. Once I am naked, I have to lift my genitals, squat and cough. Sometimes, I even have to spread my butt cheeks. Officers will make snide and rude comments during the strip search that feel sexual, and like it is meant to discourage me from coming out. I feel embarrassed and frustrated when I have to strip search. Their harassment makes me feel like it is not worth leaving my cell and subjecting myself to that.
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11. It is awful to have cellmates in segregation. I was really afraid when I had a cellmate at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI). I was sexually assaulted at SRCI before, so it was traumatic to be locked alone in a cell with someone who could sexually assault me again when the officers weren’t around. It feels like officers try to set me up to have problems with my cellmate. For example, when I was put on loaf, they also put my cellmate on loaf for no reason. Loaf is a disgusting brick of food they give you when you get your normal food privileges taken away. It is served cold and tastes like a sponge. I was scared my cellmate would get angry and hurt me because he thought I was the reason he got put on loaf too. All this fear made my anxiety and mental health worse.
12. In segregated housing, staff punish people with cruel methods, such as property restriction, which I call “strip.” When I was at SRCI, staff put me on strip after I made an angry comment to an officer when I saw them putting another prisoner on strip for no reason. Staff removed my personal belongings, hygiene items, toilet paper and mattress and left me only with my boxers for three days. The weather was cold when this happened. I tried to sit on the toilet to fall asleep because my steel bed frame was too cold without the mattress. For three days, I tried to sleep on the toilet, bent over hugging myself to stay warm. Each time I would nod off, I would immediately wake up thinking I was about to fall off the toilet and hit my
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head. I did not get much sleep during those three days. It felt like torture. I wanted to hurt myself during that time.
13. Segregated housing intensifies my depression and anxiety. I feel mistreated and thrown away. I do not feel like anyone wants to help me feel better or get me back to General Population. When I do talk to mental health staff, it feels like they are just going through the motions. It doesn’t feel like they are really listening to me or trying to help me feel better.
14. It’s so hard to get out of segregation. I have gotten to Close Management 2 about four or five times. I have gotten to Close Management 3 two times. Each time I think I am going up a level and on the right track to be sent back to General Population, something gets in my way and I go back down a level. I try as hard as I can to remain DR free, but there is always something that comes up. This past month, I thought I was finally going from Close Management Level 3 to General Population. But to my surprise, I was told I had to participate in a 6-month stepdown program on Level 3 before being considered again for General Population. It feels like another way to just continue my confinement.
15. My time in segregation has changed the way I am as a person. I always feel paranoid, frustrated, and depressed. Things that would not bother me before can now make me very upset when it happens in segregation. For example, I felt so
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frustrated and depressed when I had to ask for months to have the hot water fixed in my cell, so I did not have to take freezing birth baths. I felt completely ignored.
16. At times, I forget there is life outside of a segregation cell. I feel like I have just given up and I want to sleep as long as I can to escape. I want to get under the covers and make it all go away. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on March 31, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Randy Woullard, DC# 618997
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF MARCUS BROADNAX I, Marcus Broadnax, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 33-year-old Black man in prison at Florida State Prison. I am on

Close Management Level 3 (CM 3). Even though I am on Close Management Level

3, I am currently being housed in a Disciplinary Confinement (DC) wing and I do

not know why. It is frustrating because I should receive more privileges as a Close

Management Level 3 prisoner, but I am only receiving DC privileges because of my

housing assignment.

2. I have several physical and mental health conditions. I have asthma,

depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. FDC currently prescribes

me Zoloft to treat my mental illness. I’ve also been prescribed Vistaril, Cogentin,

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Risperdal, and Tegratol. In the past, I’ve had to go to inpatient treatment because of my mental health problems when I was in isolation.
3. I have been in isolation for nine years now. During this time, I have been in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management I, Close Management II, and Close Management III. I call all of this “isolation.” I have been isolated at Suwannee Correctional Institution, Union Correctional Institution, Reception and Medical Center, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI), and Florida State Prison (FSP). Isolation has felt the same everywhere. We are still on lockdown every day for over 23 hours a day. We are all still governed by the same rules and deprivations. The only thing that might vary from each institution is the attitude of the officers. At SRCI, I did not see the officers beat on prisoners as much as what I see at FSP. Officers have trashed my cells and refused my legal call outs everywhere I have been in isolation. It is just the intensity and frequency in which it happens that varies some from each prison.
4. The isolation cells at all the prisons are disgusting, including my cell right now. There’s a lot of mold. The walls are leaking water so I have to keep a towel down to try and protect my stuff in my locker. I also do not have working hot water. There are a lot of ants and some roaches and spiders. I keep another towel at the bottom of my cell door to try and keep the rats from coming inside my cell. I can’t control my toilet in my cell. I have to ask an officer each time I need a toilet
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flush. Sometimes they just ignore my requests and I have to live with waste in my toilet for hours and hours just a foot away from where I sleep, eat, and live.
5. I do not get much interaction with other humans. I can sometimes try to talk to my neighbors but, if we get caught, we can get a Disciplinary Report (DR). If I get DRs, they can try and keep me in isolation longer. I might be able to talk to other people if I could go to the dayroom, but even when I’ve just been in CM 3, I don’t remember a single time it’s been offered to me. They always blame not having enough staff to give us dayroom. The nurses don’t even talk to me when they deliver my medications through the food flap in my cell door. They just pass out the medication and keep moving. A chaplain walks around the wing only once in a blue moon. I think the last time I saw him was over a month ago. The only way I can have any contact with my family or friends is by writing mail. Sometimes I wonder if my mail is even sent out because months will go by without hearing from any of my family. It is really hard to not be able to speak with them or ever hear their voice. Right now, I would be scared to leave isolation and be around people again.
6. I was getting education for my G.E.D. when I was on the CM 3 wing. The teacher would drop school paperwork off at my cell about once a week but that was it. Now that they moved me to a Disciplinary Confinement (DC) wing, even though I am not on DC, I no longer get any education. Prisoners do not get education in DC.
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7. There is nothing for me to do in my cell. I will normally just lay in my bed all day and look forward to when the mail is passed out. I might try and carefully talk to a cell neighbor but for the most part, I am left alone with all my thoughts with nothing to do and no one to talk to.
8. I do not leave my cell very often because I am afraid if I do, staff will destroy my cell and all my stuff. One time, about a year ago, I signed up for recreation and was taken out of my cell. When I came back, my family pictures were torn up and in the toilet. I can never get those pictures back, they are forever lost. Since then, I am always hesitant to leave my cell because I don’t want my stuff ruined. It is really hard on my body to never get any recreation or exercise. My cell is too small to do any real exercise and I can feel my body deteriorate from just laying around 24 hours a day for the past several years. I feel weak, tired and lazy all the time.
9. The few times I do come out of my cell, I have to deal with a degrading strip search. I have to remove all of my clothes. Once I am naked, I have to lift my genitals, squat and cough. Sometimes, I even have to spread my butt cheeks. One time, an officer placed his fingers in my butt during the strip search. I submitted a PREA grievance (Prison Rape Elimination Act), but I never received a response. I think FSP throws our grievances away and never processes them. Sometimes the humiliating searches make me not want to come out of my cell.
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10. In isolation, staff punish people with cruel methods, such as property restriction, which I call “strip.” I have been placed on strip several times during the past nine years of isolation. Officers take all of my belongings, mattress, and hygiene items and leave me in only my boxers for 72 hours. It feels like torture and makes me suicidal. The first time I was placed on strip, in 2013, was when I first started hearing voices in isolation. Before I knew it, I was talking to myself. I’ve cut my wrists while on strip to try and bleed out and die. I just wanted to escape. It did not do anything to help.
11. Isolation has hurt my mental health in a lot of ways. It came on gradually and I did not see it coming at first. I feel angry, paranoid, and depressed all the time. I deal with suicidal thoughts almost daily and hear voices in my head. Things that would not bother me as much before now make me want to try and kill myself. I have cut my wrists when officers have refused to give me a meal tray. A lot of times cutting doesn’t get me the help I need – they just take me to medical to be glued back up and then put me right back to my cell. I feel like the officers ignore my suicidal feelings.
12. I feel like I can never get out of isolation. They can continue me in CM for an DR. When I made Close Management Level 3 (CM 3) and was being escorted to a CM 3 wing, a lieutenant passed by and said, “don’t worry, you’ll get a DR soon and be back.” That same day I received a DR. The Institutional Classification Team
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recommended me to go to CM 2 but luckily the State Classification Officer decided to leave me on CM 3. It feels like they can always find a way to give us a DR to keep us on CM longer or make us go up a level.
13. I have tried several times to request more mental health care. I am supposed to see a counselor every two weeks, but that’s not enough when I’m locked up in a cell like this, and sometimes they don’t show up when they’re supposed to. My sick call requests go ignored and unanswered. My grievances about this don’t help either. I really need services now to help me feel more stable and deal with my suicidal thoughts, but no one will listen to me or help me. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on March 19, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Marcus Broadnax, DC#129250
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF ODELL LEE I, Odell Lee, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 30-year-old Hebrew Black man and am incarcerated in the

custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). I am currently assigned to

Close Management Level One and confined at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.

I make this statement based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have been in prison for over seven years and in and out of confinement

for almost six of those years. During that time, I’ve experienced Administrative

Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and Close Management Levels One and

Two. I’ve been confined at the following prisons: Florida Reception and Medical

Center, Union Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, and Santa Rosa

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Correctional Institution. My experiences at all these different facilities and types of confinement have been pretty similar.
3. FDC has diagnosed me with a few different mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder, and depression. Right now I’m taking Zoloft. Being in confinement makes me feel closed in, paranoid, and sometimes angry.
4. All my cells have been smaller than the size of a parking space and terrible. The smell of feces and urine comes through the vent, and often the windows don’t open so I can’t get fresh air. I don’t always have control over my toilet and sometimes they leak. When the toilet leaks, I have to constantly clean up the water with whatever I can find, which isn’t much, like my only towel. The cleaning supplies are inadequate. It’s usually only two cups of watered-down chemicals without any toilet brushes or cleaning rags. I feel like I am living in feces and urine 24/7. There are rats, roaches, and other bugs throughout the cell. I cover my head when I sleep so they do not crawl in my ears or on my face. I try and plug toothpaste into the cracks in the walls, but the ants eat their way through.
5. It feels like there’s rarely any quiet in confinement. People are screaming and voices and noises echo throughout the quad. When the lights go out from about 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., sometimes it’ll quiet down and I lie there knowing that
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so many others are lying there awake like me, feeling alone and hopeless. Then someone will make a noise and all the ruckus will start back up again.
6. I don’t have anyone to talk to. I almost never get to talk to my family. During the few times I have, I learned we’re not getting all of each other’s mail. If I was getting all of the mail they sent me, I could at least read some of these letters over again and feel some hope through their words. But without this, I feel myself get into a deep depression. I can’t even talk to the nurses who come by my cell to give me meds. Their time is controlled by the officers and so they are in a hurry. They want to give out their meds and go. When some of them do stop and talk for a tiny bit, they have to turn sideways to be able to hear me. They are facing the wall and not my face. It makes me feel like my words don’t truly matter and that I am a dog inside of a cage. Dogs are treated better than we are though.
7. I’m afraid that I could die in my cell and a whole day could go by without anyone knowing. If I need the guards’ attention, I have to bang on the door and walls. But doing that puts me at risk for getting a Disciplinary Report. And the guards won’t pay attention to just one person banging – I’d have to somehow get everyone to all bang and pound together. Getting everyone to unify is very tough and very rare.
8. It can be hard sharing a cell with someone else because we’re stuck in the same size cell as when I’m alone. I have to watch my every move because if my
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cellmate gets sprayed or the guards come in and beat him up, they’ll do the same to me. Guards have sprayed me before after spraying my cellmate for something they said he did wrong. Whatever happens to him will happen to me because we’re locked in the same tiny cell.
9. I don’t have anything to do to pass the time in my cell. I have no books, magazines, tablet, or educational materials. I can’t even look outside to distract myself because the small window to the outside is frosted over. I try to get through the days by meditating, writing poetry, and rapping to myself. Most of the time I don’t even know what time it is. The only way I can try and find out is to ask an officer or someone in another cell. I don’t think I can trust the officers, though, because some of them don’t want us knowing the correct time for when we document how they treat us.
10. Guards search my cell anytime I come out, which makes me hardly ever want to. I’ve returned to my cell and found family pictures ripped up while I’m at a callout. These family pictures are so precious to me and some go missing entirely. I don’t understand how they can be so cruel -- why go through the extra step of tearing up faces that are so dear to me? They’ve taken my Bible away from me and this was upsetting because I’m very religious.
11. The strip searches also make me want to stay in my cell. It’s bad enough having to strip down in front of all the guards and other inmates who can see, but
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it’s worse when the guards say things like, “Show me your butt, I know you want to,” or “Play with your penis for me.” They say it in a joking manner, but it’s still inappropriate and they are laughing and chuckling at me while they say these things. I feel humiliated and like I don’t matter. I feel like less of a person.
12. I don’t get much exercise in confinement. It’s hard to feel motivated to move around in my cell when I’ve been staring at the same four walls all day and night. I don’t go to the rec cages very much. The guards don’t offer rec like they’re supposed to, and even when they do it’s just not worth the cell and strip search. During the winter, they don’t give us any extra clothes, even when it’s freezing cold out there. They don’t give us thermals like they give the people in General Population, and no hats or gloves. I feel like the lack of sunlight is making me weaker. My bones are beginning to feel brittle and I don’t have as much energy as I used to.
13. I feel helpless because the guards have so much control. They have put me on strip for the smallest reasons. One time they put me on strip because I had an extra towel to clean up. Guards have also put me on strip for talking too loudly and for putting a shirt over the bright cell light while trying to sleep. I already feel sleep deprived while in confinement, but I get even more sleep deprived when I’m put on strip because they take away my mattress and make me sleep on the steel frame.
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14. The guards are quick to pepper-spray us in confinement. I can’t predict when the officers will spray me. When they do, my skin is sensitive, and it burns so badly that I feel like I am about to pass out. The shower doesn’t help – it feels like the cold water is spreading the chemical all over my body. If I touch my cell walls or bed and there are still chemicals there, it burns me all over again. I feel pain for days. It affects my sleep and I can hardly move. In the summer, I feel like I’m trapped in an inferno. I just don’t want to do anything until that burning is gone. They once sprayed me while I was cutting myself. I had to go through all the burning on top of feeling my own emotional pain and pressure.
15. I also feel helpless because the guards can say whatever they want to me. When they tell me to cuff up, they try and make it a joke, which only makes me angry. They’ll say things like “You’re the lucky winner.” When they joke about serious things, it makes me feel afraid they’ll provoke me to the point where I might hurt someone or myself. This has happened before and I ended up slicing my arm.
16. Everything about confinement makes me feel so alone, frustrated, and helpless. I don’t feel like the person I once was physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. My mental health has deteriorated and messes with my well-being, my body feels much older than it is, I can’t always control my feelings, and I feel lost without being able to practice my religion with others. I feel constantly paranoid.
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17. I’ve hurt myself several times while in confinement. Most recently, I was in SHOS [Self Harm Observation Status] after I took pills in October 2020 and then again in March 2021 when I cut myself in the shower. Both times they put me right back into my confinement cell. FDC has also hospitalized me several times because of my mental health while I’ve been in confinement. But whenever I have gone to inpatient mental health, whatever help I had disappeared when they sent me right back to my confinement cell. I have turned in requests to go back to inpatient mental health treatment, but FDC didn’t respond.
18. It feels like it’s impossible to get out of confinement with all of the disciplinary reports and the racism. The racism so many of us face in confinement makes everything so much worse, especially my mental health. I have never experienced as much racism as I do in confinement. They make inappropriate jokes, they call me the “n” word, they do not treat me like a human being. Sometimes I feel like a sitting duck waiting for an officer that does not like me to come around, so I try to hide myself and stay out of the way. I feel like being in confinement opens me up to being mistreated and attacked by officers.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on April 29, 2021.

Signed: /s/ Odell Lee, DC# K79438

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF KYLE HIMES I, Kyle Himes, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 36-year-old white man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections (FDC). I am currently assigned to Close Management

Level One at Florida State Prison. I make this statement based on my own personal

knowledge.

2. I have been in prison for over twelve years and during this time, I have

been in and out of Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, and all

levels of Close Management. I call all these assignments “confinement” because I

feel locked in when I’m in any of these placements. Sometimes I’ve been on two

different statuses at once. The longest time I’ve spent in confinement without

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coming out was about eighteen months. I have been confined at: Charlotte, Suwannee, Union, Florida State Prison, Santa Rosa, Cross City, Washington, Columbia, South Florida Reception Center, Hamilton, Dade, Graceville, Florida Reception and Medical Center, Jefferson, Tomoka, and Century Correctional Institution. My experiences at all these different facilities and types of confinements have all felt like hell.
3. I have asthma that I try to manage with an inhaler. But the mold infestation in the prison ventilation system impacts my asthma, and I have anxiety because it can be difficult to breathe.
4. I also have depression, hallucinations, and mood swings. While I’ve been in confinement, FDC has prescribed me with Abilify, Zoloft, and Vistaril. They also prescribed me with Cogentin because my muscles were locking up. They stopped giving me these medications in February 2021, when I tried to take my life by swallowing about fifty pills in confinement. These mental health conditions I battle have taken away my motivation to do anything and I feel constantly in fear.
5. There is a terrible problem with insects and rodents in confinement. The cells are infested with ants. The rats have made the pipes their home, our cells their playground, and our canteen items their snacks. The rats come in through the holes in the walls and I have to hang our food up high so that they won’t get to it. Not all
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the confinement cells I’ve been in have had storage space for my stuff, so I’ve had to use parts of the floor after wiping up rat droppings from the area.
6. The staff treat us like animals, and I am beginning to feel like one living in a cell like this. Sometimes I have to wait up to an hour before staff allow me to flush my own toilet. The lights are blinding and on for nearly twenty hours a day. There’s lots of noise and chaos outside my cell. The yelling and pounding on metal echo throughout the whole quad. The plumbing is moldy, crumbling, and constantly leaking and flooding the cells. Sometimes while plumbing issues are getting fixed, our water is cut off for days. I don’t even feel like I can act like a normal human because there’s no table in my cell. Instead, I eat all my meals over the sink, at the toilet, or on my bed. Sometimes in the summer if the exhaust fans are broken, it can get so hot that I stand in my cell soaking in sweat. I can’t remember the last time I looked into a mirror and sometimes I don’t remember what I look like. I feel like I’m losing parts of myself.
7. I don’t have anyone to talk to in confinement. I refrain from any unnecessary contact with the corrections officers because they give me really bad anxiety. I don’t go to the dayroom. It’s risky to try and speak with neighbors in other cells. Depending on the officer on shift and who you are talking to, I could get stripped, gassed, or starved for trying to have a conversation with someone else. When the nurses come by with my medicine, they pass it through the slot and don’t
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say anything more. When I was in inpatient, I was able to communicate and practice my religion, ALEPH, by regularly attending religious services on my tablet. Being actively a part of this community gave me hope and a sense of purpose, like when I would participate in weekly Torah studies. When the prison kicked me out of inpatient, I lost all of that and I feel empty without my spiritual advisors and study group. It’s impossible to have regular contact with my family and friends in confinement, which is such a strain on me. It’s a strain on them too, especially when they learned I made a suicide attempt, and they didn’t know if I was getting help or if I would be okay. When I was in inpatient, the tablet and regular phone calls with my family and friends were a lifesaver. Their support gave me hope. But the lack of normal human contact in confinement makes me feel secluded and like a recluse. I’m afraid that all the stress, paranoia, and anxiety in confinement will create a shield so that I have no desire to communicate with anyone.
8. The times I’ve been forced to share my cell with someone has not made me feel better. It’s hard sharing such a small space with somebody you know nothing about. More often than not, I’ve been with someone I can’t relate to and don’t get along with, which only creates a more hostile, frustrated environment. Either way, we’re forced to be in each other’s personal space when we’re trying to sleep, use the bathroom, or trying to take care of ourselves in any way. I’ve gotten in fights with
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past cellmates for trying to get them to stay quiet or not masturbate when staff walk by.
9. The days feel endless in confinement. I used to have a watch but FDC took it away from me. Much of my day is spent pacing back and forth from the door to the toilet. I think this is called “caged animal syndrome” and I can understand why. I have walked back and forth like this for hours until my legs have gotten tired. Sometimes I’ve walked the entire time between one meal to the next.
10. The guards use cell searches and strip searches to keep us locked away. It also feels like they use them to make us not want to come out of our cells. They do cell searches every time I leave my cell, like when I go see a counselor or to shower. When I get back to my cell, it sometimes looks like a tornado has gone through it. I’ve found some of my family pictures torn up and in the toilet and some of my stuff has gotten urinated on. Guards have also torn apart my cell when I was writing many grievances against the prison for the conditions of our confinement cells and lack of access to tablets. I’m strip-searched every time I leave my cell too. I feel like I’m stripped of all dignity and pride when they make me do this.
11. I used to be someone who enjoyed exercise; I worked out a lot when I was in Open Population. But in confinement, the isolation and depression take away my motivation. I don’t want to do anything. The officers don’t offer the rec time we are supposed to get each week, but even when they do, I stopped going because I’m
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afraid they’ll destroy my room and take away the only property I have that my mom gave me. When I used to go to rec, I was stuck inside a cage in a space probably about fifteen feet by ten feet large. There was only a pull-up bar and a dip bar, mostly in bad condition with rust that felt unsafe because they were loose and wobbly. I wasn’t allowed to talk to other people. If I did, I could have been put on rec restriction for a month. When I was in Open Population, there were sports and music. I could move around more freely within a designated space and talk to people without fear of getting into trouble. There were all kinds of options with sporting equipment to check out, like for baseball, jump rope, wheel roller, basketball. Now unless you count all the pacing I do, I don’t get any exercise. I feel like I am deteriorating. I feel like I’m just laying around and existing.
12. I’ve been on property restriction, also known as “strip,” several different times, including after a time I cut myself. Staff took everything away so that I was left with only my boxers and a steel bed frame to sleep on for three straight days. Being on strip is horrible and traumatic. The staff didn’t bring all of my meals as I watched others in the quad get theirs. Because it was too uncomfortable to sit on the cold concrete floor and steel bed frame, I stood standing and shaking uncontrollably for hours and hours on end. My feet and ankles began to swell. To try and sleep and keep warm, I balled up in the corner, shaking and shivering. After
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about two and a half days, I began to feel delusional as the sleep deprivation kicked in. I started hallucinating and my body felt like it was shutting down.
13. Being in confinement has made me want to kill myself. I’ve tried to kill myself at least a couple times in the past. Once was after they kept giving me disciplinary reports and didn’t let me attend the disciplinary hearings. I was in CM 1 at the time and I felt that because they wouldn’t let me go to the hearing, they were going to keep me on CM for who knows how long. It felt like an endless, hopeless cycle. I couldn’t take it anymore. So I took a sheet, wrapped it around me, tied it to the light, and hung myself. They then put me in a Self-Harm Observation Cell for sixteen days. An officer came around and told me that I was going to be going back to isolation. While I was in the Self-Harm Observation Cell, I cut about a four-inch laceration into my elbow crease and they had to use a glue stick to put the skin back together. I have sometimes felt that the only way out is to kill myself.
14. FDC discharged me from inpatient mental health too early in February 2021. After my discharge, my mental health rapidly deteriorated and I didn’t think I would be able to make it in confinement any longer. So I took a bunch of pills and ended up in the hospital. When I came back to prison, I was placed in SHOS and returned to confinement shortly after. I’m trying to go back to the inpatient unit because the ability to communicate with family and be out of my cell helps me get
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through each day. But I don’t want to hurt myself again for FDC to send me back there.
15. Everything about confinement is damaging. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again, even when I leave prison. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on April 14, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Kyle Himes, DC# J17966
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF JOHN GILDAY

I, John Gilday, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am 20 years old. I’ve been in FDC for about three years since I was

16 years old. I am currently assigned to Close Management 2 at Santa Rosa CI. I

make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was about 7 or 8 years old. When

I was about 14 years old, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I have a hard

time focusing sometimes and I always need something to keep my mind busy.

3. I have been in confinement more than 2 years straight, since November

8, 2018, when I was 17 years old. That’s a pretty big chunk of my life.

