A federal judge granted a protective order to inmates suing the Florida Department of Corrections and its secretary, Mark Inch, for unconstitutional isolation practices.
Inmates housed in isolation at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, Florida State Prison, Lowell Correctional Institution and the Reception and Medical Center, filed for the protective order, from intimidation and reprisals from prison staff for getting involved in Harvard v. Inch.
The case against FDC by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Legal Services and the Florida Justice Institute.
“Retaliation and threats of retaliation of any kind relating to an inmate’s participation in the ongoing discovery and/or civil litigation will not be tolerated,” U.S. Judge Martin Fitzpatrick wrote in his order.
The inmates have testified about corrections officers eavesdropping on their meetings with legal counsel, denying them food and offering incentives for them to forgo participating in the case. The FDC provides grievance procedures as a way for inmates to file complaints about how they are being treated,
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