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4. I think I started in Administrative Confinement (AC) before I was put on Disciplinary Confinement (DC). I know I definitely ended up in DC at some point after I got my first disciplinary report (DR) on November 8, 2018. On December 6, 2018, FDC put me on Close Management (CM) 1. I spent about 11 months on CM 1 and I am now going on about 18 months on CM 2.
5. I have been in confinement at Sumter CI, Suwannee CI, Florida State Prison, and Santa Rosa CI. “Confinement” is what I call AC, DC, and CM because it doesn’t matter what institution we’re at, or what type of confinement, our day-today life is really all the same.
6. Confinement cells are small – maybe 10 feet or so long. No matter where I am in the cell, I am very close to the toilet. I basically live in my bathroom.
7. In my experience, confinement cells are usually disgusting. The youthful offender (YO) confinement cells at Sumter were especially dirty. In one cell I was in, there was left over trash, used ketchup and mayo packets, ashes and dirt under the bed. There was chipped rust from the pipes on the floor. There were dead and live roaches everywhere. When I first got to Florida State Prison (FSP), I felt like I was in an old school prison movie – it felt like I was locked up in the year 1964 or something. They painted everything in September 2020, before the lawyers came for an inspection in this case, but before that, it was really bad. There was paint peeling everywhere.
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8. At Santa Rosa, sometimes the toilets overflow and sewage backs up into my cell. There have been times that I had to eat my meals in my cell like that. There have been times when the cold water in my cell does not work, which means I have to drink hot water if I want to drink water at all.
9. I have never been able to control the light in my confinement cells, no matter what institution I’ve been at. In confinement at all institutions, the lights stay on for at least 16 hours, sometimes longer.
10. Some of the confinement wings I’ve been on have been really loud. In F-dorm, at FSP, it was so loud that I couldn’t even read a book. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. It seemed like it was really loud all day and night, except for maybe two hours between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., but sometimes it wasn’t even quiet for those two hours.
11. On November 8, 2018, when I received a DR, FDC took me out of the YO program and moved me to an adult confinement unit at Suwannee, even though I was only 17 years old. Then they sent me to CM at FSP. It was hard and felt very uncomfortable being under 18 in an adult confinement dorm and CM.
12. When I was a juvenile at Suwanee in the adult confinement dorm, FDC put a camera on me whenever I came out of my cell for the first few weeks that I was there. They filmed me when they strip searched me to take me out of the cell
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and when I was showering. This made me very uncomfortable and was very degrading.
13. When I was a juvenile at FSP, I couldn’t be out of my cell with adults. I think I only went to dayroom one time, with another kid. I do not remember ever going to recreation (rec) when I was under 18. Officers would come to my cell just to look at me and make comments about how they couldn’t believe there was a juvenile in CM. And it wasn’t just officers. FDC officials would come down to my CM unit and only look in my cell and Jeremiah Hill’s cell. I think Jeremiah Hill was the only other kid in CM. Sometimes the officials would shake their heads or make comments about me being young and on CM. One time, a group of about eight or nine people - officers told me they were college students - came into my dorm and only stopped and looked in my cell and Jeremiah’s cell. They walked by my cell door one by one and no one said anything – they just each looked in my cell and looked at me. All these experiences combined made me feel like an animal at the zoo. It felt degrading. I felt singled out in a bad way.
14. Once I turned 18, I was allowed to go to rec, but they only offered it on and off. At FSP, sometimes I was going every week and sometimes I didn’t go for three to four months at a time. When I didn’t go, most of the time it was because it just wasn’t offered. There would be weeks where I wouldn’t even see the rec officers. Occasionally, the rec officers would come around but not take me to rec
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because they said I wasn’t ready, even though I was. Also, they wouldn’t ask me if I wanted to come out for rec – they would just expect me to be waiting under the light in my boxers for them, even though they came at different times on different days. If I wasn’t doing that, they would say I refused, even if I wanted to go out. You need to be on point to come out of your cell at all and even then you might not be taken out. Plus, it’s hard to be on point all the time.
15. At Santa Rosa, rec is also infrequent. I think they only do rec here once a week at most and I usually either don’t get offered the chance to go or I miss it because they switch up the days and I never really know when to be up and ready. In the entire time I’ve been at Santa Rosa, I’ve only been to rec a few times; I think only three times since September 2020. One of those times we had to go because they were painting the dorms before an inspection in this case.
16. During my entire time in confinement across multiple institutions, I’ve only been to dayroom a few times. Officers just don’t do it or, when they do, they don’t pull everyone out.
17. Being in confinement can get pretty lonely. When I was at FSP, I didn’t really get any interaction with people. For a few months, I was housed close enough to Jeremiah Hill to talk to him on the back window. But there were a couple of times officers threatened me for talking to him. They told me that if they caught me on the
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window they would gas me or put me on property restriction or not give me food, so I had to be careful.
18. Once I learned how to do some sign language, I became a little less lonely because sometimes I can sign to people across from me through the plexiglass. I don’t know any words, but I know the alphabet, so I can spell out what I want to say. But I need to be careful about standing on the door because some officers will give me trouble for doing it, like at FSP. I’ve been told it’s against the confinement rules to stand at the door or try to communicate with people in other cells, and I don’t want to get in trouble.
19. I have had about 10 cellmates since I’ve been at Santa Rosa. I don’t think FDC does a good job of matching people with cellmates in confinement. I get out of prison in about a year and a half. I’m fairly young, 5 feet 6 inches tall, and weigh about 150 pounds. Twice I’ve been placed in cells with people who have life sentences and one of them was a lot bigger than I am. I don’t think that’s supposed to happen. I felt very anxious in the cells at first in those situations, adding to the normal stress of being confined in a small space with someone else.
20. Even when I’m housed with someone I get along with, being in such close quarters with another person all day, every day has led to tension. It’s not just me—I’ve seen people housed together across from me get in fights. I have even heard officers encourage people to fight. Once, I told an officer that I wanted to
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change cellmates, and he told me something like, “swing on him and then I’ll move you.” Then in February 2021, my cellmate and I got into a disagreement. I asked multiple officers, including the officer in charge, to remove me from the cell. I packed up all my stuff. But no one moved me and one officer told me that if I wanted to get out of the cell, we’d have to fight. My cellmate and I did fight and officers came and used chemical agents on us. It burned my whole body for a day and a half. And I received a DR and time in DC for that fight. Another time, a cellmate threatened to stab me and I felt forced to fight him when the correctional officers came around so that they would see and I would get moved. I received DC time for that fight. Even when I get along with my cellmate, I still feel like I’m alone because I have my own struggles that are hard to share with someone you are with 24-7 and you still need to figure out how to survive the time in isolation on your own.
21. I signed up for continuing education when I transferred to Santa Rosa, but they told me the roster was full, and they put me on the waiting list. I still have not received educational materials at Santa Rosa. If I get the chance, I’d really like to take some science classes. If it’s like education at FSP, someone will just drop the paperwork off at my cell. There were times at FSP I was able to learn from the paperwork they dropped off, if I understood what I read, but I didn’t have any real contact with the teachers, and no FDC staff was available to help me when I didn’t understand the paperwork.
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22. Whenever I go to a callout, recreation, or dayroom officers strip search me. I’ve heard officers make derogatory comments to people when they strip search them. Strip searches are degrading but it’s kind of becoming a more normal thing to me because it happens all the time. I think it’s really messed up that this has become normal to me.
23. Most of the time when I come out of the cell, they search my cell. I don’t know if they are actually looking for anything or just trying to tear up our cells to show their power. It’s intimidating. You feel like you’re being picked on and bullied.
24. Anytime I leave my cell, I’m in restraints. That usually means cuffs, a black box, shackles around my ankles and a belly chain. Sometimes, like when I go to the shower, I’m cuffed behind my back. It wasn’t like that when I was in general population in the YO program. There, we were hardly ever restrained.
25. Everything feels a little threatening when you’re in restraints and around officers. I always feel like I have to be cautious not to say the wrong thing, otherwise they could jump on me. You never know what kind of mood the officers are going to be in. It’s hard to live on edge like this all the time.
26. Officers have threatened me before. At FSP, officers used to joke about throwing me a “birthday party” when I turned 18. They said they were going to have me gift-wrapped. “Gift wrapped” is a term officers use that means someone will be
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restrained and not able to defend themself when the officers jump on them. I had a lot of anxiety about it for months because I’ve seen them beat people up really badly and I’ve been beaten up by officers myself. Also an officer told me something like, “we stomp people to death at FSP.” At Santa Rosa, before one of my legal calls recently, two officers were talking while they were searching me. They were complaining about having to do strip searches. One said that he should not have to do them because that’s not what he gets paid to do. He said he gets paid “to beat inmates to sleep.” This makes confinement worse because you’re already alone in your cell for the vast majority of the day or the whole day, which can be a really stressful experience. Now, you also have to be stressed and anxious about what the officers may do to you.
27. At FSP, I was put on 24-hour “in-house” strip a couple times when I got caught talking. In-house strip isn’t an official punishment. I don’t think it’s documented. Officers just tell you to strip down to your boxers, put all of your stuff on your mat, roll it up, and put it under your bunk. It’s just another reason that I try not to talk to people in other cells very often. Sometimes they gave me a choice between “in-house” strip, getting an air tray, which is a tray with no food on it, or getting a DR. When I had a choice, in the summer, I would pick strip so that I wouldn’t be hungry and because a DR would mean more confinement time, and I couldn’t deal with that thought. But, in the winter, I would pick the air tray because
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I couldn’t handle more confinement time and for strip my cell would be as cold as the outside, which during the winter months could get very cold. Hunger you can deal with better than being freezing cold in your boxers not able to sleep and spending more time in confinement.
28. It feels like you can be doing everything right, but if officers want to keep you on confinement they will. This makes me feel mad and depressed. It can make you lose motivation.
29. One of the things that I hate the most about being in confinement is the extremely limited contact with my family. My family is my support system, and they help me get through my time in prison without breaking down and help me stay connected to the world. Recently, I was in DC and could not talk to my family at all. I was also so tired of being on CM. I cut myself to try to get out of confinement and go to a mental health unit. FDC put me in a Self-Harm Observation Status cell for three days and then put me right back into confinement.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on May 18, 2021.
Signed: /s/ John Gilday, DC# P90065
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DELONTE MILLER

I, Delonte Miller, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am an 18-year-old Black kid locked up in the Florida Department of

Corrections. Right now I’m in Disciplinary Confinement at Columbia Correctional

Institution Annex. Because of my age, I’ve been a “youthful offender” (YO) since

I came to prison when I was 14 years old. I make this declaration based on my own

personal knowledge.

2. In September and October 2019, when I was in Close Management

(CM), FDC staff gave me an IQ test a couple times. First they tested me when I was

at Florida State Prison (FSP) and then they sent me to the Reception and Medical

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Center (RMC) for another test. I don’t know why they decided to test me or what I scored on the tests. I think I “passed” it the second time, then I went back to FSP.
3. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, but FDC doesn’t give me any medicine for it. In December 2019, when I was still in CM, I went to RMC, I think because my counselor said I was in a deep depression crisis or something like that. I think the doctor diagnosed me with depression. I take Zoloft to control my nightmares; it’s supposed to make me happy. I take another medicine for my mood swings. I’m not sure what it’s called but it’s supposed to keep me steady. Before I came to prison, I was diagnosed with bipolar but I don’t know if FDC has that diagnosis for me.
4. I went to confinement the first time a month after I came to FDC, and I was in and out of the box a lot my first 2.5 years in prison. Some of the DRs I got were for pretty minor things like disrespect, refusing to work, or disorderly conduct. I wish staff had given me one-on-one counseling or group therapy instead of putting me in the box over and over again. I was a hot-headed little kid who had just come to prison, and I think my ADHD and bipolar are part of why I kept getting in trouble. I just needed support to help me calm down and adjust to being incarcerated. Instead, I haven’t been able to catch a break from confinement since I came to prison.
5. In April 2019, FDC put me in Disciplinary Confinement in the YO dorm at Suwannee CI for about a month. Then FDC put me on CM II and shipped
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me to Florida State Prison, an adult camp, when I was only 16. I stayed on CM II for about a year, then I became CM III. I was at FSP until August 2020, when I went back to the YO dorm at Suwannee for the rest of my CM time. The confinement quad at Suwannee had a mix of people on CM, AC, and DC. But the officers usually treated me like I was on AC/DC, not CM.
6. Confinement cells are nasty. There’s a lot of mold in the cell. There are huge spiders and lizards all the time. It’s worst when it’s hot out; they walk all over the walls. At FSP, really big rodents used to run around at night. They looked like they were on steroids and were really brave—you can’t really scare them away. I got scared when there was one in my cell at night. It’s really frustrating, it’s really unsanitary. The cells also smell old, like hot and muggy. Staff give us chemicals in a small cup like once a week to clean. There’s not much I could do with them other than wipe down the walls and desk in my tiny cell. But it didn’t do anything to get rid of the mold. It feels gross to be locked inside around the clock.
7. There’s not much I could do inside the cell, and I didn’t get to leave it a lot. When I first got to FSP, I think Jeremiah Hill was the only other YO there. A few more came later. Officers kept us in the same dorm even when we were on different levels of CM. We weren’t allowed to mix with the adults, so we didn’t get to go with them for dayroom, group, or rec. A lieutenant had to come escort us every
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time we had an out-of-cell activity. The few times I got to leave my cell, I was either alone or with only one or two other YOs.
8. It’s really hard to talk to people in confinement. I could talk through the vent or at the back window but I knew I could get in trouble for it. Once I got a DR for it at FSP. I sometimes signed on the door to the person in the cell across from me, but I couldn’t really sign for that long because my hand got tired. The officers didn’t talk to me either. I saw them when they did their rounds every thirty minutes or so. Sometimes I tried to ask one a question and they told me to ask the next shift. All of this was really stressful because when I’m going through stuff, I need social time. The only way to get things off my mind is to have intimate conversations with someone else. I couldn’t do that, so all I could do was just think all day.
9. Not being able to talk to my mom was really hard on me. In CM, got way less visits than in General Population, and they’re only two hours long. The time passes by really quickly when I’m deep in conversation with her. The noncontact visits are the worst. I’d be in a little cage and I’d have to talk to my family though a little metal piece on the glass. It’s like the movies. I couldn’t hug my mom; all I could do was touch the glass. I’m her baby boy, but she couldn’t comfort me like she used to. She’d get all emotional, which made me emotional. But I had
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to hold it in because of the type of environment I’m in. So when I went back to my cell, I didn’t want to talk. I would just think. It really put a burden on my back.
10. At FSP, I didn’t get to leave my cell to go to school. I would get some schoolwork to do in my cell like every other week. The teacher would talk to me at my cell front sometimes, but usually I’d get the worksheets through the mail. It’s hard because I couldn’t really get face-to-face contact to learn. Everybody learns different. I need one-on-one help.
11. I only went to dayroom once at FSP, alone. I had no one to talk to. I went to group therapy a couple times with other YOs. Things weren’t much different at Suwannee—there isn’t even a dayroom in the confinement quad. I spent almost all day every day inside of a tiny cell. I listened to the radio a little, and I read when I had an interesting book, which wasn’t very often. I paced back and forth, and got stuck with my thoughts. When I got tired of thinking I laid in bed. I’d sit around and wait for the food to come—that’s what made the time pass. It was stressful. I got a couple gray hairs a few months after I came to CM.
12. I don’t get to exercise outside of my cell much either. In all the time I spent at FSP, which was over a year, I think only went to rec like six times, even though I asked to go a lot more. Officers would ignore the sign I had in my window, even if I had my bunk made and was in my Class A uniform when they came around in the morning. A couple times I went all by myself, which was really boring.
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Sometimes I’d use the pull-up and dip bars, sometimes I’d walk around a bit. Then I’d just sit down and look out at the parking lot. I didn’t exercise a lot in my confinement cell either because I got really sweaty. When it’s not a shower day, I had to take a bird bath in my sink then clean the water off the floor. And in the summer, the cells are scorching hot, especially at FSP. All I’d want to do is lay in my bed and fan myself with a piece of paper.
13. Every time I left my cell I had to go through a strip search. It was humiliating and embarrassing. The officers made me get naked, lift my privates, squat, and cough. Some of them made me spread my cheeks. They searched my cell every time I left too. Some of them made a mess. Once I came back and found my toilet paper spread all over the room, my covers on the floor, and my mail scattered under my bunk. Sometimes I skipped showers and my mental health appointments because I didn’t want to go through this.
14. Every time I left my cell (except for rec and showers) officers put me in handcuffs, a waist chain, a black box, and leg irons. These restraints make me feel like a caged animal.
15. I’ll never forget the time in November 2019 officers at FSP sprayed me and put me on property restriction after a lieutenant accused me of talking at my back window. The pepper spray made me so hot. I couldn’t breathe, and I felt like I was going to die—like they were snatching my heart out of my chest. Then they
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took all my state-issued property including my mattress, my covers, my clothes. I felt barbaric and uncivilized spending 72 hours in my boxers forced to sleep on a cold, steel bunk. I wanted to cry. I remember banging on Hill’s cell wall during the night. I talked to him to help get my mind off the cold. He wanted to send me his sheet using a fishing line, but our cells were right next to the officer station so it was too risky. After this happened, I spent more time in my bed, not talking to people, because I was afraid it’d happen to me again.
16. Once officers did a cell extraction in the cell across from me. I saw an officer punching the guy with handcuffs wrapped around his hand like brass knuckles. When they brought him out of the cell it looked like his head was split open and he had black eyes. Another time, staff brought someone out of a cell in my dorm on a stretcher with a sheet over his body. I think he had committed suicide because they put yellow caution tape across his cell door, like they were investigating something. Being in confinement is ugly. The things I’ve seen have stayed in my mind. I get nightmares thinking about them.
17. Being behind the door for so long really messed with my head. I didn’t think I was strong enough to adapt to the environment. Mental issues came up, and I started talking to myself a little after I came to FSP. I felt delirious. I would tell myself I have to be strong. But hearing other people screaming inside their cells would bring me down. I would feel depressed and think, “this is what my life has
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come to.” I’d ask myself how I ended up there. It would make me stress even more. I started having nightmares like two months after I came to CM. I think it’s why the doctor gave me Zoloft. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.     Executed on May 20, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Delonte Miller, DC# C90119
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DERRICK DEVON WEST SR.

I, Derrick Devon West Sr., declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 50-year-old Black man incarcerated in the custody of the Florida

Department of Corrections (FDC). Most recently, I was locked up in Administrative

Confinement at Blackwater Correctional Facility from January through February

2021. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I was attacked by officers at South Florida Reception Center prison in

2017. I have been asking for Protective Management for several years so that I will

not be harassed by staff. Instead, they usually just put me in Administrative

Confinement where I’m locked in my cell almost 24 hours a day.

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3. I have a few medical conditions, including some caused by the officers who attacked me. I have limited use of my left arm, pinched nerves in back, and a bone sticking out on the side of my left foot. I also have hypertension. I was diagnosed with depression in 2007 and anxiety in 2017.
4. I came to FDC in 1999, and have been in some type of confinement off and on for the last ten years. I have been in Administrative Confinement (AC), Disciplinary Confinement (DC), Close Management (CM) 2 and 3. We call all of these “confinement” because you are confined in a room with the door locked. I have been in confinement at South Florida Reception Center, Everglades, Dade, Holmes, Okeechobee, Taylor, Apalachee- East, Walton, Suwannee, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Florida State Prison (FSP), Hardee, Northwest Florida Reception Center, Central Florida Reception Center, Reception and Medical Center, Lake, Charlotte, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, and Blackwater. A lot of the time I have spent in confinement, I’ve been in AC pending Protective Management. In AC, I get very few privileges even though I haven’t violated any rules or done anything wrong.
5. In my experience, confinement cells are almost always in terrible condition – it doesn’t matter what institution you’re at or the type of confinement. The last confinement cell I was in at Walton had old food in it, mold around the sink and on the walls, and leftover gas on the wall. “Gas” is what we call the pepper spray officers use whenever they think we’re a threat. The walls in that cell leaked
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when it rained. I had to put toilet paper on the walls to keep it from leaking all onto my floor. The confinement cells at Santa Rosa were also filthy. The cells had old food on the walls, the windows did not close, and the toilets were full of mildew with a bad smell.
6. Rats and roaches are pretty widespread problems in confinement wings. I’ve lost a lot of my canteen items due to the rats eating through them. They love peanut butter squeezes and soup packets. I can’t count how many times I’ve woken up to throw a shoe at the rats during the night, but I’ve never gotten used to that. Living in these conditions make me feel unhuman.
7. Sitting down in my confinement cell all the time makes my back pain worse. I can’t do push-ups or other exercises on the floor because of my left arm, I need to walk to get exercise. But there’s no room to walk in my cell or a recreation cage that’s around the same size. They have never given me an exercise plan or told me how I am supposed to get the exercise I need with my disabilities in confinement.
8. I rarely get to go to the recreation cage when I’m in confinement. For the first 30 days, you can’t go to recreation at all. When I was at Walton, I never got to go recreation. When I asked to go, staff told me I couldn’t go because they were short-staffed. When I was at Santa Rosa, every time I moved dorms the 30-day recreation clock started over again. For example, when I had to change dorms, the officers would come around to let people out for recreation and they would ask how
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long I had been there. Even when I had been in the facility for months, they would still deny me recreation time. They told me I still had to wait 30 days because I hadn’t been in the same dorm for 30 days.
9. There isn’t much communication in confinement. When I tried to talk to staff about what I need, they just ignored me or told me to write a grievance or turn in a request form. But the only way I could get those forms was through the officers, and they don’t like to hand them out. Half the time I didn’t have a pen even if I could get the forms. A lot of times, I didn’t get my mail, so I couldn’t even properly communicate through letters. I just laid in the bed and listened to people calling for psychological emergencies, asking for socks, complaining there’s no food on their tray, and asking for proper medication. Sometimes this was the most communication I got, just listening to other people’s pain.
10. Whenever I left my dorm, no matter the type of confinement, I was restrained at least in handcuffs, shackles, and a waist chain. They don’t restrain me like that in Open Population. I feel helpless when I’m all chained up. Sometimes they put the shackles on so tight that I got cuts from them. Some places told me I can’t wear socks, so I still have marks on my ankles from the shackles cutting into them. Being handcuffed also hurt my left arm. And once I hear them coming with the handcuffs and they put them on, all I think about is the officers beating me.
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11. I’m also strip searched whenever I leave my dorm, which is very humiliating. One time, an officer told me to bend over and that if I twerk for him, he’ll give me an extra tray. It just feels sickening. During cell searches, which happen nearly every time I leave my cell, officers tear through everything. The officers then close the door and tell me to clean my stuff up. They have broken my headphones and thrown my property and clothes on the floor. My white t-shirts have boot prints all over them from being stepped on. Usually I don’t bother writing it up because the grievance will just be denied. Between the strip searches, restraints, and cell searches, a lot of the time I’d rather stay in my cell than go out, even for showers.
12. I don’t get proper medical attention in confinement. Most of the time my back is hurting from sitting all day. The officers are always there during our appointments and can listen. It’s hard to feel safe telling medical staff my problems with the officers listening to me. Once when I requested medication to help with the pain, an officer told me to stop telling people I got jumped on by officers and then I would get proper care. I am usually restrained during my medical examinations. I don’t know how the doctors and nurses can properly examine me this way. I can barely move with handcuffs and chains on my waist.
13. Property restriction (“strip”) is very painful and humiliating and makes me feel worthless. The officers take away whatever they want for three days. It could be for as small as violation as having a cup in the cell. They leave us in our
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boxers with no mattress and we have to sleep on cold steel. One time they even took my medication from me. Another time, I went 3 days without toilet paper. Being on property restriction makes me question why I am still alive. Sometimes I felt like I would be better off dying. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.            Executed on April 9, 2021
Signed: /s/ Derrick Devon West Sr., DC# 674787  
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF SAVANNAH MARIE POWELL I, Savannah Marie Powell, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 30-year-old white transgender woman in prison at Florida State

Prison (FSP). My legal name is Chad Powell, but my chosen name is Savannah

Marie Powell. I am in Close Management Level 1 and Disciplinary Confinement. I

make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. Since September 2018, I have been in Administrative Confinement,

Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management Level I, and Close Management

Level II. I call all these “confinement” because in each I am in my cell for over 23

hours a day almost every day. I have been in confinement at Columbia Correctional

Institution, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI) and Florida State Prison

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(FSP). I have spent most of my time at FSP, except when I tried to kill myself by overdosing in September 2018, and they sent me to inpatient treatment at SRCI for a couple of months. Confinement has felt the same everywhere I have been. The only thing that might change a bit from prison to prison is how awful the officers are to us. At SRCI, they can be more laid back. At FSP, it is very homophobic. We rely on the officers for all our basic necessities so it is important what kind of environment we are dealing with and how they treat us.
3. I have a seizure disorder. When I first arrived at Close Management at FSP in February 2019, I was taken off my seizure medication. I think they said it was because I had not had a seizure in a while. But a few months ago, in October 2020, I had another seizure in Close Management. I fell off my bunk bed during the seizure. Staff took me to medical to check my vitals and then they sent me back to my cell. They told me over two months ago that they would put me back on seizure medication but it has not happened yet. It harder to get medical care in confinement than it is the General Population. In confinement, I can submit sick calls or write grievances, but a lot of the time all of that is ignored and no one ever responds to me. I have tried grieving to get back on my seizure medication but no one has responded to my grievances yet. It is also hard to get the attention of officers in an emergency. If I feel like I might be having a seizure, my only option to get an officer’s attention is wait for someone to make their rounds, or kick and scream on
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the door. But I have received a Disciplinary Report (DR) for disorderly conduct in the past for kicking on the door. It makes me afraid to kick on the door for officers’ attention, even if it is an emergency. They can use DRs to deny us even more privileges or keep us on confinement longer.
4. I have also been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizoaffective disorder. I feel more depressed in confinement. I am in my room all day every day. The walls cave in on me and I am left with only my thoughts to pass the time.
5. FDC has diagnosed me with gender dysphoria but they will not provide me proper treatment for this while I’m in confinement. Recently, they took me off my hormone medication. They said it was because people in confinement cannot see the endocrinologist because of the coronavirus. I had been on hormone medication for over a year before they just stopped giving it to me. It is hard on my body to go through that.
6. The cells in confinement are disgusting. My cell right now does not have hot water. The toilets are filthy. I can’t flush my toilet in the cell I am in now so everything will just sit in the toilet until an officer will finally flush it. I have to eat and live within feet from all of my waste just sitting there. I see rats and spiders everywhere. In the summer, the rats come out of the holes in the walls. Sometimes my ceiling leaks and I can see mold on the ceiling from all the water.
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7. Aside from being filthy, the cells also do not have any privacy. I am a transgender woman but my cell does not have any privacy to use the restroom. When I use the toilet, other prisoners on the wing can see me. When I sit down to go to the bathroom, other prisoners stare at me and make cat calls. I know if I try to put something over my window for privacy, then officers will yell at me and put me on property restriction. We are not allowed to have anything on our walls or covering the door window.
8. I do not get much interaction with other humans. I receive medication in the morning, but the nurses just pass my medication to me through the food flap and then they keep going on about their business. They do not talk to me. A chaplain comes around about once a week, but I don’t always get to talk to him. When I do, it’s very brief, about five minutes, and only through my cell door. He says he does not have a lot of time to talk. I sometimes try to communicate with sign language with people in other cells. It is very risky though because in the past officers have threatened to give me a DR, pepper spray me, or confiscate my meal trays for talking to other people on the wing. Staff have not let me have a phone call with my family for months. It makes it really hard never getting to talk to my family, especially during a pandemic. I have no idea if they are safe, healthy or even alive.
9. There is not much I can do in my cell to pass the time. I try to pass the time by dealing with my thoughts and looking forward to the next meal.
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10. Even though it is hard to pass the time in my cell, I am scared to come out because officers will trash it. Every time I leave my cell, officers are supposed to search it. They create havoc during these searches. They throw my stuff everywhere, throw my hygiene in the toilet, toss things on the floor, and go through my mail and legal paperwork. I have learned that it is best to only come out of my cell if I am able to barter my meal tray with the officers working. When I leave my cell, I promise my next meal tray to the officer working in exchange for not tearing my cell apart during the cell search. It feels like extortion but it is the best way to keep my few belongings safe and tidy when I leave my cell.
11. In confinement, staff torture us with cruel methods of punishment. I have been put on property restriction (“strip) several times over the past couple of years in confinement. The last time I was put on strip, the officers took everything away from me, including my mat. I was left only in my boxers for three days. From observing officer patterns the past couple of years, it feels like they put people on strip more often during winter and during the summer they pepper spray us more. Strip is torture, but especially so during the winter months when it is cold.
12. I have hurt myself in confinement a lot of times. Other than the first time when I was sent to inpatient treatment, it feels like FDC ignores me. At FSP, I have had multiple incidents of cutting my wrists. All they do is take me to medical to glue my wrists back up and then send me right back to my cell. It also feels like
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they get mad when I cut, maybe because it makes them have to do extra work. I never cut myself before confinement. When you have such little contact with people, all you can do is sit back in your cell and think. When officers mess with me, or treat me poorly, cutting is an outlet from my thoughts and frustrations.
13. I feel like I will never get out of confinement. Officers know how to mess with me to make me upset and get a reaction. I deal with a lot of officers making sexual jokes and harassment because I am a transgender woman. They will joke that they are about to rape me when I am in the shower, or grab my butt and make cat calls. When I do finally show a reaction, I normally get a DR for disrespect or disobeying a verbal order, or whatever they can give me to keep me in here longer. I don’t know how I’m ever going to get out. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on March 24, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Savannah-Marie (Chad) Powell, DC#134137
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF ADARIUS DALE

I, Adarius Dale, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am a 17-year-old young black man incarcerated in the custody of the

Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). I am currently housed at Suwannee

Correctional Institution (Suwannee) in the Youth Offender (YO) program. I make

this declaration based on my own personal knowledge.

2. I have asthma.

3. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed

medications for ADHD. I had extra time on tests in school.

4. On around November 23, 2020, officers put me in confinement in A

dorm when I was 16 years old. I got disciplinary reports for disobeying a verbal

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order and misuse of state property because I had a t-shirt over my head to block out the light and I was trying to sleep. Staff put me on Administrative Confinement (AC) first and then Disciplinary Confinement (DC), but I stayed in the same cell for the entire time. I call both AC and DC “confinement” because my life in both of them was pretty much the same. I got out of confinement on about December 18, 2020. This was my first and only time in confinement.
5. AC and DC are a living hell. I had stay in my cell all day every day and it’s as cold in the cell as it is on the outside. I felt like I was in an igloo in the North Pole during the months I was there. I was in a cell alone. The only thing I could do was write letters and work out. I could try to talk to other guys on the door but I could get in trouble for doing that. It got very lonely in confinement. It felt like the walls were talking to me sometimes. I would get very sad. I would think about whether I was ever going to get out of confinement. I felt depressed and anxious all the time. The lights would go off at about 10pm and that’s when these negative feelings would hit me the hardest.
6. I could not use the phone or my tablet during the entire time I was in confinement. This was really hard for me because my family is everything to me. I am especially close to my grandmother. When I am in General Population, I usually speak to her over the phone at least once a week, and sometimes every day, and communicate with her on my tablet. I was very worried that she would think I was
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hurt or even dead when I couldn’t call her or use my tablet. I wrote her a physical letter but I wasn’t sure if it made it to her while I was in confinement.
7. When I was in confinement, the only time I regularly came out of my cell was two times a week for showers. Each time, I would be out of my cell for about 10 minutes.
8. The only time I remember leaving the dorm during my entire time in confinement was when Plaintiffs’ team did an inspection and I went to an interview. It was nice to see the sky and grass again. In my confinement cell, the back window was frosted over and I couldn’t see outside.
9. Staff never offered me, and I never went to, recreation during my time in confinement.
10. I only went to the dayroom a few times when I was in confinement to use the kiosk and only when certain staff worked. There was no one else out in the dayroom with me during those times.
11. I would like to get my GED, but I could not make progress towards that goal in confinement. They never pulled me out for school. Sometimes someone from education would come around and try to talk about a packet I was supposed to complete from the previous week. But it was hard for me to do that because I was going through stuff like property restriction. I would be crying, my eyes would be red, and the education person would just ask if I completed the task for the week
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before. If I said yes, they would hand me another packet and leave. That was all “education” consisted of in confinement.
12. Every time I came out of my cell in confinement during the day shift, and sometimes during the night shift, officers strip searched me. Because I’m a larger guy, they made me lift up my stomach and the rolls of my stomach. Sometimes, they laughed at me while they did the strip search. It made me feel bad and like I was going to lose my cool.
13. During my time in confinement, I was put on strip, which is property restriction, two times. The first time I went on strip was the first day I entered confinement. They left me with my clothes but took away my mattress, pillow, sheets, and blanket. I lay down on the slab where my mattress would usually go and I tried to wait until it got warm from my body heat, but it never did. So, instead, I sat down against the wall that night and put my back against the wall to try to sleep. It didn’t really work. I would fall asleep for what felt like 20 minutes or so and then wake back up. I was on strip that time a few days.
14. The second time I was on strip, it lasted for about four days. I had no mat, no sheets, and no clothes except for my boxers. I was so miserable on strip that I cried myself to sleep most nights sitting on the floor against the wall. Without my mat, I couldn’t lay on the steel slab that I usually have my mat on because it was too cold and hard.
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15. I feel like confinement was making me institutionalized. Every day you experience the same nothing over and over again. I felt like I was like a caged animal and like I wasn’t even human. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on March 29, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Adarius Dale, DC#S50895
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF VALENCIA SIMMS I, Valencia Simms, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 42-year-old Black man in prison at Florida State Prison. I am on

Close Management Level 1. I make this declaration based on my own personal

knowledge.

2. I have chronic depression, acute anxiety, and post-traumatic stress

disorder (PTSD). FDC prescribed me Buspar and Lexapro to treat my mental illness.

As a child, I experienced a lot of abuse. My PTSD from childhood is triggered by

the things that take place in isolation. The officers treat us like animals and only refer

to us as “inmate,” like we don’t have a name. In General Population, they use our

names more often. My depression is always present when I’m in isolation. I think

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about suicide every day. When I was in General Population, I would sometimes think about suicide. When that would happen, I would remind myself about all the people around me and how someone would stop me if I ever actually tried to kill myself. But in isolation, all I think about is how easily I could get away with suicide. I think about how I could harm myself, and no one would be anywhere nearby to stop me or help me.
3. I was in isolation for two years from 2017 to 2019. I then went to General Population for about a year, but ended up back in isolation in March of 2020. Over the past four years, I have been in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management I, Close Management II, and Close Management III at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and Florida State Prison. I call all of this “isolation” because I am isolated from everything and everyone.
4. The cells in isolation are filthy. I see a lot of roaches and spiders. There is also mold all over my cell. They sometimes give us watered-down chemicals for cleaning but it is never enough and sometimes we have to wait over a month to get it. Recently, I had water running through my ceiling lights for about a week before they finally fixed it. Until they did, I had to try and manage the constant flow of water with any rags or spare clothing I had on hand. I was scared it would reach my personal locker and destroy all my belongings and paperwork. But if I removed all
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my belongings from my locker then I knew officers would just yell at me for not keeping my stuff in my locker.
5. The toilets are disgusting. In the cell I am in now, I can’t flush my toilet. I have to ask the officers to do it by writing a sign and putting it on my door for when they walk by. But they don’t like it when we stand on the door. One time when I needed a toilet flush, I saw an officer about to walk by my cell, so I quickly jumped up with my sign to get his attention. The officer started screaming at me about being on the door. I was afraid I was going to get a Disciplinary Report (DR) for it. All this means that I often must live and eat within a few feet of a toilet full of waste.
6. I hardly talk to anyone in isolation. I don’t try to talk to other guys on the wing because I have seen officers put people on property restriction, “strip,” for getting caught talking on the door. I try to use the phones to talk to my family, but that privilege is taken away a lot because of group punishment. Officers frequently punish us as a group.
7. In the summer, the cells get unbearably hot. The only relief is to lay on the cool concrete floor. Sometimes I even sleep directly on the concrete floor because it’s so hot in my cell. The other night, it was so hot in the cells. A guy on the wing was singing, “Celebration,” and because of him singing, the officers cut off the exhaust fan on the entire wing. It was almost impossible to sleep after that from the heat.
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8. I almost never leave my cell because I don’t want to deal with the officer harassment. Whenever you leave your cell, officers search it. They almost always end up trashing my room. In the past, I have had my watch stolen and my radio and headphones broken during the cell searches.
9. I also don’t come out of my cell very often because I don’t want to deal with a humiliating strip search. The officers make me get naked and some of them even make me spread my butt cheeks. They degrade me or put me down. They make sexual comments.
10. Having a cellmate in isolation makes isolation even harder. We’re forced to spend all our time in a tiny, cramped cell and there is just not enough room. A lot of guys got angry when officers tried to put me in their cells. But it’s not like I asked to be put in there. Officers just force it on us. I argued all the time with one cellmate. We asked to be switched but we were told we would have to fight it out and that they would only move us if we injured each other. It felt like the prison was trying to manufacture violence.
11. I was put on strip once in isolation. It was basically torture. Officers took everything away from me, including my mattress and pillow. All I had left was the boxers I was wearing. I remember it was in the middle of winter and freezing outside. For 72 hours, I just sat in my cell with nothing and freezing cold. I did not think it was possible to ever feel that cold.
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12. I feel very hateful now. It is frustrating to see all the abuse and injustice around me and we can’t do anything about it. If they decide not to feed us one night, I can’t do anything. If I try and write a grievance about it, no one will respond. I think they just get thrown away. If I write a grievance against specific officers, then the officers get upset and just retaliate against me and write me a bunch of frivolous DRs. At my Close Management reviews, they will use the frivolous DRs as an excuse to keep me in isolation longer.
13. When I managed to go back to General Population in 2019, it was hard for me to function. I felt really jumpy and paranoid around people again. I am scared I will feel that way again if I ever get out of isolation this time. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. Executed on March 31, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Valencia Simms, DC #L26194
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF SCOTT E. BARNES I, Scott E. Barnes, declare under penalty of perjury:

1. I am 43-years-old and deaf and mute. I am currently in Close

Management 1 (CM 1) at Suwannee Correctional Institution. I have previously

spent time on Administrative Confinement (AC), Close Management 2 (CM 2), and

Close Management 3 (CM 3). We call them all “confinement” because in each type

we’re confined in our cells almost all the time. I make this declaration based on my

own personal knowledge.

2. My current period in confinement started in August 2020. I started off

on AC, but was moved to CM 1 status in October 2020, even though I did not receive

a disciplinary report. I spent a couple months assigned to CM 1 at Columbia Annex

before I came to Suwannee in December 2020, but I did not receive all my CM 1

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privileges at Columbia Annex because it is not a CM camp. So, there was no real difference between AC and CM 1 at Columbia Annex. I was transferred to Suwannee because it is a CM camp and there was a bed open. Now that I’m at Suwannee, there’s still not much of a real difference between AC and CM 1.
3. I need an interpreter, videophone, and a teletypewriter (TTY) to communicate effectively. In the past, I was approved for a hearing aid and a vibrating watch. I now have a hearing aid, but no vibrating watch, FM receiver, or tablet. The vibrating watch is really important to me because it helps me know when to wake up, when to get ready for Count, when to go to recreation and shower times, and other scheduled daily activities. Staff took my vibrating watch when I got in confinement. I have written grievances and told officers about the hardships of not having a vibrating watch since August 2020, but I have never received a response.
4. Since I cannot tell time without a vibrating watch, I depend on my instincts or staff to keep track of time. In confinement at Columbia, officers often threw bar soaps at me to wake me up for morning count, legal calls, or whenever they wanted to get my attention. Sometimes officers did not wake me up for breakfast and I either missed breakfast or woke up to a tray of food thrown in my confinement cell, with some food items spilled on the cell floor.
5. At Columbia, I did not go to recreation because officers did not tell me when it was time. I cannot remember exactly how long I went without recreation at
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Columbia, but I think it was about 4 months. At Suwannee, I can go out for recreation, but only about once a week. I do not like going to recreation at Suwannee because while I am outside, officers throw my things around my cell.
6. It is hard for me to communicate with officers when I do not have an interpreter. There is no interpreter during security checks. Officers kick the cell door to get my attention because they think I can feel the vibrations from their kicks. Sometimes I can feel the vibrations, but the walls are so thick that a lot of times I cannot feel them.
7. In confinement, I do not have access to TTY or video phone to communicate with my family or friends. I have not had a phone call with a loved one since August 2020. In General Population, I talked to my family at least once a month. Now at Suwannee I can only mail them letters, but I am running out of money for mailing supplies. I feel very lonely and isolated from them. I do not know what is going on with them and I do not have anyone to talk to. I sometimes feel like I am trapped and alone.
8. The only access I’ve had to a phone in confinement was with the lawyer helping me with this declaration. We used a video phone with an interpreter, but it was really hard and took a lot of calls for me to be able to communicate this much information. During every call, I was restrained with handcuffs and a black box. The black box keeps my hands restrained to a waist chain. This is a problem because I
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use my hands to sign, and sometimes the interpreter had a hard time understanding me because my hands were so restricted. Also, the video phone cut off every 30 minutes. Then it would take several minutes for the lawyer to call back and prison staff to reconnect us. Since prison staff would only give us an hour for each call, we could not afford to lose those minutes. A few times we couldn’t do the calls at all because they didn’t set up the video phone for me.
9. Sometime last year during an earlier stay in confinement at Suwannee, I felt stressed about not being able to use the phone. I felt very isolated because I could not contact other people. I began sweating, pacing around my cell, and kicking the cell door. I could see the officer was angry with me outside the cell door, but I couldn’t stop because I was so lonely and upset and needed help. They pepper sprayed me inside my cell and about five officers attacked me. They slammed me and injured my back. My eyes were burning from the pepper spray. I filed a grievance explaining that I was upset from not being able to contact my family and describing how officers attacked me, but I never received a response.
10. In confinement at Columbia, sometimes a mental health person came around to the cell door to check on me. But they did not have an interpreter and tried to communicate with me through writing back and forth. I did not talk to them this way because it is too hard to communicate my thoughts without an interpreter.
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Without an interpreter, my emotions are not translated. They cannot really tell how serious or frustrated I am when communicating through writing.
11. Nurses have attempted to speak to me through the cell door, but they also do not have an interpreter. Without an interpreter I feel like staff ignore me when they do not understand what I am trying to say. They do not spend much time trying to figure it out. An interpreter can fully communicate what I am saying.
12. I’ve only spoke to the ADA team about three times since August 2020 because they only check on me about every four months. I told them about wanting to have phone calls with my family, but they didn’t do anything about it. My last ADA meeting was in January 2021. In my experience, the ADA team doesn’t do anything to make sure I have what I need in confinement.
13. I do not have very much to do in confinement. In General Population, I could pass the time by going to the yard, reading books from the library, watching TV, or listening to the radio. But in confinement, there’s not much for me to do except read the bible or work on my legal work. Sometimes I sign the alphabet back and forth with other inmates through my cell window, but I am not supposed to do this, and I could get a disciplinary report if an officer feels like giving me one. I try to keep my cell clean by using my only towel to scrub the floor and the toilet, but if I do this I don’t have a clean towel to use after my showers. Being locked in my cell
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with nothing to do makes me feel claustrophobic and like the walls are closing in on me. Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.              Executed on April 12, 2021.
Signed: /s/ Scott Barnes, DC# 464128
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) )

HARVARD, et al.,

)

)

Plaintiffs,

)

)

v.

)

)

)

MARK S. INCH, et al.,

)

)

Defendants.

)

___________________________

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF

DECLARATION OF DAVID ANDERSON I, David Anderson, declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am a 37-year-old Black man at Florida State Prison (FSP). I am

currently assigned to Maximum Management. I make this declaration based on my

own personal knowledge.

2. I have been in confinement for 14 years, since 2007, at Central Florida

Reception Center, Franklin Correctional Institution, Reception Medical Center,

Union Correctional Institution, and FSP. I have been in Disciplinary Confinement,

Administrative Confinement, Close Management and Maximum Management. I

refer to all these as “confinement” because I am completely confined, shut off from

everyone else, and alone. It feels like the walls are caving in on me in all of them.

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3. I am partially blind in my left eye and have a special pass to wear protective eyewear to avoid irritation in that eye. Officers took my eyewear away from me about a year ago during a strip search in confinement and never gave it back. Without my eyewear, my eyes always feel irritated and my vision is very blurry in both eyes.
4. I also need a catheter to urinate because I have a bullet in my groin area. Medical staff are supposed to give me medical supplies once a month to change my catheter, but they are often late in confinement. When this happens, I am forced to continue using dirty and old catheters. A lot of times, this contributes to very painful urinary tract infections (UTIs) and bladder spasms.
5. In addition to my physical disabilities, I have several mental health disabilities. FDC has diagnosed me with depression, mood swings, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, and schizophrenia. In the past, I’ve had to go to inpatient treatment because of my mental health problems in confinement. Since I arrived in Maximum Management, I’ve been hearing voices a lot.
6. I can’t have normal conversations with anyone in confinement. If I get to talk to religious clergy, it’s through the food flap in my door for less than five minutes. When I talk to my neighbors, it’s at the risk of getting a Disciplinary Report (DR) or property restriction. The last time I was able to speak with my family over
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the phone was when I was in an inpatient treatment facility in 2013. Staff have not offered to let me use the phone while I’ve been in confinement.
7. I do not get many opportunities to come out of my cell. I used to sign up for recreation a lot, but staff often wouldn’t let me go, claiming my cell was too dirty. This seemed like just an excuse because my cell was not dirty. They also used to tell me that I couldn’t come out because I had a pending Disciplinary Report (DR). Staff denied me recreation so many times I mostly stopped trying to go.
8. A lot of the time, even if I get the opportunity, I refuse to come out of my cell because I don’t want to deal with the strip and cell searches. Strip searches are one of the things I hate most about confinement. The officers talk about my body and my groin injury. They make comments about my masculinity and physical sexual limits. They speak loudly enough for everyone else on the wing to hear. It feels like they are trying to make me feel like less of a man. They also trash my cell during cell searches. It’s often just not worth the embarrassment, humiliation, and hassle to come out.
9. From being in confinement for over 14 years now, and dealing with the abuse, neglect, and corruption of officers, I feel like I have lost my mind and my sense of direction. I no longer feel stable, and I just feel angry, anxious and disturbed all the time. I get easily agitated and am easily triggered. I feel like officers know this and they purposely do things to get reactions out of me, like make fun of my
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disability or refuse me recreation for no reason. When I get angry and react to everything, they do to me in confinement, I get DRs that they use to keep me in confinement longer. I feel like I will never be able to get out of confinement. I have nothing to look forward to. I feel like everyone is out to get me.
10. I have tried to kill myself several times in confinement. But now when I cut or hurt myself, staff just accuse me of playing games. I am scared of them and what they could do to me. I am afraid to tell them when I feel suicidal. I feel like if they knew that, they could kill me, and then frame it as a suicide. When we are locked behind the door, nobody cares about us or asks questions.

Under 28 U.S.C. 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct.

Executed on April 9, 2021.

Signed: /s/David Anderson, DC# Q07836

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 Case 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS Document 130 Filed 03/30/20 Page 1 of 10 Case: 20-10650 Date Filed: 03/30/2020 Page: 1 of 9

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________

No. 20-10650-J _________________________

In re: SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,

__________________________

Petitioner.

On Petition for a Writ of Mandamus from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida __________________________

BEFORE: JORDAN, BRANCH, and LUCK, Circuit Judges.

BY THE COURT:

Before the Court is a petition for a writ of mandamus seeking, among other things, to

compel the district court to enter an order granting the petitioners’ motion for entry of a protective

order. The case below concerned a class action lawsuit brought by inmates formerly and currently

incarcerated in Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”) correction facilities alleging that the

conditions of their imprisonment constituted cruel and unusual punishment. After initial

discovery requests, the parties attempted to negotiate a confidentiality agreement. The parties

came to an impasse, however, because petitioners wished to designate certain requested

information involving sensitive prison security and safety issues as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” a

provision which would prohibit the information from being viewed by persons other than counsel

without the permission of FDC. The district court entered a confidentiality order that rejected

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petitioners’ request for an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision for this small subset of information and thus would have enabled the named plaintiffs—currently incarcerated inmates—along with several other groups of individuals to access all discovery without FDC permission.
Petitioners subsequently moved for a protective order, this time asking the district court to designate as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” a few specific categories of evidence: “(1) post orders; (2) technical manuals; (3) video surveillance of correctional facilities; and (4) information related to the correctional institution’s physical security, including, but not limited to, cell locations, prison layout, and positioning of officers and cameras.” Attached to this motion was a declaration by the Deputy Director of FDC, in which he swore that the plaintiffs’ discovery requests contained “highly sensitive safety and security information” for the prisons. The deputy director detailed which types of prison information are highly sensitive, what steps the FDC takes to safeguard it, and how such information might be misused.
The district court denied the motion for a protective order. The district court stated that it had already considered the petitioners’ security concerns and asserted that “Defendant’s motion for a protective order is based on a fear of mischief because there is an opportunity for mischief. This Court expects the parties to conduct discovery of highly sensitive information in a reasonable manner . . . . Defendant’s [sic] merely recite the concerns they had in opposing Plaintiffs’ proposed confidentiality order without demonstrating any specific facts that would show that additional protection is needed.” Following this order, petitioners filed a motion for a temporary stay along with a petition for a writ of mandamus in this court.
On March 6, 2020, this Court directed the respondents to file an answer to the petition and invited the District Judge to address the petition. The order also temporarily stayed the petitioners’
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duty to produce in discovery the information at issue in the district court’s order denying their motion for entry of a protective order. On March 9, 2020, the District Judge informed the Court that he elects not to address the petition. On March 13, 2020, the respondents filed an answer to the petition.
We are empowered to issue writs of mandamus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), the All Writs Act. Mandamus is available “only in drastic situations, when no other adequate means are available to remedy a clear usurpation of power or abuse of discretion.” Jackson v. Motel 6 Multipurpose, Inc., 130 F.3d 999, 1004 (11th Cir. 1997). For a writ of mandamus to issue, three conditions must be met: first, the party seeking the writ must have no other adequate means of relief; second, the petitioner must demonstrate his or her right to the writ is clear and indisputable; and third, the issuing court must determine whether a writ is appropriate under the circumstances. Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court for D.C., 542 U.S. 367, 380–81). A district court’s discovery orders are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See In re Ford Motor Co., 345 F.3d 1315, 1316 (11th Cir. 2003).
Although mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, it can be an appropriate remedy for discovery orders which threaten to disclose highly sensitive information. See In re Fink, 876 F.2d 84, 84 (11th Cir. 1989) (“Therefore, if there has been a clear abuse of discretion in allowing discovery, mandamus is an appropriate remedy.”). Granting a writ of mandamus may be appropriate where discovery orders threaten the sovereignty of the executive branch. See Cheney, 542 U.S. at 382 (“Accepted mandamus standards are broad enough to allow a court of appeals to prevent a lower court from interfering with a coequal branch’s ability to discharge its constitutional responsibilities.”). After careful review, we have determined that the petitioners have shown the
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district court clearly abused its discretion in denying their motion for entry of a protective order, the petitioners’ right to relief is clear and indisputable, and the petitioners have no other avenue of relief.
First, we find that, other that the writ of mandamus at issue, the petitioner has no other adequate means of relief. If we do not grant the petition, the information at issue will be disclosed and the harm to prison staff, prisoners, and the general public will have been done.
Second, we find that the petitioner has demonstrated that its right to the writ is clear and indisputable because the district court clearly abused its discretion in denying the motion for a protective order. The district court’s reasoning for denying the protective order—that plaintiffs’ counsel would not be presumed to act in bad faith and to cause “mischief”—misunderstands the legitimate concern of the petitioners.1 No one doubts or argues that plaintiffs’ counsel would handle discovery in a reasonable manner. Rather it is that the named plaintiffs themselves were granted access to highly sensitive information that is the issue. The named plaintiffs are currently incarcerated prisoners whose possession of such sensitive information is a clear and obvious security risk. These inmates have serious criminal records which include, among other felonies, murder in the first degree, armed robbery, identity fraud, forgery, and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement. Appellees to this mandamus petition assert such an exception was necessary because the named plaintiffs are the experts of their own case and need the information to know when the prison breached its protocol. We think not. An attorney can elicit helpful
1 We note that the petitioners attached to their motion for protective order a declaration of the deputy director of the FDC which highlighted the need for a protective order. When the district court denied the motion for a protective order, it did not even discuss the concerns and information presented in this declaration.
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information from his client without divulging confidential information. Additionally, the district court authorized release of this highly sensitive information to “consultants,” “declarants,” “experts,” and “witnesses” whom plaintiff counsel deem “reasonably necessary.” This list of people who have access represents a broad swath of people who might be designated as witnesses, declarants, or consultants with no input whatsoever by the government. This group represents a serious risk of further compromising prison security. Finally, the relief requested by the petitioners of the district court was quite modest—the petition asked for an “Attorney’s Eyes Only” designation only for a small subset of the prison information sought which would impair the security and safety functions of the prison if disclosed other than to plaintiffs’ counsel.2
Third, we find that granting the writ is appropriate in this case involving highly sensitive prison security and safety information. In Cheney, the Court issued a mandamus because it was concerned that the discovery order would interfere with important executive functions. Cheney, 542 U.S. at 385. We find that the discovery issue in this case, which also involves an executive branch function, is likewise, “not a routine discovery dispute.” Id. The ability of the prisons to perform their functions is threatened. We have found cases with less potential for serious harm appropriate to issue a mandamus. For example, in Fink, we found it an abuse of discretion to release medical records of nonparties to the action, including names and addresses of patients. See id. at 84–85. The confidential information here has much more potential to cause great harm to any number of people.
2 Our colleague makes much of the fact that the plaintiffs will not have access to the physical documents marked confidential. See J. Jordan, dissenting, infra at 7. While it is true that the confidentiality order prohibits the named plaintiffs—all currently incarcerated felons—from accessing the physical documents at issue, it nonetheless grants them access to all of the information contained therein without exception. Accordingly, the order’s exception for physical documents in no way alleviates the security and safety concerns that would arise if the named plaintiffs are granted access to this information.
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Given the extraordinary broadness of the discovery order, the seriousness of the potential security and safety breaches, the lack of harm to plaintiffs’ case by having the attorneys handle the highly sensitive information, and the fact that waiting until after the case is final to appeal the discovery order could be dangerous to prison staff, inmates, and the general public, we find mandamus appropriate in this case. The petition for a writ of mandamus is GRANTED as follows: the district court is directed to (a) vacate its order denying the petitioners’ motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 94), (b) grant the petitioners’ motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 84), and (c) enter any other orders necessary to implement the relief granted by this order. The petitioners are not obligated to produce in discovery information at issue in the petitioners’ motion for entry of a protective order (Doc. 84) absent the protective order. The petitioners’ “Emergency Motion to Stay Discovery Regarding Confidential Prison Security Information Pending Resolution of Petition for Writ of Mandamus” is DENIED AS MOOT.
The Clerk’s Office is directed to close this matter.
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JORDAN, Circuit Judge, dissenting.
My colleagues obviously disagree with the district court’s confidentiality order, and believe it is inadequate because it does not contain an “attorney’s eyes only” restriction. But the petitioners’ request is for mandamus, and such a writ “is a ‘drastic and extraordinary’ remedy ‘reserved for really extraordinary causes.’” Cheney v. U.S. District Court, 542 U.S. 367, 380 (2004) (citation omitted). I submit this is not one of those rare cases involving a “judicial usurpation of power or a clear abuse of discretion,” id., and therefore respectfully register my dissent.
The district court thoughtfully and carefully applied the correct legal standard and concluded that the petitioners had not shown good cause for their requested protective order under Rule 26(c). The district court explained that under the confidentiality order (a) documents marked confidential will not be disclosed to persons currently or formerly incarcerated in the Department of Corrections without written permission from the producing party; (b) the plaintiffs’ counsel cannot give copies of those confidential documents to the named plaintiffs but can discuss the contents of such documents with them if reasonably necessary to prosecute the case; and (c) the petitioners’ “fear of mischief” due to the “opportunity for mischief” was insufficient. See D.E. 94 at 4-5 (order denying motion for protective order). Under the confidentiality order, therefore, there is no danger of confidential documents being distributed or shared by prisoners in the Department of Corrections.
In addition, the district court expressly balanced the petitioners’ “interest in safety and security with the [p]laintiffs’ interest in conducting full and fair discovery,” and considered the
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authorities that the petitioners relied on, noting that even some of the “attorney’s eyes only” cases cited by the petitioners permitted disclosure of confidential documents to certain “qualified” individuals beyond counsel. See D.E. 111 at 4-6 (order denying motion for stay of discovery). It further found that the petitioners’ proposed protective order was “too narrow” to protect the plaintiffs’ interests, and noted that the confidentiality order was consistent with one the Department of Corrections had stipulated to in a “nearly identical class action.” See id. at 6 n.1. My colleagues conclude otherwise, but I think they are merely substituting their judgment for that of the district court. That, I submit, is not appropriate in traditional abuse of discretion review, much less in mandamus.
In some civil rights cases involving prison conditions, federal courts have approved “attorney’s eyes only” designations as a means of balancing prison security concerns against an inmate’s right of access to relevant discovery. See, e.g., Reese v. Liberty, 2019 WL 5549219, at *3 (D. Me. Oct. 25, 2019) (citing cases). But in some other such cases, courts have concluded that such designations are not always warranted. See, e.g., Burks v. Stickney, 2017 WL 1401312, at *5 (N.D.N.Y. April 19, 2017). There is, in others words, no bright-line rule, and “[w]here a matter is committed to the discretion of a district court, it cannot be said that a litigant’s right to a particular result is ‘clear and indisputable.’” Will v. Calvert Fire Ins. Co., 437 U.S. 655, 665-66 (1978) (plurality opinion) (citation omitted).
I tend to think the district court got the balancing right. But even if I am mistaken, “the most that can be claimed on this record is that [the district court] may have erred in ruling on matters within [its] jurisdiction,” and “‘extraordinary writs [like mandamus] do not reach to such cases[.]’” Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 103-04 (1967) (citation omitted) (reversing circuit
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court’s grant of mandamus petition which would have required the district court to vacate its order requiring the government to provide a bill of particulars and provide the names of parties to whom the defendant had made statements and the times and places of those statements). Because mandamus “is not to ‘control the decision of the trial court,’ but rather merely to confine the lower court to the sphere of its discretionary power,” id. at 104, I would deny the petitioners’ request for a writ of mandamus. Cf. Kerr v. U.S. District Court, 426 U.S. 394, 398, 404-05 (1976) (denying writ of mandamus in prison suit where the district court had, over claims of privilege, ordered the defendants to produce the personnel files of persons employed by the California Adult Authority and some sample prisoner files, and had limited the disclosure to counsel of record and two investigators to the extent necessary to the conduct of the action).
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David J. Smith Clerk of Court

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
ELBERT PARR TUTTLE COURT OF APPEALS BUILDING 56 Forsyth Street, N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303
March 30, 2020

Clerk - Northern District of Florida U.S. District Court 111 N ADAMS ST TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301
Appeal Number: 20-10650-J Case Style: In re: Secretary, Florida Department District Court Docket No: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-CAS

For rules and forms visit www.ca11.uscourts.gov

The enclosed order has been entered. No further action will be taken in this matter. Sincerely, DAVID J. SMITH, Clerk of Court Reply to: Davina C Burney-Smith, J/caw Phone #: (404) 335-6183 Enclosure(s)

DIS-4 Multi-purpose dismissal letter

 
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION

JAC’QUANN (ADMIRE) HARVARD; JEREMIAH HILL; JUAN ESPINOSA; JEROME BURGESS (a/k/a SHAM’LA GOD ALLAH); JAMES W. KENDRICK, JR.; JOHNNY HILL; and AMY FERGUSON; on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs
v.
MARK INCH, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, an Agency of the State of Florida
Defendants.

Case No.: 4:19-cv-00212-MW-MAF
SECOND AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ____________________________________________ 1
II. JURISDICTION _____________________________________________ 5
III. VENUE ___________________________________________________ 5
IV. PARTIES__________________________________________________ 5 A. Plaintiffs ___________________________________________________ 5 i. Admire Harvard____________________________________________ 5 ii. Jeremiah Hill (J.H.) _________________________________________ 8 iii. Juan Espinosa ____________________________________________ 10 iv. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah) _____________________ 13 v. James W. Kendrick, Jr. _____________________________________ 15 vi. Johnny Hill ______________________________________________ 17 vii. Amy Ferguson ____________________________________________ 21 B. Defendants ________________________________________________ 23
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS __________________________________ 24 A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation _______________________________ 26 B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation ____________________________________ 36 C. Conditions in Isolation Cells __________________________________ 41 D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact __________________________ 43 E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation________________________ 48 F. Deprivation of Exercise ______________________________________ 51 G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures __________________ 54 H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference_____________________________ 60 I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose _____________________________ 68 J. Disability Discrimination _____________________________________ 71
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS ___________________________ 77 A. Plaintiff Class ______________________________________________ 77 B. Youth Subclass _____________________________________________ 80 C. Subclass of Persons with Serious Mental Illness (“SMI Subclass”) _____ 83 D. Subclass of Persons with Physical Disabilities (“Physical Disability Subclass”) ____________________________________________________ 87
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF_____________________________________ 90 A. First Cause of Action ________________________________________ 90 B. Second Cause of Action ______________________________________ 92

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C. Third Cause of Action _______________________________________ 95 VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF ____________________________________ 97

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I. INTRODUCTION 1. Solitary confinement, also known as “isolation,” is increasingly recognized by medical and mental health professionals, scholars, scientists, and advocates throughout the United States and around the world as torture. Individuals subject to isolation are more likely to exhibit anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality.1 These effects begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation for months or years. Isolation inflicts devastating harm on the individuals who experience it, places them and their families and communities at risk when they are released, is inordinately expensive when appropriately staffed, and does not reduce prison violence or promote public safety. 2. Nearly one out of every seven individuals in isolation in the United States is in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDC”). Every day, FDC isolates approximately 10,000 people in tiny, cramped cells for nearly 24 hours a day; many endure these conditions for months or years at a time. FDC separates all 10,000 of these individuals from the general prison population, and
1 Craig Haney, Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and “Supermax” Confinement, 49 CRIME & DELINQ. 124, 130-131 (2003).
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severely restricts their access to normal human contact, exercise, rehabilitative programs, and mental stimulation. The United States Department of Justice and correctional experts refer to this practice as “isolation” or “solitary confinement” because people in these conditions are isolated from the general prison population, confined in a small cell at least 22 hours a day, subjected to the highest security measures, and deprived of basic human needs. FDC uses different names for isolation in its facilities such as close management or confinement, but no matter the name, the practice violates constitutional standards.
3. Many states are significantly reducing or abandoning the use of isolation in correctional systems because it has proven ineffective at modifying behavior and has harmful health consequences. For these reasons, psychological, correctional, legal, and human rights professionals have recognized that isolation should not be used or used only sparingly with stringent procedural safeguards.
4. FDC, in contrast, refuses to reduce its use of isolation, rendering Florida an outlier in correctional systems in the United States. FDC uses isolation to manage 10% of its total prison population which is more than twice the national average for prison systems using isolation. It uses isolation indiscriminately as a catch-all punishment for people with behavior problems ranging from minor to severe, including individuals whose behavior is a manifestation of their disability. Each day, people in FDC’s custody suffer from mental and physical health
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consequences due to its isolation policies and practices. Since 2013, a majority of the suicides in Florida prisons have occurred in isolation—where only 10% of the prison population is housed.
5. FDC knows that the cumulative effect of the deprivations in isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm. It knows that its isolation policies and practices are draconian and outdated. It also knows that people in its custody are suffering from harmful health consequences caused by isolation. Yet, it has failed to take appropriate action to prevent this harm. It fails to consistently monitor people for signs of declining mental and physical health, or to meaningfully respond to those who are obviously suffering from the damaging effects caused by isolation. Unlike many other states, FDC isolates people who suffer from a heightened risk of harm, such as teenagers, people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities, and people with physical disabilities, even though it is aware of the heightened risk to these populations.
6. FDC also fails to limit the amount of time people spend in isolation and subjects people to this increasing risk of harm for months or years after any emergency or serious threat has abated, if there ever was one. This excessive and prolonged use of isolation includes hundreds of people who have been in isolation for six to twenty years.
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7. FDC’s isolation policies and practices are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices that are not supported by any legitimate penological purpose.
8. FDC, through policy and practice, also discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have equal access to programs, services, and activities.
9. Defendants Mark Inch and FDC have acted, and are acting, under color of state law to deprive Plaintiffs and Class Members of their constitutionally protected right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. They have also acted, and are acting, under color of state law to discriminate against Plaintiffs and Class Members with disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Plaintiffs and Class Members seek declaratory and injunctive relief to address these violations of their constitutional and statutory rights.
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II. JURISDICTION 10. The claims alleged herein arise under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq.; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794. 11. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2201, and 2202, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
III. VENUE 12. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Florida under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims brought by Plaintiffs and the class have occurred in this District and Defendants are in this District.
IV. PARTIES A. Plaintiffs
i. Admire Harvard 13. Jac’Quann (Admire) Harvard is a 30-year-old black transgender
woman at Wakulla Correctional Institution, a men’s prison. She is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, gender dysphoria, and hypertension. Defendants subjected her to isolation for nearly ten years, starting when she was 18 years old.
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When this lawsuit was filed, she had been concurrently in Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management I since 2010. As of the current date, she is no longer in Close Management and is in a mental health treatment unit.
14. Defendants initially placed Ms. Harvard in Disciplinary Confinement for the offense of “lying to staff” when she allegedly asked for a “high calorie” meal in the dining hall after she had been in prison for only two months. Although Ms. Harvard was only 18 years old, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and prescribed anti-anxiety medications, Defendants sentenced her to 60 days in Disciplinary Confinement for this infraction. Within her first three months of isolation, Defendants found her guilty of nine new disciplinary infractions, adding an additional 270 days in isolation, for one fight with her cellmate, yelling, kicking her cell door, and disrespecting staff. Within that same period, Defendants began prescribing her powerful mood-stabilizing and anti-psychotic medications and noted that due to her mental illness she suffered from anxiety and impulsivity, among other symptoms.
15. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Ms. Harvard’s disability and protect her from harm caused by isolation. In isolation, Ms. Harvard suffered from ongoing severe mental health symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, and suicidality. Defendants delayed providing Ms. Harvard with gender dysphoria treatment, despite her
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repeated requests. On information and belief, this delay was based on her being in isolation. Defendants have hospitalized her for psychiatric reasons approximately 20 times. They have placed her in a suicide-watch cell more than 50 times. She has cut or otherwise injured herself at least 40 times, including most recently on or around May 8, 2019. After each psychiatric hospitalization or time in a suicidewatch cell, where Defendants also frequently subjected her to isolation, Defendants returned Ms. Harvard directly to Close Management and Disciplinary Confinement.
16. Defendants have found Ms. Harvard guilty of at least 127 disciplinary infractions, the vast majority for non-violent behaviors related to her mental health symptoms. They have also repeatedly left her in a bare cell with nothing but her underwear for several days at a time as punishment. Despite the obvious harm to Ms. Harvard, Defendants extended her time in Disciplinary Confinement for each disciplinary infraction, amounting to a term of more than 11 consecutive years, and held her at the same time in Close Management I. While in isolation, Defendants never provided Ms. Harvard with personal visits, reading materials other than religious texts and cases from the law library, education, or exercise outside of a cage. During all her time in Disciplinary Confinement and Close Management, Defendants permitted her only one phone call when a family member died.
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17. Ms. Harvard has filed several grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination she suffers from isolation. She has exhausted all available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B). ii. Jeremiah Hill (J.H.)
18. Jeremiah Hill. is a 19-year-old black teenager in isolation at Florida State Prison. He arrived in Defendants’ custody as a 14-year-old on July 6, 2016. Since that time, Defendants have cycled him in and out of isolation in response to behaviors related to his immaturity and difficulty adapting to prison at such a young age. In October 2018, at Suwannee Correctional Institution, Defendants removed him from a housing unit with other teenage boys to isolate him in Administrative Confinement and then sentenced him to 90 days in Disciplinary Confinement. He was 16 years old. Defendants then transferred him to indefinite isolation at Florida State Prison, an adult prison.
19. Since his arrival at Florida State Prison in December 2018, Defendants separated J.H. from all other incarcerated people and rarely let him out of his cell. In the five months before this lawsuit was filed, Defendants had taken him to the exercise cages once and dayroom twice, each time completely alone. They took him out to the shower cell, alone, only two or three times a week for no more than ten minutes each time. They provided him with minimal anger
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management counseling through the cell door and no mental health services. Most of the time, he has nothing to do in his cell. When Defendants changed his status from Close Management II to Close Management III, they still subjected him to the same severe restrictions on his out-of-cell time, in-cell activities, and contact with other people.
20. J.H. would like to continue his education, but this is nearly impossible in isolation. A teacher infrequently speaks to J.H. through his cell door and gives him worksheets to complete. During these brief interactions, the teacher provides no individualized instruction and the worksheets do not help him meet G.E.D. requirements.
21. As a result of the severe deprivations of exercise, mental stimulation, and normal social contact in isolation, J.H. has no release for his adolescent energy and his mental health deteriorates. He often thinks about death, and cycles through feelings of agitation, frustration, depression, and extreme restlessness.
22. J.H. is currently in a Transitional Care Unit, an inpatient mental health unit, at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution Annex. He believes Defendants placed him there because he received a low score on an IQ test. But, he is still technically assigned to Close Management II and could return to Close Management upon discharge.
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23. J.H. has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. iii. Juan Espinosa
24. Juan Espinosa is a 60-year-old Hispanic man who was in and out of isolation for weeks at a time between January and June 2020, after serving almost a year and a half in isolation from January 2018 to November 2019. Defendants have diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. He suffers from anxiety, depression, paranoia, hallucinations, and mood swings. He tried to kill himself at least five times before he was placed in isolation. He also suffers from tumors in his throat that impede his ability to eat and swallow. Defendants have referred him to multiple specialists, including an oncologist, and he received multiple surgical procedures while in isolation. One surgical procedure was to remove all his teeth, something that became necessary after the surgical reconstruction of his jaw. In January 2019, he permanently and completely lost his voice after a surgical procedure to remove one of the tumors. He can no longer speak.
25. Defendants began isolating Mr. Espinosa in June 2018 in Administrative Confinement after accusing him of spitting at a correctional officer. They soon assigned him to Close Management until November 2019. At the
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Reception and Medical Center, where he spent many months in Close Management, Defendants took him to the exercise cages only once a week and denied him access to visits and dayroom time. During the approximately six months Mr. Espinosa was isolated and able to speak, Defendants allowed him to use the phone only once to call his mother before he went into surgery. After he lost his voice, Defendants refused to provide him a Text Telephone or other similar device to make phone calls for nearly six months, until this lawsuit was filed. Defendants have failed to escort or transport him to several medical appointments, including to see his specialists, since he has been in isolation.
26. Mr. Espinosa attempts to communicate through handwritten notes, hand gestures, and by mouthing words, but he is difficult to understand. Defendants have refused to provide him with any services to help him learn to communicate effectively without a voice. Healthcare staff who performed infrequent “rounds” in isolation checked on his health status by asking him cursory questions through his cell door, to which he was unable to properly respond. Defendants also isolated him in a cell without a call button to alert staff of an emergency.
27. Mr. Espinosa is afraid of dying of cancer and the lack of in-cell activities left little else to think about while locked in a tiny cell. He often thought about suicide in isolation. His depression and mood swings worsened in isolation,
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prompting Defendants to increase his psychiatric medications but otherwise providing no meaningful mental health services.
28. In December 2018, Mr. Espinosa lost his balance and fell while trying to walk escorted by a correctional officer and fully restrained at his hands and feet. The strain of the leg irons during the fall broke three bones in his right foot. After his injury, his doctor ordered crutches for him, but staff refused to provide them because he was in isolation, forcing Mr. Espinosa to hop around his tiny cell on one foot for several weeks. When he would leave his cell for medical care, Defendants would chain him to a wheelchair to transport him. He now uses a walking boot, and despite his obvious risk of falls and of severe damage to his reconstructed jaw if he fell on his face Defendants refused to provide him with a cane and continued to restrain his hands at his waist with handcuffs, a black box,2 and belly chain when he left his isolation cell. Defendants also refused to provide him with physical therapy to rehabilitate his foot. On information and belief, this refusal was based on him being in isolation.
29. Mr. Espinosa has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the
2 The black box is a device used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
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grievance process. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
iv. Jerome Burgess (a/k/a Sham’la God Allah) 30. Jerome Burgess is a 48-year-old black man who has been in and out
of isolation since 2002. Most recently, he was in Disciplinary Confinement from approximately January to February 2021. He uses a wheelchair due to limited mobility on the left side of his body and cannot urinate without the assistance of a catheter. He is diagnosed with seizure disorder and major depressive disorder. When this case was filed in May 2019, Defendants had subjected Mr. Burgess to isolation since September 25, 2017, where he began in Administrative Confinement and then Disciplinary Confinement. He was then assigned to Close Management from January 2018 to September 2019.
31. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Mr. Burgess’s disabilities and prevent the harm caused by isolation. He lost mobility and range of motion on his right side because the tiny cells where Defendants isolated him at least 22 hours a day barely left him enough space to use his wheelchair or to ambulate. Defendants have also failed to provide him with the accommodations he needs to meaningfully participate in recreation in the exercise cages.
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32. Defendants have failed to implement a system to ensure staff are immediately notified when Mr. Burgess has a seizure in isolation and to provide him with prompt medical attention. There is no call button in his cell for him to alert staff if he feels warning signs of a seizure, or for a cellmate to use (when and if he has one) to alert staff if Mr. Burgess is suffering from a seizure. He must rely on other incarcerated people to yell and bang on their doors on his behalf, at risk of receiving “disorderly conduct” or “inciting a riot” disciplinary charges, and for correctional officers to respond quickly and appropriately, which does not always occur.
33. Defendants have also failed to modify their policies and practices to prevent further harm to Mr. Burgess once they are aware that he has had a seizure. On October 23, 2018, for example, staff were unaware that he was seizing in his cell until another incarcerated person in a nearby cell sensed something was wrong with Mr. Burgess and chose to alert them. Staff found Mr. Burgess unresponsive in his cell, placed him in his wheelchair, and fully restrained him, including by chaining his right ankle to his wheelchair despite the risk that he might have another seizure.
34. In isolation, in contrast to general population where he can go to the medical clinic as needed to obtain his medical supplies, Mr. Burgess is dependent on medical staff to deliver catheters to his cell front. Defendants do not
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consistently bring him the right type or quantity, forcing him at times to wash and re-use old disposable catheters without adequate cleaning supplies in his filthy cell. As a result, the blockage in Mr. Burgess’s urinary tract has worsened and he suffers from heavy bleeding and painful urinary tract infections. While in isolation, he underwent an invasive procedure to remedy these preventable and painful health consequences.
35. Mr. Burgess has repeatedly notified Defendants, including through the grievance process, of the risk of harm he suffers in isolation, and requested modifications to their isolation policies and practices to accommodate his disabilities. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
v. James W. Kendrick, Jr. 36. James W. Kendrick, Jr. is a 41-year-old black man isolated at Santa
Rosa Correctional Institution in Close Management II. Defendants have diagnosed him with diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. He has also developed depression in isolation, for which Defendants have prescribed him medications. Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in Administrative Confinement on June 20, 2018, and then Maximum Management, after accusing him of battering a correctional officer. Defendants held Mr. Kendrick in Maximum Management
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until October 25, 2018, and then moved him to Close Management I. In the weeks before this lawsuit was filed, although he was assigned as Close Management I, Defendants isolated him in a wing with people assigned to Disciplinary Confinement even though they had not charged him with any new disciplinary infractions. During that time, Defendants restricted Mr. Kendrick’s out-of-cell exercise, visits, phone calls, and reading materials under their written Disciplinary Confinement policies and procedures despite his assignment to Close Management I.
37. Defendants’ isolation practices cause Mr. Kendrick to be at risk of physical harm. He needs regular activity and exercise to avoid heart disease due to his diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, but is unable to do so while locked in his tiny cell. Defendants routinely fail to provide Mr. Kendrick with the limited amount of out-of-cell exercise required under their written policies, but even when they do Mr. Kenrick cannot get the exercise and activity he needs in a small cage for a few hours a week.
38. Defendants frequently attempt to treat Mr. Kendrick’s diabetes at cellfront through the rusty, dirty food slot in his cell door. Specifically, nurses attempt to administer pre-loaded syringes of insulin through the food slot, which often leads them to improperly insert the needle or inject him in an un-sanitized area of his arm. They also fail to appropriately time his insulin delivery with his meals.
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As a result, Mr. Kendrick is frequently compelled to reject his treatment to avoid infection or passing out.
39. When Defendants isolated Mr. Kendrick in June 2018, they determined he had no mental health symptoms. But after months of suffering deprivations of basic human needs in isolation, he has become anxious and depressed and has contemplated suicide. Due to these symptoms, in November 2018, mental health staff began providing him with minimal outpatient mental services, and eventually began giving him psychiatric medications. Despite these services, his depression continues to worsen in isolation.
40. Mr. Kendrick has repeatedly notified Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers from isolation, including through the grievance process. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
vi. Johnny Hill 41. Johnny Hill is a 33-year-old black man in isolation at Suwannee
Correctional Institution. Defendants have isolated Mr. Hill for almost ten years. During Mr. Hill’s time in isolation, Defendants have diagnosed him with depression, mood disorders, anxiety, high blood pressure, and gastrointestinal reflux disease. He has also suffered from symptoms of bipolar disorder and
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schizophrenia. Mr. Hill is legally blind and suffers from severe mental health symptoms including hallucinations and suicidality. He is currently isolated in Close Management III.
42. Mr. Hill was incarcerated from 2008 to 2009 in a youthful offender program, where FDC subjected him to isolation in both Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement. He was reincarcerated in April 2010, when he began serving an adult sentence. Less than two months later, Defendants began isolating him again, first for a short period in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement, and then in Close Management. They never returned him to the general population before his release from prison in 2013.
43. Following Mr. Hill’s isolation in Close Management, he began experiencing major depression, auditory and visual hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts. Defendants acknowledged his mental health symptoms and prescribed Mr. Hill psychiatric medications but did not remove him from isolation. Despite these medications, Mr. Hill’s mental health continued to deteriorate. He began cutting himself, which he had never done before. Mr. Hill eventually required extensive inpatient psychiatric treatment. Defendants released him directly from the inpatient psychiatric unit to the community on March 24, 2013, without any transitional services after three years in isolation. He continued to suffer from these serious mental health symptoms in the community.
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44. In July 2014, Mr. Hill re-entered Defendants’ custody. Although he had documented mental health diagnoses from, and serious mental health symptoms during, his previous incarceration, Defendants immediately isolated Mr. Hill in Administrative Confinement, pending placement in Close Management. Defendants then isolated him in Close Management again because he had been assigned to Close Management when he was released from his previous incarceration even though he had been residing in an inpatient psychiatric unit. Mr. Hill had committed no new disciplinary infraction. Mr. Hill remains in Close Management to date.
45. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Mr. Hill’s disabilities and to protect him from the harm caused by isolation. Throughout his decade in isolation, Mr. Hill has experienced severe symptoms arising from his deteriorating mental health. He has harmed himself by cutting his arms and neck and attempting to hang himself multiple times. After years in isolation, Mr. Hill swallowed a razor blade, which resulted in an esophageal tear and required medical treatment. Defendants have placed Mr. Hill in a suicide-watch cell numerous times for several days of observation and placed him in inpatient psychiatric units, but each time Defendants have returned him directly to isolation. On March 28, 2018, on the same day that Defendants released
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Mr. Hill from a suicide-watch cell and returned him directly to isolation, he used a sharpened battery to slash his neck and then swallowed the battery.
46. In addition to his psychiatric disability, Mr. Hill is now legally blind after suffering brain damage from a suicide attempt by hanging in isolation. His blindness exacerbates the isolation that he experiences while locked in his cell nearly 24 hours a day. He can no longer attempt to pass the time by reading regular print books, magazines, or mail. While in isolation, Defendants have refused to provide him with medically necessary assistance such as an aide who can read FDC documents to him or a cane so that he can walk safely. Without the cane, Mr. Hill is at risk of falls, and has fallen, in full restraints because he cannot see stairs, curbs, cracks, and other barriers in the rare instances staff permit him to leave his cell. Additionally, Mr. Hill’s inability to clearly see objects means that he must meticulously organize items in his cell so that he can perform his daily routine without assistance. During cell searches, correctional officers scatter his personal belongings around his cell, making it extremely difficult for him to find things such as legal documents or grievances, due to his blindness.
47. Mr. Hill has filed several grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination he suffers in isolation. He has exhausted all available administrative remedies. He is a person with disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
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vii. Amy Ferguson 48. Amy Ferguson is a 24-year-old black woman at Lowell Correctional
Institution Annex. In November 2019, she was transferred from the Illinois Department of Corrections to FDC as part of the Interstate Corrections Compact Agreement. When she arrived at FDC from Illinois, Defendants immediately isolated Ms. Ferguson in Administrative Confinement because of her disciplinary history in Illinois. Not long after, FDC accused her of throwing urine at an officer and placed her in Disciplinary Confinement, then Close Management I.
49. FDC and the Illinois Department of Corrections have diagnosed Ms. Ferguson with several serious mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She has experienced anxiety, depression, night terrors, auditory and visual hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts while in isolation.
50. Defendants refuse to modify their isolation policies and practices to accommodate Ms. Ferguson’s disabilities and protect her from the substantial risk of serious harm caused by isolation. Since Defendants placed her in isolation, Ms. Ferguson has harmed herself several times by cutting her arms and attempting to hang herself. In response to her attempt to hang herself, instead of hospitalizing
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her, Defendants pepper sprayed her, and gave her a disciplinary infraction for disobeying a verbal order.
51. In February of 2020, after her third suicide attempt in isolation, FDC transferred Ms. Ferguson to an inpatient mental health unit. While she was hospitalized for approximately three months, Mr. Ferguson received no new disciplinary infractions and did not try to harm herself. Defendants then discharged her directly back to isolation. Not long after, in isolation, Ms. Ferguson attempted suicide again. Defendants did not hospitalize her; instead they sent her to a suicide-watch cell for several days before against sending her directly back to isolation.
52. Ms. Ferguson has continued to cycle between suicide-watch cells, inpatient treatment, and isolation. While in isolation, she receives disciplinary infractions for behaviors that include throwing urine, “disrespect,” and failure to follow verbal orders, which are common for people with serious mental illness who are subject to isolation. At limited times, when she receives services in an inpatient mental health treatment unit, she does not receive these types of disciplinary infractions. Despite the detrimental effects to her mental health and behaviors, Defendants continue to subject her to indefinite isolation.
53. Ms. Ferguson filed grievances notifying Defendants of the risk of harm and disability discrimination that she suffers in isolation. She has exhausted
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all available administrative remedies. She is a person with a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B).
B. Defendants 54. Defendant Mark Inch (“Inch”) is the Secretary of Corrections for the Florida Department of Corrections. He became Secretary of FDC in January 2019. In this capacity, Defendant Inch is responsible for the overall management and operation of the entire adult corrections system in Florida and for protecting the constitutional and statutory rights of all people in FDC custody.3 Additionally, Defendant Inch is responsible for the policies, procedures, and practices regarding management, personnel, and overall operation of FDC, including the operation of isolation at prisons throughout FDC. Defendant Inch authorizes or ratifies the policy and practice of subjecting people to a substantial risk of serious harm and discrimination based on disability by isolating them from the general population as described herein. Defendant Inch has directly and proximately caused, and continues to cause, the constitutional and statutory violations set forth herein. At all relevant times, Defendant Inch was acting under color of state law and as an
3 “The secretary is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the corrections system of the state. The secretary shall ensure that the programs and services of the department are administered in accordance with state and federal laws, rules, and regulations, with established program standards, and consistent with legislative intent.” § 20.315(3), Fla. Stat. (2018).
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official representative of FDC. Defendant Inch is sued in his official capacity for declaratory and injunctive relief.
55. Defendant FDC is the administrative department for the State of Florida responsible for administering and exercising the direct and effective control over penal and corrections institutions throughout the State of Florida. Defendant FDC is an instrumentality of the State of Florida.
56. Defendant FDC receives federal financial assistance.
V. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 57. Defendants (collectively herein “FDC” or “Defendants”), through their policies and practices, confine and isolate approximately 10,000 people in small cells for at least 22 hours a day for weeks, months, or years at a time in prisons throughout the State of Florida. The United States Department of Justice defines “isolation” or “solitary confinement” as “the state of being confined to one’s cell for approximately 22 hours per day or more, alone or with other prisoners, that limits contact with others.”4 This definition expressly includes people who are single or double-celled, as practiced by FDC.
4 U.S. Department of Justice, Investigation of State Correctional Institution at Cresson, at 5 (May 31, 2013), http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/cresson_findings_5-31-13.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); cf. Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209, 214, 224 (2005) (describing isolation as limiting human contact for 23 hours per day); Tillery v. Owens, 907 F.2d 418, 422 (3d Cir. 1990) (21 to 22 hours per day).
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58. People in isolation live in cells that are smaller than the 162 square feet of a standard parking space.5 Most of the cells are only 45 to 70 square feet and fail to meet the American Correctional Association standard of 80 square feet. They contain one or two steel bed frames, a combined toilet and sink, a property storage box, and sometimes two shelves, all of which, collectively, leave very limited room for movement. People often spend 48 straight hours in this tiny space with only a five-to-ten-minute shower before the next 48 straight hours.
59. FDC is deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of harm caused by its isolation policies and practices. Through its use of isolation, FDC deprives Plaintiffs and the class members of human contact, exercise, and environmental stimulation. These deprivations of basic human needs, combined with intolerable cell conditions and oppressive safety and security measures, cumulatively pose an unreasonable risk of serious damage to their health and subject them to a substantial risk of serious harm. Plaintiffs and members of the class are suffering from psychological and medical symptoms that mirror those reported in the research about individuals subjected to isolation.
5 See, e.g., Columbus, Ohio, Code of Ordinances, Title 33, Zoning Code, § 3312.29 (“A parking space shall be a rectangular area of not less than nine feet by 18 feet …”), https://library.municode.com/oh/columbus/codes/code of ordinances?nodeId=TIT33ZOCO CH 3312OREPALO_3312.29PASP (last visited Apr. 17, 2019); South San Francisco, California, Municipal Code, § 20.330.010 (“The minimum basic dimension for standard parking spaces is 8 ½ feet by 18 feet.”), http://www.qcode.us/codes/southsanfrancisco/view.php?topic=20-iv-i20 330-20 330 010&frames=on (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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A. Well-Known Harms of Isolation
60. Isolation causes painful, severe, and sometimes irreversible harm.
There is a substantial body of literature from over the last 200 years6 documenting
the harms of isolation, even for short periods of time. Over a century ago, the
United States Supreme Court noted that:
[People subject to isolation] fell, after even a short confinement, into a semi-fatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them, and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better were not generally
6 In 1833, Alexis de Tocqueville said this about isolation: “[I]n order to reform them, they had been submitted to complete isolation; but this absolute solitude, if nothing interrupt it, is beyond the strength of man; it destroys the criminal without intermission and without pity, it does not reform, it kills.” GUSTAVE DE BEAUMONT & ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, ON THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATE: AND ITS APPLICATION IN FRANCE 5 (Philadelphia, Carey, Lea & Blanchard 1833), https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000001152418;view=1up;seq=7 (last visited Apr. 17, 2019).
In 1842, Charles Dickens wrote:
I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers; and in guessing at it myself, and in reasoning from what I have seen written upon their faces, and what to my certain knowledge they feel within, I am only the more convinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in which none but the sufferers themselves can fathom, and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow creature. . . .
I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body; and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that human ears can hear; therefore the more I denounce it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay.
CHARLES DICKENS, AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION 238-39 (London, Chapman and Hall 1842).
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reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community. In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160, 168 (1890). The Supreme Court again noted in 2015
that prolonged isolation “exacts a terrible price,” including “common side-effects
… [of] anxiety, panic, withdrawal, hallucinations, self-mutilation, and suicidal
thoughts and behaviors.” Davis v. Ayala, 135 S.Ct. 2187, 2210 (Kennedy, J.,
concurring) (citing Grassian, Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement, 22 Wash.
U.J.L. & Pol’y 325 (2006)).
61. There is broad consensus in the medical and psychiatric communities
on the harms from isolation.7 People in isolation “suffer from a similar range of
symptoms irrespective of differences in the physical conditions in various prisons
and in the treatment of isolated inmates.”8 Studies also show that some people will
continue to suffer from the consequences of isolation after they are released, with
some suffering from permanent harms.9
7 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 338 (“By now the potentially catastrophic effects of restricted environmental stimulation have been the subject of voluminous medical literature.”); Ass’n of State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Aiming to Reduce Time-In-Cell, YALE L. SCH., at 22 (2016), https://law.yale.edu/system/files/area/center/liman/document/aimingtoreducetic.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 8 Peter Scharff Smith, The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison Inmates: A Brief History and Review of the Literature, 34 CRIME & JUSTICE 441, 488 (2006), https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/500626?seq=1#metadata info tab contents (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 9 Craig Haney & Mona Lynch, Regulating Prisons of the Future: A Psychological Analysis of Supermax and Solitary Confinement, 23 N.Y.U. REV. L. & SOC. CHANGE 477, 534-39 (1997); Grassian, supra p. 22, 332-33.
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62. The most widely documented consequences of isolation are its
psychological effects. As one prison staff psychiatrist stated in 2002, “[i]t’s a
standard psychiatric concept, if you put people in isolation, they will go insane … Most people in isolation will fall apart.”10 The psychological effects include
anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion, withdrawal, emotional flatness, cognitive disturbances, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and suicidality. 11 These effects
begin to manifest within hours or days of isolation, worsening with time and
causing permanent damage to individuals, especially those who linger in isolation
for months or years. For some people, isolation “can be as clinically distressing as physical torture.” 12
63. Numerous studies show that people in isolation are more likely to
engage in self-harm, self-mutilation, and suicide than those in the general prison population. 13 For example, one study concluded that people in isolation in New
York City jails were approximately 6.9 times more likely to commit suicide and self-mutilation than those in the general jail population. 14 Another study in
10 Human Rights Watch, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness, at 149 (2003), https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/usa1003.pdf (emphasis omitted) (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 11 Haney, supra note 1, at 130-31. 12 Jeffrey Metzner & Jamie Fellner, Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics, 38 J. AM. ACAD. PSYCHIATRY & L. 104, 104 (2010), http://jaapl.org/content/jaapl/38/1/104.full.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 13 Haney, supra note 1, at 131-32. 14 Fatos Kaba, et. al., Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates, 104(3) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 442, 445 (2014),
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Oregon identified isolation as one of the main risk factors in suicidal thoughts and
suicide attempts. 15 In systems where the percentage of people in isolation is 2% to
8% (i.e., less than Florida’s isolation population of at least 10%), 50% of the
suicides in those systems occurred in isolation. 16 From January 2013 to August
2018, at least 57% of all suicides in Florida prisons occurred in isolation—where
only 10% of the population is housed.
64. The research also shows that people in isolation are at risk of
physiological consequences. Common physical symptoms include: severe
headaches; heart palpitations and increased heart rate; chest, abdominal, neck, and
back pain; problems with digestion, diarrhea, and weight loss; loss of appetite; and
dizziness and fainting. 17 Researchers have observed lower levels of brain function
because of isolation, including a decline of electroencephalogram activities after
only seven days in isolation. 18 Sensory deprivation causes the body to produce
increased cortisol, “well-documented to have negative health consequences for
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953781/pdf/AJPH.2013.301742.pdf (last visited Apr. 17, 2019). 15 Ildiko Suto, Inmates Who Attempted Suicide in Prison; A Qualitative Study, at 23, 29 (July 27, 2007) (Ph.D. dissertation, Pacific University), https://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=spp (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 16 Stuart Grassian & Terry Kupers, The Colorado Study vs. the Reality of Supermax Confinement, at 11 (Mar. 6, 2012), https://www.probono.net/prisoners/stopsolreports/416638.The_Colorado_Study_vs_the_Reality_of_Supermax_Confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 17 Smith, supra note 8, at 489-90. 18 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 335-336.
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both the body and the brain,” and negatively affecting cognition, mood, and wellbeing. 19 The detrimental effects of sensory deprivation occur after as little as two days, and the risk increases the longer an individual is subjected to deprivation. 20
Because human brains are designed for social interaction, social isolation also results in neurological changes to the brain, quickly degrading brain function. 21
65. Although all incarcerated people placed in isolation are at risk of
harm, some people are more susceptible to serious health consequences because of
their disabilities, age, health conditions, or other characteristics. People with
psychiatric or intellectual disabilities are more sensitive and reactive to
psychological stressors and emotional pain. As a result, isolation may worsen and
intensify pre-existing mental health related symptoms such as depression, paranoia,
psychosis, and anxiety, and can cause severe impairment in isolated individuals’ ability to function. 22
66. Youth are generally less equipped to manage the psychological
stressors of isolation, and it is especially difficult for those with recent histories of
19 Edward Vessel & Steven Russo, Effects of Reduced Sensory Stimulation and Assessment of Countermeasures for Sensory Stimulation Augmentation, NASA, at 20, 23, 28, 51-52, 65-66 (May 2015), https://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/trs/_techrep/TM-2015-218576.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 20 Id. at 22, 28. 21 Grassian, supra p. 22, at 331. 22 Human Rights Watch, Callous and Cruel: Use of Force against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons (May 12, 2015), https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/12/callous-and-cruel/use-force-against-inmates-mentaldisabilities-us-jails-and (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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trauma, abuse, neglect, or mental disabilities. The risk of permanent damage from isolation is acute for all youths as their brains have not fully developed.
67. People with hearing and vision challenges are even more isolated from human contact and environmental stimulation in isolation, and thus are at heightened risk of physical or mental harm. People with mobility disabilities are also at heightened risk of falls when restrained, and the lack of exercise and movement may result in the loss of physical functioning and ambulation.
68. People with serious and chronic medical conditions may suffer from exacerbations of their symptoms due to the stress, lack of exercise, reduced access to healthcare, and inability of staff to detect and quickly respond to medical emergencies, including, for example, seizures that could result in fatalities in the absence of an immediate response.
69. Pregnant women suffer from a heightened risk of falls while restrained, and they cannot receive the exercise and movement they need to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Common pre-existing feelings of stress and depression are exacerbated, and higher levels of stress increase the risk of miscarriage and birth complications.
70. Several professional correctional and healthcare organizations recommend, and FDC is aware, that isolation should be used only sparingly, if at all. For example, the American Psychiatric Association advises against isolation of
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people with mental illness and juveniles. 23 The National Commission on
Correctional Health Care states that people with mental illness, juveniles, and
pregnant women should never be in isolation, and no one should be there for more
than 15 days. 24 The American Public Health Association advises against isolating
juveniles and people with mental illness, and states that no one should be isolated
as a disciplinary sanction. 25 The American Bar Association asserts that isolation
should not be allowed for anyone. 26
23 Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Segregation of Prisoners with Mental Illness (Apr. 2013), https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/2013 04 AC 06c APA ps2012 PrizSeg.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019); Am. Psychiatric Ass’n, Position Statement on Solitary Confinement (Restricted Housing) of Juveniles (July 2018), https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/About-APA/Organization-DocumentsPolicies/Policies/Position-2018-Solitary-Confinement-Restricted-Housing-of-Juveniles.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 24 Nat’l Comm’n on Corr. Health Care, Solitary Confinement (Isolation) (Apr. 2016), https://www.ncchc.org/solitary-confinement (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 25 See Am. Pub. Health Ass’n, Solitary Confinement as a Public Health Issue, https://apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policydatabase/2014/07/14/13/30/solitary-confinement-as-a-public-health-issue (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); AM. PSYCHIATRIC ASS’N, PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES (3d ed. 2016). 26 AM. BAR ASS’N, ABA STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE, TREATMENT OF PRISONERS 95 (3d ed. 2011) (“Conditions of extreme isolation should not be allowed regardless of the reasons for a prisoner’s separation from the general population. Conditions of extreme isolation generally include a combination of sensory deprivation, lack of contact with other persons, enforced idleness, minimal out-of-cell time, and lack of outdoor recreation.”), https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminal_justice_standards/Treatmen t of Prisoners.authcheckdam.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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71. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), in 2016, also recommended significantly limiting the use of isolation. 27 Specifically, it recommended against placing juveniles and pregnant women in isolation. 28 It also recommended that
absent special circumstances, people with serious mental illness should not be placed in isolation. 29 It said that isolation for “low level” offenses should be eliminated, and that people should spend less time in isolation for other offenses. 30
When people must be isolated, they should be housed “in the least restrictive
setting necessary” to ensure the safety of all people; that placement be based on
specific, “clearly articulate[d] reasons;” and that the placement serve “a specific penological purpose.” 31 The then-President of the United States ordered executive
departments and agencies to implement these recommendations – “it is critical that
DOJ accelerate efforts to reduce the number of Federal inmates and detainees held
in restrictive housing and that Federal correctional and detention systems be models for facilities across the United States.” 32
27 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Report and Recommendations Concerning the Use of Restrictive Housing, at 104-16 (Jan. 2016), https://www.justice.gov/archives/dag/file/815551/download (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 28 Id. at 101, 102. 29 Id. at 99-101. 30 Id. at 109-10 31 Id. at 94. 32 Presidential Memorandum on Limiting the Use of Restrictive Housing by the Fed. Gov’t from President Barack Obama to the Heads of Exec. Dep’t and Agencies (Mar. 1, 2016), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/01/presidential-memorandumlimiting-use-restrictive-housing-federal (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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72. Human rights organizations and authorities recognize the harms of isolation and advocate for severe limitations on its use. The United States Special Rapporteur on Torture, for example, determined that more than 15 days in isolation amounts to torturous, cruel, and unusual punishment, and should be abolished. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recommended that, due to its potentially hazardous effects, isolation should only be used as punishment in exceptional cases and for the shortest period possible. In 2015, the U.N. General Assembly revised its Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (renamed the “Mandela Rules”) to state that, “[s]olitary confinement shall be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review.” 33 The Mandela Rules forbid indefinite or prolonged use of isolation (defined as anything more than 15 consecutive days) and restrict its use for people with mental of physical disabilities. 34
73. Other state correctional systems recognize the substantial risk of harm caused by isolation and have voluntarily implemented measures to dramatically reduce its use. In Colorado, for example, after subjecting himself to just 20 hours in isolation, the former Director of Corrections implemented policies that reduced
33 G.A. Res. 70/175, at 17, U.N. Doc. A/RES/70/175 (Dec. 17, 2015), https://undocs.org/A/RES/70/175 (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 34 Id.
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the population in isolation from over 7% to less than 1% of its prison population. 35
Since these reforms began, the rate of assaults on staff have decreased by half. 36
Maine enacted reforms that cut its population in isolation by half, and provided
increased programming and environmental stimulation for those that remain in
isolation. There has been no statistically significant rise in violence, and by some
measures the violence in Maine has decreased. 37 Mississippi enacted reforms at
one institution that cut its population in isolation down from 1000 to 150, and
eventually closed the entire unit. 38 Idaho is just beginning its reforms, but it has
already stopped placing women in isolation, and reduced the number of men it
isolates by more than 50%. 39 Since 2015, North Dakota has reduced its population
35 Risk Raemisch, Op-Ed., My Night in Solitary, N.Y. Times, Feb. 20, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/opinion/my-night-in-solitary.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); Rick Raemisch & Kellie Wasko, Colo. Dep’t of Corr., Open the Door—Segregation Reforms in Colorado, at 2-3 (2015), https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30yLl0I1yBRY2h2UDBCZ0Q5WlE/view (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 36 Id. at 9. 37 American Civil Liberties Union of Me., Change is Possible: A Case Study of Solitary Confinement Reform in Maine, at 31 (Mar. 2013), https://www.aclumaine.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_solitary_report_webversion. pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 38 Terry A. Kupers, et al., Beyond Supermax Administrative Segregation: Mississippi’s Experience Rethinking Prison Classification and Creating Alternative Mental Health Programs, 36 CRIMINAL JUSTICE & BEHAVIOR 1037, 1041 (2009), https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field document/asset upload file359 41136.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); John Buntin, Exodus: How America’s Reddest State – And Its Most Notorious Prison – Became a Model of Corrections Reform, GOVERNING, Aug. 2010, at 20, 27, https://drjdbij2merew.cloudfront.net/GOV/GOV_Mag_Aug10.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 39 Ass’n of State Corr. Adm’rs & Arthur Liman Pub. Interest Program, Working to Limit Restrictive Housing: Efforts in Four Jurisdictions to Make Changes, YALE L. SCH., at 7 (2018), https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Liman/asca_liman_2018_workingtolimit.pdf, (last visited Apr. 17, 2019).
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in isolation by 60 to 70%, and has experienced a sharp decline in prison violence. 40 Since 2016, New York has reduced its population in isolation by 30%, reduced the average length of stay in isolation by 31%, and reduced the number of individuals serving over 365 days in isolation by 72%. 41
74. As reflected by these organizations, agencies, and authorities, isolation is degrading, inhumane, dangerous, and should never be used as punishment. If it’s ever used, it should be used only as a last resort for the shortest duration possible to remedy a current and serious threat to safety and security. It is a form of psychological torture, inflicts psychological and physical pain, and exposes everyone to a substantial risk of serious harm. These authorities also demonstrate that it violates contemporary standards of decency in a civilized society to expose prisoners in isolation in Florida to such a risk.
B. FDC’s Labels for Isolation 75. Despite the well-known risk of harm, FDC confines and isolates people in their cells for an average of 22 or more hours a day in nearly all FDC
40 Id. at 8; David Kidd, Tender Justice, North Dakota is Conducting a Prison Experiment Unlike Anything Else in the United States, GOVERNING, Aug. 2018, at 46, 50-51, https://archives.erepublic.com/GOV/GOV Mag Aug2018.pdf (last visited Apr. 18, 2019). 41 New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 2018 Annual Update: DOCCS Continues to Improve the Conditions and Reduce the Use of Solitary Confinement in its Facilities, http://www.doccs.ny.gov/DoccsNews/2018/Annual%20Update%20-%202018.pdf, (last visited Apr. 18, 2019).
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prisons throughout the state. Although it uses different labels for isolation throughout the prison system—Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, and Administrative Confinement—FDC subjects people in each of these to deprivations of human contact, environmental stimulation, and exercise, layered with oppressive and unnecessary security measures. No matter what label FDC chooses, the cumulative effect of the deprivations and conditions in these isolation cells subjects people to a substantial risk of serious psychological and physiological harm.
76. As of March 1, 2019, there were 10,557 people assigned to Maximum Management, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, or Administrative Confinement, which is more than 10% of FDC’s total population.
77. The typical path for people in isolation is to begin in Administrative Confinement while FDC investigates allegations of safety and security risks or pending disciplinary charges; people remain there for weeks or months. FDC also isolates people when they seek protective custody and request to “check in” to Administrative Confinement; they can be in isolation for months while FDC determines whether they require such protection. People seeking protection, often transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria (a psychiatric disability), face this Hobson’s choice—they must choose between suffering violence in the general population and the deprivations of isolation. The deprivations that a person suffers
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are the same regardless of whether FDC has placed the person in Administrative Confinement to investigate pending disciplinary charges or the person has “checked in” to Administrative Confinement seeking protection.
78. FDC assigns people it finds guilty of disciplinary charges to Disciplinary Confinement. Each guilty charge leads to at least one specific term in isolation, but there is no limit to the number of terms for which a person can be sentenced even for the same incident. The terms are almost always served consecutively. This stacking of charges resulting in prolonged isolation is typical of what happens to members of the putative class.
79. Although the maximum number of days for one disciplinary type of charge is 60 days, there are people who have enough consecutive terms to be in isolation for the next twenty years. Many people, especially those suffering from mental illness, are trapped in a perpetual, vicious cycle of isolation in Disciplinary Confinement. Disciplinary charges lead people suffering from mental illness to spend weeks in isolation, which exacerbates their mental health symptoms, causing them to become agitated and act out, leading to more disciplinary charges and more time in isolation with seemingly no end in sight.
80. Under FDC’s policy, people are assigned to Close Management when FDC determines they have “demonstrated an inability to live in the general
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population without abusing the rights and privileges of others.” 42 The assignment to Close Management does not require a formal disciplinary charge. There are three levels of Close Management (CM I, II, and III), with Level I being the most restrictive and Level III being the least restrictive. There are no time limits for any of these levels; FDC can, and does, isolate people in Close Management indefinitely. While the average duration for someone in CM is one to three years, there are several hundred people who have been there for more than six years, and many for almost twenty years. 43
81. FDC assigns people whom it has deemed “extreme security risk[s]” to Maximum Management, with or without a guilty disciplinary finding. 44 Although it is supposed to be a “temporary status,” there is no time limit for Maximum Management. 45 On information and belief, the average duration for someone in Maximum Management is six months.
42 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.800(1)(d). 43 FDC has designated certain prisons to house people assigned to Close Management, but it does not have enough beds for this population at these prisons. As of March 1, 2019, there were hundreds of people waiting in Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement cells throughout the state who were supposed to be in Close Management at those designated prisons. While they wait, typically for several months, FDC restricts them according to the Administrative Confinement and Disciplinary Confinement policies. 44 Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b). 45 See Fla. Admin. Code R. 33-601.820(1)(b).
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82. Based on policy and practice, FDC subjects people in each type of isolation to cell searches, restraints, strip searches, and “property restriction.” 46 It also restricts access to personal visits, phone calls, exercise, dayroom time to socialize with others, reading materials, canteen, hygiene items, and personal property (“privileges”). Under FDC’s written policies, the level of restrictions differs in each type of isolation only by a matter of degree. But despite FDC’s written policies, in practice it determines restrictions by staffing availability, housing location, whether someone is in more than one type of isolation at the same time, and other arbitrary reasons. Mr. Kendrick, for example, due to his housing location, was restricted as if he were assigned to Disciplinary Confinement although he was solely assigned to Close Management I. And even if FDC followed its own written policies, which it frequently does not, the paltry amount of “privileges” and out-of-cell time in these written policies does not prevent the substantial harm caused by isolation.
83. No matter what the label, FDC knowingly subjects people to an objective risk of harm and inhumane treatment by isolating them in small cells at
46 “Property restriction,” discussed in more detail in Paragraphs 110 – 111, refers to FDC’s policy and practice of removing all property in someone’s cell—including their clothes and bedding—for a period of 72 hours, and sometimes longer.
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least 22 hours a day, under the highest security measures, while depriving them of basic human needs.
C. Conditions in Isolation Cells 84. The deprivations of basic human needs, cell conditions, severe restrictions, and oppressive security measures, collectively, subject people in FDC’s care to a substantial risk of serious health consequences. 85. The tiny isolation cells where people spend nearly 24 hours a day for prolonged periods are generally composed of monotone concrete walls, a concrete floor and ceiling, and a steel door. The steel door typically has a small, approximately one-foot square plexiglass window. The door also has a steel flap for passing all objects in and out of the cell, including food trays, medications, mail, or filthy mops. It is also used to apply and remove handcuffs, and to use pepper spray on people inside the cell. If there is a window to the outdoors, in many units it is painted over or partially covered with steel, allowing in minimal natural light or view of the outdoors. People typically cannot open these windows for fresh air, although some are broken allowing in a steady stream of cold air during the winter. Almost none of the cells are air conditioned despite the sweltering Florida summer heat. The only ventilation of these cells happens via an exhaust fan that recirculates stifling air throughout the unit with a loud and constant whirring noise.
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86. Many of the cells were built well over 50 years ago and are antiquated, dirty, and in disrepair. There is no way for staff to see inside the cells unless they stand directly in front of the cell door. There are no call buttons or intercoms inside the cells for people to notify staff of emergencies. These cells were not designed for prolonged isolation. Instead, they were designed for sleeping and to allow people to walk in and out of their cells into the common area and beyond during waking hours. In contrast, in other prison systems, cells specifically designed for prolonged isolation include more square footage, call buttons and intercoms, desks for writing and eating, and cameras for staff to view inside the cells.
87. Confinement units are loud, 24 hours a day. Adding to the exhaust fans, prison staff slam doors and knock metal restraints and keys on steel throughout the unit. They yell at people and people yell back. Automatic door locks pop loudly and frequently. Chains rattle as people in full restraints shuffle through the unit. People suffering from mental health symptoms howl, scream, and talk to themselves or anyone who will listen. People pound on their doors to get the attention of staff for legitimate concerns, or as an emotional release. There is more yelling and commotion when teams of guards in riot gear use pepper spray or forcibly enter a cell to “extract” or use other force against someone, a common
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occurrence. Gunfire from FDC shooting ranges punctuate the sounds from within the units.
88. Prison staff control the lights inside cells. Lights are turned off late at night and back on early in the morning for a period of darkness totaling only four to six hours. On the weekends, staff sometimes do not bother to turn the lights on at all. Staff prohibit people from hanging any personal items, such as photographs or drawings, on the walls. Most cells do not have mirrors for people to see themselves. There are no clocks.
89. Unlike people in the general population, people in isolation must eat, sleep, and defecate in their small, barren cells. Instead of eating communally in dining halls, they must wait for their food to be delivered on a tray through the slot in the door. They must eat on their beds or the floor, mere inches from their toilet. In many cells, the toilet flushes are timed and controlled by correctional officers. Thus, people must often eat their meals accompanied by the smell of feces and urine stagnating in their unflushed toilets.
D. Deprivation of Normal Human Contact 90. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately deprives people in isolation of normal human contact. In the general population, people have many opportunities to communicate with other incarcerated people, correctional officers, family members, healthcare staff, religious clergy, teachers, and work supervisors.
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They can engage in such communications without mechanical restraints or physical barriers between them. In contrast, people in isolation rarely if ever have these opportunities.
91. Staff punish people for trying to communicate with incarcerated people in other cells—shouting is prohibited by rule, and staff frequently enforce “no-talking” rules, punishable by disciplinary reports leading to more time in isolation, pepper spray, property restrictions, cell extraction, or even more extreme denial of privileges. During the limited occasions FDC permits people in isolation to communicate with people outside of their cells, it almost always occurs while shackled at the hands and feet, usually through glass, fencing, steel mesh, or doors.
92. FDC does not eliminate the risk of harm from isolation by confining two people in the same cell. People forced to live together in the same isolation cell for 22 hours or more a day do not have normal social interactions. Indeed, it is next to impossible to have normal interactions with a stranger while forced to spend nearly every minute of every day sharing less than 80 square feet. The cells are more cramped, the movement more limited. They must constantly violate each other’s personal space. They must defecate in a toilet that is flushed infrequently and located mere inches from their beds. The stress of living with another human being in this tiny space is relentless. Instead of reducing the pain of isolation, double-celling can intensify the suffering by forcing people to navigate around
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another person’s habits and tribulations in intolerable conditions. This is why the DOJ’s definition of isolation and solitary confinement expressly includes being confined with another person.
93. Nearly all communication between prison staff and people in isolation occurs through the cell door. During security checks, correctional officers simply look inside each cell, and if they speak at all to the person inside, they do not open the cell door. Medical staff who deliver medications do not stop at every cell, and when they do stop at a cell, the interaction is limited to a few words said from outside the cell door when the medication is passed through the slot in the door. If healthcare staff make “rounds” to check on people, they yell just a few cursory questions, also through the cell door, if there is any interaction at all. Many people in isolation refuse to have frank discussions through a heavy solid door, in part because they do not want to shout personal information that can be heard by other incarcerated people and correctional staff.
94. Conversations with mental health counselors and psychiatrists, who generally only speak to people diagnosed with mental illness, are not therapeutic or normal in any sense. Often, their sole attempts to speak to their patients are through the cell door. If they want to speak to their patients outside of their cells, they must ask correctional officers to remove them. In many instances, correctional officers refuse. If they remove them, the patients must submit to strip
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searches, cell searches, and full hand and leg restraints. In some isolation units, correctional staff bring the patient to the shower for the “therapeutic” contact. The shower is in the middle of the common area, with no visual or auditory confidentiality. The patient stands in the shower, fully restrained, while attempting to talk to the clinician through the bars in the shower door. If not the shower, correctional staff frequently lock the patient in a phone booth-sized cage, where the patient must stand or awkwardly sit on a narrow bench, fully restrained, and speak to the clinician through steel mesh. Correctional officers often intentionally position themselves within earshot of the conversation.
95. Clinicians speak to their patients in isolation no more than once a week for the most acutely ill, but typically only once every 30 to 90 days. Clinicians also conduct group therapy once a week for only those diagnosed with serious mental illness. For the fraction of people in isolation who do receive group therapy, it is typically conducted in the dayroom, in the presence of other prison staff, while people are shackled at hands and feet and sometimes locked in individual cages.
96. At Suwannee and Union Correctional Institutions, during group therapy, correctional officers restrain people, lock them in individual cages or separate them by partitions, and the clinicians speak to their patients from another room through a microphone and speaker. For many in these conditions, they
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cannot hear or understand what the clinicians and other incarcerated people are saying. Clinicians do not consistently provide therapeutic support to manage psychological stressors, instead loosely facilitating chats about random topics. Many people refuse to divulge personal and sensitive information to their clinicians in these conditions in either group or individual therapy.
97. Due to FDC’s policies and practices restricting access to personal visits and phone calls, many people go for years without seeing or speaking to their friends and family. For example, FDC denied one person the opportunity to see or talk to his twin brother for at least 16 years, or to meet his twin brother’s children.
98. For those infrequently permitted to receive personal visits, FDC confines the incarcerated person alone in a visiting booth, separated from his or her loved ones by thick glass. Staff add another level of humiliation because they do not remove the person’s restraints after confining him or her in the booth even though it would be possible to do so through a slot in the door, and there is no way to harm or receive contraband from the visitors on the other side of the glass. They must speak loudly to their loved ones through a metal grate that garbles their voices and makes it difficult to communicate.
99. FDC, through policy and practice, deliberately denies people in isolation the basic human need of normal physical touch. They are generally never in proximity to other incarcerated people unless restrained or separated by physical
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barriers. Parents cannot hug or touch their children during visits. People in isolation cannot even shake their visitors’ hands. One person in long-term isolation no longer trusts his own sense of when it is appropriate to shake another person’s hand because it has been so many years since he’s had the opportunity to do so. Recently, another person’s first normal human touch since 2008 was his attorney’s handshake during a legal visit. The only human touch that people in isolation experience is from correctional officers during strip searches, when placed in or removed from restraints, during escorts, and from medical staff during examinations. These types of clinical and security contacts do not make up for the deprivation of normal human conversations and normal human touch.
E. Deprivation of Environmental Stimulation 100. FDC has a policy and practice of forced idleness for people in isolation. It refuses to provide meaningful rehabilitative programming and severely limits people’s activities in their cells. 101. FDC partially or completely covers or obscures the windows to the outdoors in isolation cells, denying many people the opportunity to look at the sky, birds, trees, and grass. It punishes people if they stand and look out their cell doors or windows for more than a few minutes. 102. FDC prohibits televisions and tablets in isolation cells. It also prohibits radios for those isolated in Disciplinary Confinement and Administrative
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Confinement. It allows radios only in Close Management, and in Maximum Management after the first 12 months, if people have the funds to buy them. Many people do not have such funds, including for the batteries to operate the radios, especially because FDC prohibits them from prison jobs and isolates them from their families.
103. FDC severely limits people’s access to reading materials. Based on the written policies, FDC prohibits people in Maximum Management from possessing non-religious books for the first six months, and people in Disciplinary Confinement from possessing any non-religious materials at all, even people who have enough minor disciplinary infractions to be in disciplinary confinement for decades. The written policies limit reading materials for those in Close Management to only three non-religious books at a time each week and five periodicals. They permit people in Administrative Confinement to possess only one book at a time each week. When FDC follows its written policies, due to the absence of other in-cell activities, most people finish their reading materials quickly and have nothing to read for most of the week, and few people can pass every waking hour, for weeks, months, or years at a time, reading. Frequently, FDC fails to follow its written policies, and people have no access to any reading materials, forcing them to sit idle in their cells staring at the walls.
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104. FDC prohibits people in isolation from participating in any form of communal worship or prayer. Their only outlet for religious expression is solitary expression in their cells, with infrequent visits by a Christian chaplain, regardless of their faith, who speaks to them briefly through the cell door.
105. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from meaningfully participating in their education, including juveniles, people with disabilities under age 21 enrolled in special education classes, and others who are working towards their G.E.D.s. For the vast majority of those in isolation, at most, a teacher comes to the cell door every few days or weeks and slips them a few worksheets that they may have difficulty completing on their own, or that do not further their degree/certificate requirements. Any interaction with a teacher is very brief, through the cell door. The teacher provides no individualized assistance with the worksheets. If people are able to finish the worksheets, once they do they have no other learning materials to keep their minds occupied.
106. FDC takes a very limited number of people in isolation to a classroom for instruction no more than a couple hours once a week, where they are chained to desks and receive little to no individualized assistance. For countless others in Disciplinary Confinement (including Plaintiff Harvard and others who may be in that status for decades) and Maximum Management, FDC provides no education
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materials whatsoever. FDC also prohibits people in isolation from participating in any vocational programming.
107. For most people in isolation, the passing of time is measured by meal times, security checks, medication passes, and the few hours when the lights are out at night. Showers, which are supposed to happen three times a week for no more than five to ten minutes, offer little respite, and some people refuse showers because they do not want to suffer the humiliation of restraints and strip and cell searches. To otherwise remain oriented to time, people must rely on staff who are kind enough to tell them the time upon request. For many, the boredom, anxiety, or mental agitation become acute after days on end with nothing to do other than reading whatever materials they have, writing letters, daydreaming, staring at the walls, talking and singing quietly to themselves, and sleeping.
F. Deprivation of Exercise 108. FDC, through policy and practice, deprives people in each type of isolation of out-of-cell exercise. FDC knowingly violates the American Correctional Association (“ACA”) standard requiring that people in confinement receive “a minimum of one hour of exercise per day outside their cells, five days per week, unless security or safety considerations dictate otherwise.” According to the ACA, the failure to meet this standard “poses a negative impact on the quality of life of inmates in [isolation] … This is especially of concern when coupled with
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below standard square footage per inmate….” FDC refuses to meet this standard for even the least restrictive form of isolation, Close Management, instead providing at most only two days per week of out-of-cell exercise for three hours each time or one day a week for six hours. Although it is a total of six hours, the ACA explicitly states this schedule is noncompliant with its standard, recognizing that people need to exercise more than once or twice a week to maintain their health and sanity. The people in the other types of isolation, which is at least twothirds of the total solitary population, receive at most only three hours a week of out-of-cell exercise, with many receiving none for stretches of 30 days and longer.
109. FDC’s isolation cells are too small to engage in meaningful exercise. For out-of-cell exercise, FDC moves people to a row of cages, each cage approximately six by ten feet, that resemble outdoor dog kennels. The cages are enclosed by fencing on the top and sides, with no shade or cover. FDC typically confines one prisoner in each cage. At some prisons, staff remove a person’s restraints once inside the cage, but at other prisons staff leave the person restrained. There is no toilet. There is no exercise equipment other than pull-up or dip bars. There is nothing to sit on other than the ground. There is no alternative space during inclement weather, which leads staff to cancel exercise time or people to refuse to go stand in the rain, heat, or cold.
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110. Many people refuse to go to these exercise cages because they are not much bigger than their cells, there is nothing to do in the cages, and they do not want to experience the indignity of restraints and strip-searches when going to and returning from the cage. Some people cannot sit or stand in the cage for long periods of time due to their disabilities, which FDC refuses to accommodate. People also refuse to go to the exercise cages because staff search their cells during exercise time, sometimes destroying people’s limited belongings such as photographs of loved ones, either intentionally or inadvertently, as they conduct the searches.
111. Although completely inadequate, for many people time in the exercise cage is precious because it offers a very brief respite from their tiny cells and an opportunity to feel the outdoors. However, FDC denies even this brief respite: it frequently cancels exercise due to staffing shortages. FDC also does not have enough exercise cages for everyone in isolation. At Florida State Prison, for example, there are only 18 exercise cages available for units with 90 people in isolation, and staff fail to rotate through the cells to ensure everyone gets out. Even when staff attempt to rotate through the cells, the total time for exercise is counted from the time the first person is taken out of his cell to the time the last person is returned to his cell resulting in a drastic decrease in the time an individual is outside and able to exercise compared to what is written in the policies. Staff
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also search for reasons to deny people their exercise time, including for trivial and pretextual offenses such as having fingernails too long, cells that are unclean, or the failure to be immediately ready at the cell door without warning. It is also common for staff to falsely claim that people refused to exercise or to blatantly ignore someone’s request to go.
112. FDC’s policy and practice of taking people infrequently to an exercise cage not much larger than the cells where they live for less time than is recommended by the ACA does not prevent the harms caused by isolation 22 hours or more a day. Collectively with other deprivations, the deprivation of daily outof-cell exercise enhances the substantial risk of harm from isolation.
G. Degrading and Dehumanizing Security Measures 113. FDC layers its deprivations of basic human needs in isolation with its unnecessary use of degrading and dehumanizing security measures. Its use of restraints, cell searches, strip searches, exercise cages, dayroom cages, and noncontact visiting booths are not based on individualized assessments of safety and security threats. They are used as a one-size-fits-all approach to respond to all types of behaviors. FDC applies the same security measures to the most diminutive people with no recent history of violence as it does the most physically imposing people with significant histories of recent violence. It applies the same security measures to those who are in isolation because they are seeking protection
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from violence as it does the people who are accused of perpetrating violence. Regardless of why someone is in isolation, FDC’s oppressive security measures enhance the traumatic experience of being locked in a tiny cell for nearly 24 hours each day.
114. With few exceptions, FDC restrains people in isolation whenever they leave their cells. At the very least, staff use handcuffs to restrain their arms behind them, but more typically staff restrain people with multiple mechanical restraints at the same time. Their ankles are restrained with leg irons that force people to take very short steps or shuffle their feet. If their arms are restrained in front of them with handcuffs, the handcuffs are then covered with black metal devices (“black boxes”) that cover the handcuff chain and keyholes. The black box is used in combination with a belly chain that fixes the handcuffs at waist level, creating a more rigid and severe restraint that prevent people from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist.
115. FDC’s policies permit, and with few exceptions require, staff to apply these restraints to all people in isolation, even those who use mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, sometimes even chaining the person, including Plaintiffs Burgess and Espinosa, to the device. Except for when staff remove the restraints in the exercise cages and showers, people in isolation must spend every scant minute out of their cells with steel wrapped around their limbs, constricting
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their movement. Staff even refuse to remove the restraints during medical exams, forcing people to lie back awkwardly on the examination table, with their arms bound behind them, including for procedures such as EKGs.
116. At Lowell Correctional Institution Annex (“Lowell Annex”), a women’s prison, staff use “escort chairs” (restraint chairs on wheels) to transport women in isolation who have been accused of battery. After restraining women in leg irons, handcuffs, waist chains, and black boxes, staff strap their heads, arms, and legs to the chair on wheels. Using these excessive restraints, several correctional staff push individual women to wherever they need to go, including to legal interviews where staff sometimes refuse to unstrap them for the duration of their attorney visits, and insist on videotaping the interviews from a window outside the room. The straps are so tight, and their movement so constrained, that nurses must check the women’s circulation every 15 minutes. FDC’s policies do not prohibit staff from using these chairs on people who are especially vulnerable, including, for example, teenagers and other people with mental illness such as Plaintiff Ferguson.
117. FDC’s use of restraints frequently causes cuts and bruises to people’s wrists and ankles. Women at Lowell Annex, for example, suffer from bleeding cuts on their ankles after walking a few hundred yards in restraints to the medical
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units from their isolation units. Plaintiff Espinosa’s leg restraints broke his foot after he lost his balance and fell while wearing them.
118. Staff subject people who leave their cells for any reason to strip and cell searches. During strip searches, correctional staff force people to remove all clothes, squat, and cough in the presence of others; there is no privacy for these searches. During cell searches, staff go through all their belongings, often scattering their legal papers, opening and emptying their hygiene products, and generally making a mess of their cells.
119. Based on policy and practice, FDC operates its isolation units with strict but unnecessary rules. Beginning early in the morning, people in isolation must get out of bed and fully dress in their uniforms for the duration of the day. They must also make their beds first thing in the morning, and cannot use their sheets or blankets, even for warmth despite the unavailability of warm clothing in the winter, until evening. They cannot leave any property on the floor. They cannot hang anything on their cell walls, doors, or windows. They cannot talk too loudly or be disrespectful. They cannot spend more than a few minutes at their cell doors or windows. FDC responds to people who fail to follow these rules by extending their time in isolation, using pepper spray, subjecting them to property restrictions, or engaging in violent cell extractions.
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120. FDC responds to minor behavioral problems with a practice known as “property restriction.” This practice occurs with or without a disciplinary charge or guilty finding, and it is imposed as pure punishment—it serves no penological purpose, other than the wanton infliction of discomfort, humiliation, and emotional distress. Based on unwritten policies, in prisons throughout the state, staff force people to give up everything, or almost everything, in their cell, leaving many people “stripped” in just their underwear, for 72 hours or longer. At the men’s prisons, staff remove everything except the bolted down fixtures in the cell. People cannot have their uniforms and t-shirts, bed linens, reading and writing materials, hygiene items, or mattress for three days or longer. At the women’s prisons, FDC leaves the women with one set of clothing, hygiene products, sometimes their mattress and linens, and nothing else for 72 hours. During this three-day period, most people are unable to sleep without a mattress on a steel bed frame, or without a blanket and clothing in cells that frequently dip down to 50 degrees at night in the winter months. For those who are almost naked, cold, or sleep-deprived, 72 hours amounts to the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain.
121. Staff have punished people with this barbaric practice for offenses such as standing at their cell door to look out the tiny window, hanging something over a cell window, leaving a pillow on the floor, or leaving their property in disarray. If a unit becomes too loud, staff have picked people at random to place
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on property restriction as punishment. After suicide attempts or gestures, instead of taking people to a suicide observation cell where they can receive an evaluation, treatment, and be removed from anything they can use to hurt themselves, staff frequently punish people, including Plaintiff Harvard, in their cells with property restriction.
122. Staff place frail people with physical disabilities on property restriction with no regard to how their bodies will respond to sleeping on bare steel. If FDC places someone with a cellmate on property restriction, staff also take the cellmate’s belongings even if he or she has not violated any rules. For some people with serious mental illness, property restriction tips them over the edge and they respond with acts of physical self-harm or mutilation. FDC’s practice of depriving people of all belongings, including people who pose no risk to themselves, serves no legitimate penological purpose and heightens the risk of harm from isolation.
123. People in isolation become so desperate that they frequently declare “psychological emergencies” that, based on accepted standards, should result in correctional officers immediately removing the person from his or her cell for a mental health evaluation. Correctional officers frequently ignore people who declare psychological emergencies; make their own determination, without consulting with clinical staff, that the person is not in psychiatric distress; or
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proclaim that because “there is no blood, there is no emergency.” They also retaliate against people who declare such emergencies by using excessive force, destroying their belongings in a cell search, placing them on property restriction, refusing to deliver meals, or refusing to take them to the exercise cages. As a result, some people are reluctant to ask for help because they fear retaliation. Prison staff’s callous and retaliatory responses to people’s suffering in isolation intensify the deprivations they experience and heighten the risk of harm.
H. Defendants’ Deliberate Indifference 124. Defendants know that the cumulative effect of the lack of human contact, lack of exercise, lack of environmental stimulation, cell conditions, and oppressive security measures subjects people they place in isolation to a substantial risk of serious harm. Defendants are also aware of the authorities described in Section V.A., supra, demonstrating that isolation subjects people to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that there are people in Defendants’ custody who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from actual psychological and physiological harm because of their placement in isolation. Nonetheless, Defendants refuse to significantly curtail their use of isolation. 125. Defendants are aware that correctional standards are evolving to reflect the national consensus that isolation is degrading and inhumane and should be used only as a last resort, if ever. In 2016, FDC issued a press release touting
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that the then-Secretary of Corrections, Julie Jones, attended a “criminal justice reform colloquium” at Yale Law School. The press release characterized isolation “as one of the most important issues facing criminal justice reform today” for which “industry experts and leaders share a commitment to reducing both the number of individuals held in isolation and the degrees of isolation …”.
126. On information and belief, FDC staff attended a similar program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 that included panel discussions from renowned healthcare experts describing the physical and psychological harms of isolation. Defendants also know that their policies and practices regarding out-ofcell exercise, and the size of their isolation cells, are deficient as the American Correctional Association has admonished FDC repeatedly for several years in reports that Defendants receive and review.
127. After participating in a survey conducted by the Association of State Correctional Administrators, of which Defendant Inch is a member, and Yale Law School in 2015, Defendants know that their isolation rate (nearly 10% of the FDC population) is double the national rate. Defendants received and reviewed the survey results in a report published in 2016, and subsequently refused to participate in the 2017 survey. Both the 2016 and 2018 reports detailing the survey results also specifically describe the harms of isolation.
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128. Defendants are aware that the rate of suicide is much higher for people who are in or have been in isolation. From January 2013 to August 2018, at least 46 of the 80 people (57%) who died by suicide in FDC did so while they were in isolation. Although not in isolation at the time they died by suicide, an additional eight of those 80 people had been in isolation in the year prior to killing themselves. A stunning 88% of the people who died by suicide had been in isolation at some point during their incarceration in FDC.
129. Defendants are also aware that people in isolation are more likely to require inpatient hospitalization, including from suicide attempts. According to a document drafted by FDC’s Director of Mental Health, Dr. Aufderheide, “Whereas Close Management status represents about 3% of the total inmate population, 40% of the inmates receiving necessary inpatient mental health treatment came from a Close Management status.” He also wrote that “47% of the inmates requiring court-ordered treatment at a Corrections Mental Health Treatment Facility (CMHTF) were admitted from Close Management status.” He further noted that Defendants had to hospitalize 13% of people in Close Management placed in suicide observation status compared to only 4% of people in the general population placed in the same status.
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130. Defendants know that because of their policies and practices, people
with mental illness are overrepresented in isolation. According to Dr.
Aufderheide:
● Mentally ill inmates are about 80% more likely to receive a Disciplinary Report (DR) for a major rule infraction than nonmentally ill inmates.
● Mentally ill inmates are more likely than non-mentally ill inmates to be placed in Administrative/Disciplinary Confinement and more than five times as likely to be placed in Close Management.
● Although mentally ill inmates represent about 18% of the total population, they represent nearly half of all the inmates in Close Management.
● Inmates in Close Management are more than three times more likely to have a severe and persistent mental illness than inmates in the general population.
131. Defendants also know that people with mental illness, and with
intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injuries, are more likely to spend
prolonged periods in isolation because they have difficulty conforming their
behavior with FDC rules, demands, and norms. Due to FDC’s lack of reasonable
modifications and accommodations for persons with disabilities, once FDC places
these individuals in isolation because of some violation of prison rules caused by
their disabilities, it is extremely difficult for them to get out.
132. The deprivations and punitive environment of isolation exacerbate or
cause symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety, agitation, paranoia, panic,
delusions, mania, depression, poor impulse-control, psychosis, insomnia, and
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hallucinations. These symptoms may lead to more misbehaviors, which lead to more disciplinary charges. These additional charges typically lead to an indefinite stay in isolation (Close Management) that is supposed to end when incarcerated people can demonstrate an ability to live in the general population, something nearly impossible to show as they continue to deteriorate.
133. Given their pre-existing symptoms, even people who manage to maintain their baseline psychological functioning despite the deprivations of isolation have difficulty demonstrating the near-perfect behavior that is required to get out of indefinite isolation. Plaintiffs Harvard and Ferguson, for example, have been caught in a perpetual cycle of deteriorating symptoms, new disciplinary infractions related to those symptoms, suicide watch cell placements, and inpatient hospitalizations, interspersed with periods of only minor disciplinary infractions, if any. Defendants ignore these periods of low-level or infraction-free behavior in determining whether people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries can be released from isolation.
134. Despite the obvious risk of harm demonstrated by the constant cycling between suicide observation cells, inpatient psychiatric units, and isolation, Defendants refuse to eliminate, or even reduce, the deprivations of isolation and the unnecessary security measures in isolation. Instead, Defendants continue to perpetuate the cycle by sending people straight from in-patient mental health care
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back to isolation. This is true even after someone makes a serious suicide attempt; Defendants not only send them directly back into isolation after having knowledge of the risk of suicide for those specific individuals, but also often add more time in isolation because people “destroyed state property” or “disobeyed verbal orders” while trying to kill themselves.
135. Defendants also repeatedly receive notice of the harms of isolation through the hundreds of complaints they receive each year from people in isolation through FDC’s internal prison grievance process. In these complaints, people in isolation specifically describe the mental health and physical health consequences that they are experiencing. Defendants’ typical response is to ignore the suffering they describe and tersely state that the individual is in isolation as a result of her or his own behavior.
136. Despite their knowledge of the risk of harm, Defendants have no policies to exclude known vulnerable people from isolation, including, but not limited to, people with serious mental illness or intellectual disabilities, pregnant women, juveniles, or people with histories of suicide attempts. They also have no policies to exclude people who are at substantial risk of harm because of medical conditions that could be exacerbated by isolation, or that require immediate responses to medical symptoms to prevent serious injury or death (e.g., seizure disorders).
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137. Defendants provide no call buttons or other mechanisms for people in isolation to notify staff of an emergency; people can only yell or bang on their doors at the risk of receiving disciplinary charges and more isolation time for “inciting a riot” or “creating a disturbance.” People who experience seizures in their cells, including Plaintiff Burgess, are physically unable to notify staff in this manner.
138. Defendants fail to adequately monitor people for health risks prior to and during their time in isolation for signs of worsening mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality in isolation. According to their own healthcare audits conducted between 2016 and 2018, healthcare staff frequently failed to complete rounds and evaluations of people in isolation. For example, healthcare staff at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex completed “pre-confinement physicals” only 10% of the time and weekly mental health rounds only 50% of the time. At Suwannee Correctional Institution, a prison with a large population in isolation, including juveniles, healthcare staff completed timely evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 32% of the time, daily rounds by nursing staff only 66% of the time, and weekly mental health rounds only 55% of the time. At Lake Correctional Institution, healthcare staff completed daily nursing rounds only 42% of the time, and evaluations of people with serious mental illness only 25% of the time. At the Reception and Medical Center, where people with serious and chronic
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health conditions are sent for treatment, healthcare staff completed “preconfinement physicals” only 55% of the time.
139. Defendants do not provide mental health treatment to everyone in isolation, and the treatment they do provide to some people does not prevent harm caused by isolation. Defendants provide regular group and individual therapy to only those they have identified as having a serious mental illness, ignoring everyone else at substantial risk of developing mental health symptoms due to the deprivations of human needs in isolation. Defendants fail to identify all people who have serious mental illness, and therefore many who suffer from a heightened risk of harm do not receive mental health services in isolation.
140. Defendants fail to hire enough staff to ensure that people receive exercise, other out-of-cell time, and escorts to their medical appointments. Isolation is staff-intensive because it requires correctional staff to apply restraints; escort people when they leave their cells for healthcare appointments, showers, and exercise; respond to psychological emergencies; escort healthcare staff during medication delivery; and conduct security checks and cell searches, among other tasks. Throughout the prison system, including in non-isolation units, correctional staffing is insufficient to safely provide critical safety and security operations. The ramification of this systemic short-staffing is that FDC cannot comply with its written isolation policies and procedures, and fails to consistently provide showers,
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security checks, out-of-cell exercise, dayroom time, and healthcare to people in isolation, including to people with several complex needs, like Plaintiff Espinosa.
141. For the last several years, Defendants have admitted to American Correctional Association auditors that they cannot and will not provide adequate out-of-cell exercise to people in isolation. Defendants also claim repeatedly that they will “request funding for additional staff, change segregation policy, and adjust staffing charts to comply with the standard pending funding approval.” However, to date, on information and belief, Defendants have failed to take any of these actions.
142. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm, Defendants impose no limit on the duration of isolation. As a result, there are people in FDC who have been suffering in isolation for nearly 20 years with no end in sight.
143. Despite their knowledge of the substantial risk of serious harm caused by isolation, Defendants have done little to nothing to prevent this harm.
I. No Legitimate Penological Purpose 144. There is no legitimate penological purpose that supports FDC’s policy and practice of subjecting people to the substantial risk of harm from its isolation policies and practices as they are currently implemented and enforced. With adequate security measures, other states have developed ways of providing daily
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exercise, social interactions, and programming to individuals who are similarly situated to those FDC has placed into isolation and claims cannot be permitted to have these interactions because they are such a danger.
145. There are very few people, if any, and certainly not thousands, in FDC’s custody who pose an ongoing imminent security threat such that they cannot safely leave their cells each day for exercise, social interactions, and programs. Even for people who have engaged in behaviors that posed an imminent risk to the physical safety of others in the past, there is no safety or security reason to deprive them of basic human needs after the immediate threat has subsided.
146. There is no safety or security reason to deny people in isolation noncontact visits or phone calls, especially because familial support is often critical to improve behaviors and success upon release from prison. 47 In fact, a study of FDC, commissioned by the Florida Legislature and received and reviewed by FDC, urged FDC to focus on its visitation policies because “one of the primary incarceration factors that reduces recidivism is the number of family visits.” 48 By
47 NORMAN HOLT & DONALD MILLER, EXPLORATIONS IN INMATE-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. SACRAMENTO RESEARCH DIVISION, at ch. VI (Cal. Dep’t of Corr. 1972), https://fcnetwork.org/reading/reading-holt-miller-holt-millersum.html (last visited Apr. 18, 2019); N.E. Schafer, Exploring the Link Between Visits and Parole Success: A Survey of Prison Visitors, 38 INT’L JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY & COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 17-32 (1994). 48 Fla. Legislature Office of Program Policy Analysis and Gov’t Accountability, Study of Operations of the Florida Department of Corrections, at 103 (Nov. 2015), http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/MonitorDocs/Reports/pdf/15-FDC.pdf (last visited Apr. 19, 2019).
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depriving people of basic human needs, including but not limited to contact with their families, FDC is increasing the risk to public safety, especially as most people in isolation will be released at some point back into their communities.
147. Indeed, at the conclusion of their prison terms, FDC frequently releases people in isolation directly back into the community after subjecting them to months or years of deprivations without any rehabilitative services. On information and belief, if any of these individuals returns to FDC within two years, no matter the reason or their recent behaviors, FDC immediately places them back in isolation. FDC’s willingness to release people it has deemed too high of a security threat to live in a general prison population back into the community without any sort of transitional services, and then to put them back into isolation regardless of any actual current threat, highlights the arbitrariness of its isolation policies and practices.
148. There is no safety or security justification for FDC’s blanket policy and practice of limiting reading materials and education, and depriving access to televisions, radios, tablets, and other in-cell mental stimulation for people in isolation. There is also no safety or security justification for FDC’s policy and practice of limiting hygiene items for people in isolation, including sanitary napkins for women. These policies and practices, absent some rare and
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particularized threat, are purely punitive, and, collectively with the other deprivations, unnecessarily subject people to substantial risk of serious harm.
149. There is no legitimate penological purpose served by holding people in isolation for the lengths of time that the Defendants do, nor is there a legitimate penological purpose for extending isolation time for minor disciplinary infractions, as Defendants frequently do. This is especially true when people have no ability to conform their conduct to FDC rules because of a mental illness or intellectual disability, and when their time in isolation is continually extended for minor disciplinary infractions such as not keeping one’s cell clean.
150. Instead of isolating people for prolonged periods, correctional systems that have successfully reduced their isolation populations increase interactions with staff and other incarcerated people through programming and treatment so that they can work on changing their behaviors, and staff can make informed decisions about when to lessen security measures. These states have significantly reduced their isolation populations with no increase, and often a decrease, in prison violence. Even FDC recognizes that increased social interactions decrease incidents of violence.
J. Disability Discrimination 151. FDC, through its policies and practices, discriminates against people with disabilities in its use of isolation. It fails to reasonably modify its isolation
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policies and procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, and it fails to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities because of their disabilities.
152. FDC fails to modify its policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities are not placed in isolation because of their disabilities. For example, as a result of FDC’s failure to accommodate transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria by providing safe housing, some are forced to request Administrative Confinement to escape victimization in the general population; others are compelled to break prison rules when responding to threats of violence, leading to Disciplinary Confinement. People with other psychiatric and intellectual disabilities may have difficulty regulating their behaviors or respond erratically or inappropriately to conflict, stress, staff, and other incarcerated people, and therefore cannot comply with some disciplinary rules. Some also have a hard time understanding or conforming their behavior to prison rules. Instead of providing individualized mental health treatment, programming, or safe housing through a reasonable modification, FDC responds to their disability-related behaviors by charging them with disciplinary infractions and sending them to isolation, including, for example, Plaintiffs Harvard and Ferguson.
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153. After failing to modify its policies and procedures to consider people’s psychiatric and intellectual disabilities upon initial placement in isolation, FDC also fails to modify its isolation policies and procedures when they remain in isolation by offering adequate out-of-cell time, social interaction, environmental stimulation, and mental health treatment to prevent worsening mental health symptoms. As a result of these failures, many people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities in isolation experience further psychiatric harm and engage in self-harm behaviors such as swallowing razors or other objects, smashing their heads into walls, compulsively cutting their flesh, and trying to hang themselves. Plaintiff Harvard, for example, has scars up and down her arms from the numerous times she has cut herself in isolation.
154. FDC’s failure to modify its policies for individuals in isolation for behaviors directly related to their worsening mental health symptoms such as refusing to follow orders, yelling and banging on the door, inadequate personal and cell hygiene, and destroying property results in further disciplinary charges that prolong their isolation. FDC also extends isolation for acts of self-harm instead of providing a reasonable modification that includes enhanced mental health treatment.
155. FDC is aware that modifications to its isolation policies and practices are necessary to accommodate people with psychiatric disabilities. In 2017, FDC’s
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Director of Mental Health Services, Dr. Aufderheide, advised that “measures for accountability must be individualized, more flexible and take into account the inmate’s mental illness.” 49 FDC takes the opposite approach; its isolation policies and practices are universal, inflexible, and do not consider people’s disabilities. As a result, according to Dr. Aufderheide, people with mental illness are 80% more likely to be disciplined, are five times more likely to be placed in isolation than those without mental illness, and represent nearly half of all the people in indefinite isolation. 50
156. FDC harms people with other types of disabilities because it systemically fails to make reasonable modifications to its isolation policies and practices. For example, it is difficult and dangerous for people with mobility impairments, including those who use walkers and canes, to ambulate while restrained at the hands and feet. Nonetheless, FDC refuses to modify its restraint policies and practices, thereby subjecting people with mobility disabilities to injuries and heightened risk of falls. It fails to provide people with mobility or medical disabilities, including Plaintiffs Burgess, Kendrick and Espinosa, access to the exercise, such as physical therapy and exercise equipment, that they need to maintain or increase their ambulation and avoid exacerbation of medical symptoms
49 Dean Aufderheide, Florida Dep’t of Corr., Mental Illness in Corrections: An Inconvenient Truth; The Need for a Public Safety/Public Health Model, at 5 (2017) (on file with author). 50 Id. at 9, 16, 17.
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and chronic pain. It fails to reasonably modify its strip search policies for people with mobility impairments or catheters, including Plaintiffs Burgess, to reduce the risk of injury and needless humiliation. It fails to modify its cell search policies for people with vision impairments, including Plaintiff Hill, who have difficulty finding their belongings after staff move them during the searches. It fails to reasonably modify its policies to ensure that people with vision, speech, or hearing disabilities, including Plaintiffs Espinosa and Hill, who are more isolated than others because of their disabilities have equal access to social interaction and environmental stimulation. It fails to remove people with diabetes, including Plaintiff Kendrick, from their cells as often as needed for insulin injections; instead nurses inject people through the rusty, dirty food ports. It also refuses to modify the schedule for medication delivery to ensure it is appropriately timed with insulin injections to avoid dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels.
157. FDC lacks policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities in isolation have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities. For example, it fails to aid people in wheelchairs to complete their activities of daily living in their cells, including but not limited to transferring to the bed and toilet. It also chains people in wheelchairs to their wheelchairs using restraints whenever they leave their cells; this is dangerous, humiliating, and degrading, and makes it impossible for people
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with mobility disabilities to ambulate unassisted. FDC denies people with physical disabilities access to their medical supplies and assistive devices in isolation, including, for example, canes for Plaintiffs Espinosa and Hill. It denies people with medical disabilities access to the healthcare they need, including dialysis treatment. It denies transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria access to transition-related healthcare, including, for example, women’s undergarments, hormone therapy, psychotherapy, and women’s canteen items.
158. People with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities languish in isolation without access to programs, services, and activities available to those in the general prison population. They do not receive the support they need to avoid new disciplinary infractions while they are locked in their cells nearly 24 hours a day and therefore have very little prospect for release.
159. FDC also lacks policies and procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities are housed in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet their needs, which, under FDC’s policies and practices, cannot be met in isolation. For example, FDC recently isolated a person with mobility disabilities in a wing with people assigned to Close Management I and restricted his visits, phone calls, and dayroom under its written Close Management I policies, even though he was assigned as Close Management II, solely because there was a shortage of accessible isolation cells in a wing with people assigned as Close Management II.
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160. The unnecessary placement of people with disabilities in isolation perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that they are incapable of participating in and benefiting from prison services, activities, and programs. Such placement also causes harm by severely limiting their independence and daily activities, including but not limited to family relations, social contacts, educational advancement, and healthcare.
161. Other prison systems have safely integrated people with disabilities into the general prison population by providing adequate therapeutic and programmatic support, and by developing adequate systems to ensure the availability of accessible beds in general population dorms and cells. FDC refuses to develop and implement such policies and practices.
VI. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS A. Plaintiff Class
162. Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2).
163. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class consisting of all people in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are, or will be in the future, in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, Maximum Management or any substantially equivalent restrictive housing unit
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used by FDC where people are locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for 22 hours or more per day (“Plaintiff Class”). 51
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 164. The class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as prisoners regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s policies and practices, but it includes at a minimum the roughly 10,000 class members in isolation on any given day. Due to FDC’s policies and practices, all class members are at substantial risk of harm.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 165. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the class, including but not limited to: ● whether FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment; ● whether FDC has been deliberately indifferent to the serious risk of mental and physical harm of class members; and ● whether there is no legitimate penological purpose for FDC’s policies and practices regarding isolation.
51 This proposed class does not include people sentenced to death and housed in Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 166. The claims of the Plaintiffs are typical of those of the Plaintiff Class, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the class’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 167. Plaintiffs are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Plaintiff Class because Plaintiffs do not have any interests antagonistic to the class. Plaintiffs, as well as the Plaintiff Class members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 168. This action is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1) because the number of class members is approximately 10,000, and the prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a
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practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 169. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this Complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the class, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the class. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Plaintiff Class.
B. Youth Subclass 170. Plaintiff Jeremiah Hill brings this action on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2), on behalf of a subclass of all people in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are under 21 years old and who are, or will be in the future, in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close
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Management, Maximum Management or any substantially equivalent restrictive housing unit used by FDC where people are locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for 22 hours or more per day (“Youth Subclass”). 52
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 171. The subclass is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The subclass is fluid, as people regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s policies and practices, but it includes at a minimum at least 150 young people under age 21 in isolation on any given day. Due to FDC’s policies and practices, all subclass members are at substantial risk of serious harm.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 172. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the subclass, including but not limited to: ● whether FDC’s policies and practices regarding the isolation of young people under 21 years old constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment; ● whether FDC has been deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of serious harm to young people under 21 years old in isolation; and
52 This proposed class does not include people sentenced to death and housed in Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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● whether young people under 21 years old should be excluded from isolation under FDC’s isolation policies and practices to prevent serious risk of mental and physical harm.
FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 173. The claims of Plaintiff Jeremiah Hill are typical of those of the Youth Subclass, as his claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and his claims are based on the same theory of law as the subclass’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 174. Plaintiff Jeremiah Hill is capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Youth Subclass because he does not have any interests antagonistic to the class. Plaintiff Jeremiah Hill, as well as the Youth subclass members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiff Jeremiah Hill is represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 175. Since the number of the Youth Subclass is approximately 150 youths or more, prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of
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inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 176. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this Complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the subclass, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the subclass. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the subclass, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the subclass as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Youth Eighth Amendment Class. C. Subclass of Persons with Serious Mental Illness (“SMI Subclass”) 177. Plaintiffs Admire Harvard, Juan Espinosa, Johnny Hill, and Amy Ferguson bring this action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
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pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2), on behalf of a subclass of all people with serious mental illness 53 in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are or will be in the future, in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, Maximum Management or any substantially equivalent restrictive housing unit used by FDC where people are locked in their cells, alone or with a cellmate, for 22 hours or more per day (“SMI Subclass”). 54
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 178. The subclass is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The subclass is fluid, as people regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s policies and practices, but it includes at least hundreds of people in isolation who Defendants have diagnosed with serious mental illness on any given day. Due to FDC’s policies and practices, all subclass members are at substantial risk of serious harm.
53 As defined by FDC, “serious mental illness” refers to [1] psychotic, bipolar, and major depressive disorders; or [2] any other diagnosed mental disorder (excluding substance abuse disorders) currently associated with serious impairment in psychological, cognitive, or behavioral functioning that substantially interferes with the person’s ability to meet the ordinary demands of living and requires an individualized treatment plan by a qualified mental health professional. Psychological impairments relate to the mental and emotional state of the individual, cognitive impairments relate to cognitive or intellectual disabilities, and behavioral impairments relate to observable actions or reactions in response to external or internal stimuli.
54 This proposed class does not include people sentenced to death and housed in Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 179. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the subclass, including but not limited to: ● whether FDC’s policies and practices regarding the isolation of people with serious mental illness constitute cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by the Eighth Amendment; ● whether FDC has been deliberately indifferent to the substantial risk of serious harm to people with serious mental illness in isolation; • whether people with serious mental illness should be excluded from isolation under FDC’s isolation policies and practices to prevent serious risk of mental and physical harm; and • whether FDC discriminates against people with serious mental illness by failing to implement a system to ensure that people with serious mental illness are reasonably accommodated in isolation. FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 180. The claims of Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Hill, and Ferguson are typical of those of the SMI Subclass, as their claims arise from the same policies,
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practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the subclass’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 181. Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Hill, and Ferguson are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the SMI Subclass because they do not have any interests antagonistic to the class. These Plaintiffs, as well as the subclass members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 182. Since the number of the SMI Subclass is at least hundreds of individuals, prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 183. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that
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form the basis of this Complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the subclass, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the subclass. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the subclass, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the subclass as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the SMI Class.
D. Subclass of Persons with Physical 55 Disabilities (“Physical Disability Subclass”)
184. Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill bring this action on behalf of themselves and, pursuant to Rule 23(a), (b)(1) and (b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on behalf of a subclass of all qualified individuals with physical disabilities, as “disabilities” is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102 and 29 U.S.C. § 705(9)(B), in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections who are or will be in the future, in Administrative Confinement, Disciplinary Confinement, Close Management, Maximum Management or any substantially equivalent restrictive housing unit used by FDC where people are locked in their
55 “Physical disabilities” refers to all disabilities that are not encompassed within the definition of “serious mental illness” herein.
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cells, alone or with a cellmate, for 22 hours or more per day (“Physical Disability Subclass”). 56
Numerosity: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1) 185. The subclass is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. The class is fluid, as people with physical disabilities regularly enter and leave the class as a result of FDC’s isolation policies and practices. The exact number of subclass members is unknown, but members are identifiable using records maintained in the ordinary course of business by FDC. On information and belief, there are over 100 Physical Disability Subclass members. Due to FDC’s isolation policies and practices, all members of the subclass are at risk of suffering from discrimination.
Commonality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2) 186. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the subclass, including whether FDC violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to implement a system that ensures people with physical disabilities are reasonably accommodated in isolation and.
56 This proposed subclass does not include people with disabilities sentenced to death and housed at Florida State Prison or Union Correctional Institution.
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FDC is expected to raise common defenses to these claims, including denying that its actions violate the law.
Typicality: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3) 187. The claims of Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill are typical of those of the Physical Disability Subclass, as their claims arise from the same policies, practices, or courses of conduct; and their claims are based on the same theory of law as the subclass’s claims.
Adequacy: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) 188. Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill are capable of fairly and adequately protecting the interests of the Physical Disability Subclass because they do not have any interests antagonistic to the subclass. Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, and Hill, as well as the Physical Disability Subclass members, seek to enjoin the unlawful acts and omissions of FDC. Finally, Plaintiffs are represented by counsel experienced in civil rights litigation, prisoners’ rights litigation, and complex class action litigation.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1)(A) and (B) 189. Since the number of the Physical Disability Subclass is over 100, prosecution of separate actions by individuals would create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications, which in turn would establish incompatible standards of
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conduct for FDC. Additionally, the prosecution of separate actions by individual members could result in adjudications with respect to individual members that, as a practical matter, would substantially impair the ability of other members to protect their interests.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) 190. This action is also maintainable as a class action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) because FDC’s policies, practices, actions, and omissions that form the basis of this complaint are common to and apply generally to all members of the subclass, and the injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the subclass. Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. All state-wide isolation policies are centrally promulgated, disseminated, and enforced from the central headquarters of FDC. The injunctive and declaratory relief sought is appropriate and will apply to all members of the Physical Disability Subclass.
VII. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF A. First Cause of Action
(All Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class and All Subclasses v. Defendant Inch) 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments
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191. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 175 as if fully set forth herein.
192. Through the policies and practices described herein, Defendant Inch subjects all Plaintiffs and the Class to a substantial risk of serious harm and deprives Plaintiffs and the Class of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities and human dignity, through the excessive and inappropriate use of isolation. These policies and procedures are inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. Defendant Inch has caused the wanton infliction of pain upon Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class.
193. The substantial risk of serious harm Defendants’ isolation policies and practices cause the Youth and SMI subclasses is so heightened that there is no viable remedy to address this constitutional violation while maintaining them in isolation as currently used by FDC.
194. There is no legitimate penological purpose for Defendant Inch’s isolation policies and procedures as implemented and enforced, and they amount to the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain.
195. These policies have been and continue to be implemented by Defendant Inch and his agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under the color of state law, in their official capacities, and are the direct
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and proximate cause of the Plaintiffs’ and the Plaintiff Class’s ongoing deprivation of rights secured under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
196. Defendant Inch has been and is aware of all deprivations complained of herein and has condoned or been deliberately indifferent to such conduct. Defendant also has been and is aware of the substantial risk of harm caused by these deprivations and has not acted to eliminate this risk of harm. It should be obvious to Defendant Inch, and to any reasonable person, that the conditions imposed on Plaintiffs and the Class cause tremendous mental anguish, physical harm, suffering, and pain to such individuals.
197. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class have suffered, and will continue to suffer, from a substantial risk of serious harm and actual harm. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
B. Second Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the SMI Subclass and Physical Disability Subclass v. Defendant FDC)
Americans with Disabilities Act 198. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1-175 as if set forth fully herein. 199. Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and other Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass members are qualified
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individuals with disabilities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities (ADA). They have mental or physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities, they have records of such impairments, or they are regarded as having such impairments. All people in these subclasses meet the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services of the participation in programs and activities provided by Defendants. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2); 42 U.S.C § 12131(2).
200. Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and other Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass members are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning of Title II of the ADA.
201. Defendant FDC is a public entity as defined under 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)(A), and it has an affirmative duty to create policies and procedures to prevent discrimination based on disability.
202. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to ensure that people with disabilities have access to, are permitted to participate in, and are not denied the benefits of, programs, services, and activities provided by Defendant. 42 U.S.C. § 12132; 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(1).
203. Defendant FDC violates the ADA by failing to make “reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are
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necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability….” 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7).
204. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the ADA by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.152(b)(2).
205. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass to discrimination and that defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of objectives of FDC programs, services, and activities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(3).
206. As a result of Defendant’s policies and practices regarding individuals with disabilities, Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass are denied equal access to activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified because Defendants have failed to implement a system that ensures people with physical disabilities and serious mental illness are reasonably accommodated in isolation.
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207. As a direct and proximate cause of these actions and omissions, Plaintiffs Harvard, Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their ADA rights. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
C. Third Cause of Action (Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass v. Defendant FDC)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 208. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in Paragraphs 1 – 175 as if set forth fully herein. 209. Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass are individuals with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 705(20), 794. 210. Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass are qualified to participate in the services, programs, activities, and benefits provided to incarcerated people in FDC custody within the meaning Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 211. Defendant FDC is a program or activity receiving federal financial assistance within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act. 29 U.S.C. § 794.
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212. Defendant FDC excludes Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass from participation in, and denies them the benefits of programs or activities, by reason of their disabilities. 29 U.S.C. § 794(a); 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(a).
213. Defendant FDC discriminates against “qualified individual[s] with a disability” within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act by administering programs and services for individuals with disabilities in a manner that denies them the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. 29 U.S.C. § 794; 45 C.F.R. § 84.4(b)(2).
214. Defendant FDC denies Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kenrick, Hill, and Ferguson and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass the opportunity afforded others to participate in program or activities. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(1).
215. Defendant FDC utilizes criteria or methods of administration that either purposely or in effect discriminate on the basis of handicap, and defeat or substantially impair accomplishment of the objectives of Defendant’s programs or activities with respect to handicapped persons. 28 C.F.R. § 42.503(b)(3).
216. Defendant FDC violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities in its facilities, programs, activities, and services.
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217. As a result of Defendant FDC’s discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations, Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Hill, and Ferguson and members of the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass do not have equal access to the FDC’s activities, programs, and services for which they are otherwise qualified because Defendants have failed to implement a system that ensures people with physical disabilities and serious mental illness are reasonably accommodated in isolation.
218. As a direct and proximate cause of these policies and practices, Plaintiffs Espinosa, Burgess, Kendrick, Ferguson, and Hill and the Physical Disability Subclass and SMI Subclass have suffered and continue to suffer from harm and violation of their rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These harms will continue unless enjoined by this Court.
VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 219. Plaintiffs, and the class and subclasses they represent, have no adequate remedy at law to redress the wrongs suffered as set forth in this Complaint. Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable injury as a result of the unlawful acts, omissions, policies, and practices of the Defendants as alleged herein, unless Plaintiffs are granted the relief they request. Defendants’ policies and practices are the direct causation of the violations of the Eighth and
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Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as alleged herein.
220. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and the class and subclasses they represent, respectfully request that this Court:
a. assume jurisdiction; b. declare this suit is maintainable as a class action pursuant to Rules
23(a) and 23(b)(1) and (2) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure; c. adjudge and declare that the conditions, acts, omission, policies, and
practices of Defendants and their agents, officials, and employees are in violation of the rights of Plaintiffs and the class and subclasses they represent under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; d. permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, from continuing the unlawful acts, conditions, and practices described in this Complaint; e. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert with them under color of state law or otherwise, to develop and implement, as soon as practical, a plan to eliminate the substantial risk of serious harm described herein, and to ensure that
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people are not placed and retained in isolation without a legitimate penological purpose; f. order Defendants, their agents, officials, employees, and all persons acting in concert under color of state law or otherwise, to modify its isolation policies and practices to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities and minimize the traumatic impact of isolation; g. award Plaintiffs, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 794a, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1988, 12205, and 12133, the costs of this suit and reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses; h. retain jurisdiction of this case until Defendants have fully complied with the orders of this Court, and there is reasonable assurance that Defendants will continue to comply in the future absent continuing jurisdiction; and i. award such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: March 29, 2021

Respectfully Submitted,
_K__e_ll_y_K__n_a_p_p____________
Kelly Knapp Fla. Bar No. 1011018 Leonard Laurenceau Fla. Bar. No. 106987 Southern Poverty Law Center 2 South Biscayne Boulevard Miami, FL 33131
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Telephone: (786) 347-2056 kelly.knapp@splcenter.org leo.laurenceau@splcenter.org
Andrea Costello Fla. Bar No. 532991 Christopher M. Jones Fla. Bar No. 994642 Jennifer Painter Fla. Bar No. 110966 Aimee Lim Fla. Bar No. 116209 Florida Legal Services 122 E. Colonial Drive, Suite 100 Orlando, FL 32801 Telephone: (407) 801-0332 (direct) andrea@floridalegal.org christopher@floridalegal.org jennifer.painter@floridalegal.org aimee.lim@floridalegal.org
Dante P. Trevisani Fla. Bar No. 72912 Laura A. Ferro Fla. Bar No. 1015841 Sam Thypin-Bermeo Fla. Bar No. 1019777 Marcel Lilavois, Jr. Fla. Bar No. 1016175 Kara Wallis* NY Bar No. 5394671 Florida Justice Institute, Inc. 100 SE 2nd St., Ste 3750 Miami, FL 33131 Telephone: (305) 358-2081 dtrevisani@floridajusticeinstitute.org lferro@floridajusticeinstitute.org
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sthypin-bermeo@floridajusticeinstitute.org mlilavois@floridajusticeinstitute.org kwallis@floridajusticeinstitute.org Lori Rifkin* CA Bar No. 244081 Rifkin Law Office 3630 Hight St. #18917 Oakland, CA Telephone: (510) 414-4132 lrifkin@rifkinlawoffice.com *Admitted pro hac vice Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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 Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020) 2020 WL 5650080
2020 WL 5650080 Only the Westlaw citation is currently available.
United States District Court, N.D. Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Jac’quann (Admire) HARVARD, et al., Plaintiffs, v.
Mark INCH, Secretary of Florida Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants.
Case No.: 4:19cv212-MW/CAS |
Signed 01/07/2020
Attorneys and Law Firms
Christopher Michael Jones, Andrea Costello, Florida Legal Services Inc., Newberry, FL, Jennifer Morrissey Painter, Aimee Cristen Lim, Florida Legal Services Inc., Orlando, FL, Shalini Goel Agarwal, Sumayya Saleh, Southern Poverty Law Center, Tallahassee, FL, Dante Pasquale Trevisani, Laura Anne Ferro, Marcel Andrew Lilavois, Jr., Sam N. Thypin-Bermeo, Florida Justice Institute Inc., Kelly Jean Knapp, Southern Poverty Law Center, Miami, FL, Lisa S. Graybill, Southern Poverty Law Center, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiffs.
Daniel J. Gerber, Samantha Crawford Duke, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Orlando, FL, Nicole Sieb Smith, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING DEPOSITION CONDITIONS
Mark E. Walker, Chief United States District Judge
*1 This Court has considered, following a hearing on January 06, 2020, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Protective Order Regarding Deposition Conditions. ECF No. 67. For the

reasons provided below, Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.
This Court may, for good cause, issue a protective order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). In determining whether good cause exists, a court should balance the interests of the parties. See Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, 263 F.3d 1304, 1313 (11th Cir. 2001). This Court understands the unique circumstances present in this case. The depositions will be conducted inside prison facilities. In the context of court proceedings such as depositions or trial, this Court recognizes that some level of deference is accorded to the prison administration in the matters of internal security and safety. However, this deference is not absolute, and is limited by the broad discretion this Court enjoys in entering a protective order. See In re Alexander Grant & Co. Litig., 820 F.2d 352, 357 (11th Cir. 1987). This discretion allows this Court to achieve the ends of justice entrusted to it. Balancing the two sides—deference to the prison administration and this Court’s discretion in entering a Protective Order—requires this Court to fashion a remedy that is narrowly drawn.
Defendants seek certain restrictions during depositions. Specifically, Defendants seek the presence of a correctional officer in the deposition room for all Plaintiffs, except Plaintiff Espinosa. ECF No. 72, at 2. Additionally, certain Plaintiffs will be placed in restraints, and other Plaintiffs may be placed in restraints at the Warden’s judgment. ECF No. 72, at 2. The type of restraints each Plaintiff is subjected to will be determined by the Warden. ECF No. 72, at 2.
Balancing the interest proffered by the parties, this Court finds that a correctional officer may be present in the deposition room based on the sound judgment of the Warden. However, Defendants must ensure that the correctional officer present in the deposition room is not involved with the Plaintiff being deposed on a day-to-day basis, is not the subject of the deponent’s complaints, and has no actual knowledge of the allegations of this lawsuit. Further, this Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown good cause that the use of a “black box” restraint is unreasonable and unnecessary. A black box is a device that is locked over a pair of handcuffs to hold the wrists of an individual closer together and is used with a belly chain. ECF No. 67, at 3 n.3. The black box creates a
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Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020)
2020 WL 5650080
severe restraint that prevents an individual from freely moving their hands and arms beyond their waist. ECF No. 67, at 3 n.3. This Court finds that the use of black box is too restrictive. It will prohibit Plaintiffs from engaging in normal movement, writing, taking notes, and communicating confidentially with counsel during deposition and, therefore, prohibit Plaintiffs from fully participating in their deposition. In addition, there are number of other reasonable restraints that Defendants may employ during deposition to ensure safety and security during deposition. One such alternative, “side cuffs,” is recommended by Defendant’s Deputy Director of Institutional Operations, Mr. Kirkland, for Plaintiffs that he deems short-tempered or violent. ECF No. 72-1, ¶¶ 5(b)&(c). Plaintiffs also recommend such a restraint. This Court is not suggesting that Defendants use “side cuffs” as a method of restraints. Defendants may use restraints they deem necessary and reasonable in the sound judgment of the Warden. However, Defendants may not use black box as a method of restraint.
*2 Plaintiffs motion is, therefore, GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. A correctional officer may be present in the deposition room if the Warden deems it

appropriate so long as the correctional officer is not involved with the Plaintiff being deposed on a day-to-day basis, is not the subject of the deponent’s complaints, and has no actual knowledge of the allegations of this lawsuit. Further, Defendants may not employ black box as a form of restrictions. If, however, in the time between this Order and the deposition, there arises a situation where Defendants determine that the use of black box is necessary, the parties will apprise this Court of the facts leading to such a determination and this Court will reconsider its Order. If, in the course of deposition, Plaintiffs deem that the presence of a certain correctional officer is intimidating or Defendants deem that the use of black box is necessary, the parties may contact this Court’s courtroom deputy, Ms. Victoria Milton McGee.
SO ORDERED on January 7, 2020.
All Citations
Slip Copy, 2020 WL 5650080

2

 
 Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020) 2020 WL 5649635
2020 WL 5649635 Only the Westlaw citation is currently available.
United States District Court, N.D. Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Jac’quann (Admire) HARVARD, et al., Plaintiffs, v.
Mark INCH, Secretary of Florida Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants.
Case No.: 4:19cv212-MW/CAS |
Signed 01/22/2020
Attorneys and Law Firms
Christopher Michael Jones, Andrea Costello, Florida Legal Services Inc., Newberry, FL, Jennifer Morrissey Painter, Aimee Cristen Lim, Florida Legal Services Inc., Orlando, FL, Shalini Goel Agarwal, Sumayya Saleh, Southern Poverty Law Center, Tallahassee, FL, Dante Pasquale Trevisani, Laura Anne Ferro, Marcel Andrew Lilavois, Jr., Sam N. Thypin-Bermeo, Florida Justice Institute Inc., Kelly Jean Knapp, Southern Poverty Law Center, Miami, FL, Lisa S. Graybill, Southern Poverty Law Center, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiffs.
Daniel J. Gerber, Samantha Crawford Duke, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Orlando, FL, Nicole Sieb Smith, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendants.

counsel of (1) post orders, (2) technical manuals, (3) video surveillance of correctional facilities, and (4) information related to correctional institution’s physical security, including, but not limited to, cell locations, prison layouts, and positioning of officers and cameras. ECF No. 84, at 1–2. Plaintiffs oppose this motion. ECF No. 90. For the reasons provided below, Defendants’ motion, ECF No. 84, is DENIED.
I
This Court entered a Confidentiality Order, ECF No. 58, based on parties’ agreement that certain documents may contain information that FDC believes threatens prison safety or security if disclosed without the protections of a confidentiality order. The main disagreement was whether certain documents should be marked with the “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision. ECF No. 58. This provision would allow certain documents to be reviewed only by attorneys working as counsel in this case. ECF No. 58. This Court rejected Defendants’ arguments and, therefore, did not include the “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision to the Confidentiality Order. ECF No. 58. Defendants now argue that the Confidentiality Order entered by this Court is insufficient to protect their interest in safety and security of the prison system. ECF No. 84. In doing so, Defendants raise the same arguments they did in opposing Plaintiffs’ proposed confidentiality order, Compare ECF No. 51, at 6–8 with ECF No. 84, at 7–9, which this Court adopted in toto. ECF No. 58.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR ENTRY OF A PROTECTIVE ORDER
Mark E. Walker, Chief United States District Judge
*1 This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants’ Motion for Entry of a Protective Order. ECF No. 84. Specifically, Defendants’ request entry of a protective order limiting the disclosure to only Plaintiff’s

II
Defendants’ motion appears to be a motion for reconsideration of this Court’s Confidentiality Order. A motion for reconsideration “is an extraordinary remedy to be employed sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of scarce judicial resources.” Wendy’s Int’l, Inc. v. Nu-Cape Const., Inc., 169 F.R.D. 680, 685 (M.D. Fla. 1996). A court will reconsider a previous order “only if there has been an intervening change in law, if new evidence has become available, or if there is a need to correct clear error or manifest injustice.” Buffkin v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 3:16-cv-21-MCR/CJK, 2017 WL 3000031, at *1 (N.D.
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Fla. May 30, 2017). Defendants have neither alleged nor established any of these grounds in their motion. Controlling law remains unchanged—every case Defendants cite in their motion for protective order pre-dates Defendants’ motion related to this Court’s Confidentiality Order. Defendants do not allege that new evidence has become available that requires this Court to reconsider its previous order. Indeed, Defendants specifically raised the documents at issue in their motion for protective order when litigating the Confidentiality Order. See ECF No. 51, at 3. And finally, Defendants have not alleged that reconsideration is needed to correct clear error or manifest injustice.
For these reasons, this Court refuses to reconsider its Confidentiality Order. Defendants’ motion for protective order, which this Court construes as a motion for reconsideration, is denied.
III
*2 Assuming that Defendants’ motion is properly brought under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), the motion is still denied. This Court may, for good cause, issue a protective order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). Under Rule 26(c), a “party seeking a protective order has the burden to demonstrate good cause, and must make ‘a particular and specific demonstration of fact as distinguished from stereotyped and conclusory statements’ supporting the need for a protective order.” Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Se. Floating Docks, Inc., 231 F.R.D. 427, 429–30 (M.D. Fla. 2005). In determining whether good cause exists, a court should balance the interests of the parties. See Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, 263 F.3d 1304, 1313 (11th Cir. 2001).
This Court took into consideration Defendants’ safety and

security concerns and Plaintiffs’ interest in conducting full and fair discovery when it entered the Confidentiality Order. The Confidentiality Order ensures that the documents marked confidential will not be disclosed to people currently or formerly incarcerated in the FDC without written permission from the producing party. ECF No. 58, ¶ 9(c). An exception to this rule is the named Plaintiffs in this case. For the named Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs’ counsels will not give copies of the confidential documents to the named Plaintiffs but may discuss the contents of the confidential documents with the named Plaintiffs if reasonably necessary to prosecute this case. ECF No. 58, ¶ 9(c). As far as Defendants’ concern regarding the broad definition of qualified persons who may view the confidential documents, this Court defined qualified persons based on, in large part, the cases Defendants cited in its opposition to Plaintiffs’ proposed confidentiality order. ECF No. 58, at 1–2.
Defendants’ motion for a protective order is based on a fear of mischief because there is an opportunity for mischief. This Court expects the parties to conduct discovery of highly sensitive information in a reasonable manner, and will not assume bad faith on the part of Plaintiffs’ counsel without specific demonstration of fact. In moving for a protective order, Defendants merely recite the concerns they had in opposing Plaintiffs’ proposed confidentiality order without demonstrating any specific facts that would show that additional protection is needed.
For these reasons, Defendants’ motion, ECF No. 84, is DENIED.
SO ORDERED on January 22, 2020.
All Citations
Slip Copy, 2020 WL 5649635

2

 
 Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020) 2020 WL 5649634

2020 WL 5649634 Only the Westlaw citation is currently available.
United States District Court, N.D. Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Jac’quann (Admire) HARVARD, et al., Plaintiffs, v.
Mark INCH, Secretary of Florida Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants.
Case No.: 4:19cv212-MW/CAS |
Signed 03/02/2020
Attorneys and Law Firms
Christopher Michael Jones, Andrea Costello, Florida Legal Services, Newberry, FL, Jennifer Morrissey Painter, Aimee Cristen Lim, Florida Legal Services Inc, Orlando, FL, Shalini Goel Agarwal, Sumayya Saleh, Tallahassee, FL, Dante Pasquale Trevisani, Laura Anne Ferro, Marcel Andrew Lilavois, Jr, Sam N. Thypin-Bermeo, Kelly Jean Knapp, Miami, FL, Lisa S. Graybill, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiffs.
Daniel J. Gerber, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Orlando, FL, Jeffrey James Grosholz, Nicole Sieb Smith, Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendants.

I
On November 5, 2019, this Court entered a Confidentiality Order, ECF No. 58, based on the parties’ agreement that certain documents may contain information that the Florida Department of Correction believes threatens prison safety or security if disclosed without the protection of a confidentiality order. In its Confidentiality Order, this Court rejected Defendants’ argument that the nature of the documents required an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision. ECF No. 58. Subsequently, this Court rejected Defendants’ argument that this Court’s Confidentiality Order was insufficient to protect their interest in the safety and security of the prison system and denied Defendants’ motion to enter a protective order. ECF No. 94. In doing so, this Court found that Defendants’ improperly raised a motion to reconsider and, alternatively, found that there was no good cause to enter a protective order. ECF No. 94. Based on the Confidentiality Order and the lack of good cause to enter a protective order, this Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery that may lead to information that would raise safety or security concerns. ECF No. 98.
Defendants now seek a temporary stay of discovery of information that may lead to information implicating safety and security concerns. ECF No. 104. Defendants have filed a Notice of Appeal to the Eleventh Circuit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and the collateral order doctrine. ECF No. 100. Defendants also filed a separate Petition for Writ of Mandamus with the Eleventh Circuit as an alternative basis for jurisdiction. ECF No. 100.

ORDER DENYING STAY OF DISCOVERY
Mark E. Walker, Chief United States District Judge
*1 This Court has considered, without hearing, Defendants’ Motion to Stay Discovery Pending Resolution of Interlocutory Appeal. ECF No. 104. For the reasons provided below, Defendants’ motion is DENIED.

II
“A stay is not a matter of right, even if irreparable injury might otherwise result.” Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 433 (2009) (citation omitted). “It is instead an exercise of judicial discretion, and the propriety of its issue is dependent upon the circumstances of the particular case.” Id. (quotation omitted). “A party requesting a stay bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of that discretion.” Id. at 434 (citation omitted). When considering whether to issue a stay, courts consider

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(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.
Id. (quoting Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770, 776 (1987)). The same standard applies to motions to stay pending the resolution of a petition for writ of mandamus. See Nowak v. Lexington Ins., Co., No. 05-21682CIV-MORENO, 2006 WL 3613760, at *2 (S.D. Fla. June 22, 2006). Defendants have failed to meet their burden.
1. Likelihood of Success on the Merits
Defendants have not shown they are substantially likely to succeed on the merits. Initially, it bears noting that there likely is no jurisdiction for Defendants to appeal, either based on collateral order doctrine or under a writ of mandamus. See, e.g., Drummond Co., Inc. v. Terrance P. Collingsworth, Conrad & Scherer, LLP, 816 F.3d 1319, 1325 (11th Cir. 2016) (finding that discovery orders generally do not present important questions warranting collateral order review because most discovery issues can be reviewed effectively on appeal from final judgment); Carpenter v. Mohawk Indus., Inc, 541 F.3d 1048, 1053 (11th Cir. 2008) (“[The Eleventh Circuit] has never exercised jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine to review any discovery order involving any privilege.”); Rouse Constr. Int’l, Inc. v. Rouse Constr. Corp., 680 F.2d 743, 745 (11th Cir. 1982) (“As a general proposition most orders granting or denying discovery are not final orders within the meaning of § 1291 and therefore are not immediately appealable.”). And while mandamus is often an appropriate vehicle for review of orders compelling discovery, it is an extraordinary remedy and “available in exceptional cases, where there is a clear abuse of discretion or usurpation of judicial power.” In re Fink, 876 F.2d 84, 84 (11th Cir. 1989). A clear error of judgment or application of an incorrect legal standard is an abuse of discretion. Carpenter, 541 F.3d at 1055. In

their motion, Defendants do not assert that this Court applied the incorrect legal standard—nor could they. In entering the Confidentiality Order, this Court relied on cases cited by Defendants to reject Defendants’ argument that an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision was required. ECF No. 58, at 1–2. Even assuming that this Court improperly construed Defendants’ motion for a protective order as a motion for reconsideration, this Court, once again relying on the case cited by Defendants, nonetheless found Defendants failed to show good cause to enter a protective order. Compare ECF No. 94, at 3–4 with ECF No. 84, at 2. Regardless, it is not for this Court to determine whether appellate jurisdiction is proper.
*2 Defendants’ claims are unlikely to succeed on the merits. Relying on Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987), Defendants’ argue that this Court improperly invaded the separation of powers by undermining Defendants’ ability to effectively manage prison administration and security. ECF No. 104. This is not the first time Defendants have raised the separation of powers argument, and it likely will not be the last. See, e.g., ECF No. 72, at 3; ECF No. 84, at 3. Contrary to Defendants’ assertion, Turner does not stand for the blanket proposition that this Court must always defer to the prison officials. Instead, Turner requires this Court to balance the interests of prison officials and prisoners in reaching a fair decision. Turner, 482 U.S. at 85 (“Our task ... is to formulate a standard of review for prisoners’ constitutional claims that is responsive both to the policy of judicial restraint regarding prisoner complaints and [to] the need to protect constitutional rights.”).
This Court has, time and time again, acknowledged the deference accorded to prison officials in managing the safety and security within a prison. See, e.g., ECF No. 82, at 2 (recognizing the deference accorded to prison administration in matters of internal security and safety). In entering the Confidentiality Order and rejecting Defendants’ motion for a protective order, this Court balanced Defendants’ interest in safety and security with Plaintiffs’ interest in conducting full and fair discovery. As this Court explained in its Order denying Defendants’ motion for a protective order, the Confidentiality Order ensured that Defendants’ safety and security concerns were protected because the Order made certain that the documents marked confidential would not be disclosed to people currently or formerly incarcerated in FDC without Defendants’ permission. ECF No. 94, at 4. The Confidentiality Order also prohibited Plaintiffs’ counsel from providing copies of the confidential documents to the named Plaintiffs and even prohibited them from so
2

Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020)
2020 WL 5649634
much as discussing the contents unless it was reasonably necessary to prosecute this case. ECF No. 94, at 4. Further, the “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision, as defined by Defendants, was too narrow to protect Plaintiffs’ interest. Indeed, even the cases cited by Defendants where courts have imposed an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision, the courts that issued those decisions have allowed the documents to be disclosed or made available to the qualified persons as defined by this Court. ECF No. 58.1 Simply put, to allow Defendants unbridled discretion in conducting discovery would effectively foreclose this Court’s power in managing proper discovery. In managing discovery, this Court can neither turn a blind eye to the prisoners’ constitutional rights nor Defendants’ interests; instead, it must balance these competing interests. This Court did so when it entered the Confidentiality Order, rejected Defendants’ motion for a protective order, and granted Plaintiffs’ motion to compel.
*3 For these reasons, this factor weighs against granting a stay.

2. Irreparable Harm

Defendants’ rely on the “cat out of the bag” theory,

claiming that if the stay is not granted, they will suffer

irreparable harm because it would be impossible to

reverse the damage resulting from disclosure of the

information. ECF No. 104, at 5. The cases relied on by

Defendants involve the disclosure of privileged

information, such as attorney-client communications. See

Sandalwood Estates Homeowner’s Ass’n, Inc. v. Empire

Indem.

Ins.

Co.,

No.

09-CV-80787-RYSKAMP/VITUNAC, 2010 WL

11505438, *2 (S.D. Fla. June 3, 2010); Nowak, 2006 WL

3613760, at *2. Here, there is no claim of privilege. This

Court acknowledges that, without a stay, Plaintiffs would

be able to proceed with discovery before the Eleventh

Circuit would be able to review the appeal, rendering the

appeal and petition moot. However, a majority of courts

have held that a risk of mootness, standing alone, does not

constitute irreparable harm, and Defendants have not

shown that the Eleventh Circuit embraces the minority

view. In re Furstenberg Finance SAS, No.

16-mc-60266-BLOOM, 2016 WL 10880228, at *1 (S.D.

Fla. Sept. 30, 2016). Additionally, as Plaintiffs point out,

the issue is not whether Defendants are willing to let the

cat out of the bag, but how far they are willing to let the

cat roam. Defendants agreed to produce the relevant

information but wanted to limit the individuals who can access this information. As this Court previously noted, Defendants’ request for the “Attorneys’ Eyes Provision” is “based on fear of mischief because there is an opportunity for mischief.” ECF No. 94, at 4. Such a speculative fear of injury does not constitute irreparable harm. Nken, 556 U.S. at 434–35 (“[S]imply showing some possibility of irreparable injury fails to satisfy the second factor.”); Ne. Fla. Chapter of Ass’n of Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville, 896 F.2d 1283, 1285 (11th Cir. 1990) (holding, in a preliminary injunction context, that irreparable injury must be neither remote nor speculative, but actual and imminent).
Defendants have failed to show they will be irreparably harmed without a stay. This factor, therefore, weighs against stay.
3. Harm to Plaintiff
Defendants argue that the stay concerns only discrete issues of safety and security and will not undermine the progress of this case. ECF No. 104. Although this may be the case, the discrete issues of safety and security cover a plethora of information sought by Plaintiffs. Defendants’ safety and security objections implicate, at the very minimum, 80 discovery requests, 32 of which were the subject of this Court’s Order on motion to compel. ECF No. 108-1, ¶ 6; ECF No. 98. Further, some of the discovery requests may implicate information that Plaintiffs will require for class certification. Assuming that the Eleventh Circuit will take 5.3 months to render a decision from filing of appeal or petition, as Defendants argue, the delay will render it virtually impossible for Plaintiffs to comply with this Court’s Scheduling Order, which sets Plaintiffs’ deadline to file their motion for class certification on May 6, 2020. ECF No. 44, at 1–2.
*4 For these reasons, this factor weighs against stay.
4. Public Interest
It is true, as Defendants argue, that there is a significant interest in maintaining prison safety and security. However, the “public interest is [also] served when constitutional rights are protected.” Democratic Exec.
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Harvard v. Inch, Slip Copy (2020) 2020 WL 5649634
Comm. of Fla. v. Lee, 915 F.3d 1312, 1327 (11th Cir. 2019). The issuance of a stay will delay the progress of this case and undermine Plaintiffs’ ability to vindicate their constitutional rights. The public’s interest in prison safety and security is adequately served by this Court’s Confidentiality Order. This factor, therefore, is, at best, neutral.

Plaintiffs’ motion to compel, this Court balanced Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ interests. Defendants have not convinced this Court that they are likely to succeed on the merits, or that the balance of stay-factors merits a stay pending appeal. Defendants’ motion, ECF No. 104, is DENIED.
SO ORDERED on March 2, 2020.

All Citations III
Slip Copy, 2020 WL 5649634 While entering the Confidentiality Order, rejecting Defendants’ motion for a protective order, and granting
Footnotes

1

Some of the cases relied on by Defendants for their argument that the “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” provision is necessary

allowed such documents to be disclosed to experts, court personnel, and persons assisting in the litigation. See e.g.,

Parrish v. Solis, No. 11-CV-01438 LKH (NC), ECF No. 90, at 6–7 (N.D. Cal. May 28, 2013) (stating that a receiving party

may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to, among other

persons, experts and court and its personnel); Ellis v. Navarro, No. C 07-05126 SBA LB, ECF No. 58, at 3 (N.D. Cal.

Nov. 16, 2011) (stating that “Attorney’s Eye Only” material will be disclosed or made available only to counsel for a

party, and to the “qualified persons” such as experts, court reports, or any other person about whom the parties in

writing agree). Additionally, the Confidentiality Order entered by this Court was consistent with the order that FDC

had stipulated in a nearly identical class action suit before U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle. ECF No. 49-3 (stating

that qualified individuals included, among others, experts or consultants).

.

4