RESOURCES FOR FLORIDA PRISONERS
ACLU National Prison Project
915 15th St NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 393-4930
Fax (202) 393-4931
Website: www.aclu.org
Services: Class action suits involving prison conditions and related issues in state and federal institutions. Litigation is usually limited to cases involving major class actions challenging prison conditions or otherwise of national significance. Also provide advice and materials to individuals or organizations involved in prison issues. They do not handle cases on behalf of individual prisoners or post-conviction cases.
ACLU of Florida
343 W Flagler St #400
Miami, FL 33134
Phone: (786) 363-2700
E-mail: aclufl@aclufl.org
Website: www.aclufl.org
Services: Litigation on constitutional issues.
Action Committee for Women in Prison
769 Northwestern Drive
Claremont, CA 91711
Phone: (626)710-7543
Email: info@acwip.net
Website: https://acwip.wordpress.com
Services: The Action Committee for Women in Prison advocates for the humane and compassionate treatment of all incarcerated women everywhere, and works for the release of all women who are unjustly imprisoned, including individual women prisoners who pose no danger to society.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 807-8400
Fax: (212) 627-1451
Services: Amnesty International compiles information about prisoner torture, beatings, rape, et cetera, to include in reports about U.S. prison conditions. Also work on death penalty issues. May not respond to individual letters.
AN END TO SILENCE
The Project on Addressing Prison Rape
4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Y110C
Washington, DC 20016
Phone: (202) 274-4261
Website: https://www.wcl.american.edu/impact/initiatives-programs/endsilence
Services: National group working to end rape in prison. Also has legal resources for rape victims.
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 25730
Chicago, IL 60625
Phone: 773-955-4841
Website: www.nodeathpenalty.org
Services: A national grassroots abolitionist organization that works with prisoners, family members and organizers. CEDP publishes a newsletter, The New Abolitionist, which is provided free to prisoners.
Death Penalty Focus
5 Third Street, Suite 725
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 415-243-0143
Website: www.deathpenalty.org
Services: Dedicated to abolishing capital punishment through grassroots organizing, media outreach, nationwide coalition building, and education of political and civic leaders and the public about the death penalty and its alternatives. Does not offer any legal services or become involved in individual legal cases.
DC Books to Prisons Project
P.O. Box 34190
Washington, DC 20043
E-mail: btopdc@gmail.com
Website: http://dcbookstoprisoners.org
Services: Provides books to incarcerated people nationally. Free of charge, but stamps and donations for postage encouraged. Request by prioritized subjects, please limit to one request every five months. Please list prison restrictions if known. Open to larger donation requests for prison libraries.
DrugRehab.com is a web resource that provides researched, fact-based resources about the risks of various substances, the latest approaches to treatment and real stories of recovery.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
1100 H St. NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 822-6700; (202) 822-6704 fax
E-mail: FAMM@FAMM.org
Website: www.FAMM.org
Services: Work to change mandatory sentencing laws. Provide information about sentencing laws and how to change them.
Florida Institutional Legal Services
14260 W Newberry R #412
Newberry, FL 32669
Website: http://floridalegal.org/our-projects
Phone: (407)801-4350
Fax: (352)331-5202
Services: FILS serves Florida prisoners. FILS publishes the Florida Parental Rights Manual for Incarcerated Parents and their Families (2008) 106 pages, which is available for download from their website or may be obtained by writing the above address.
Florida Justice Institute, Inc.
4320 Bank of America Tower
100 S.E. Second Street
Miami, FL, 33131
Phone: (305) 358-2081
Website: www.floridajusticeinstitute.org
Email: info@floridajusticeinstitute.org
Services: Handles civil rights cases regarding conditions in prisons and jails. Advocates and lobbies on behalf of prisoners.
Florida Legal Services
P.O. Box 533986
Orlando, FL 32853
Phone: (407)801-4350
Fax: (407)505-7327
Services: Provides referrals in civil matters.
Human Rights Watch
Address: 350 5th Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299
Phone: (212) 290-4700; (212) 736-1300 fax
Website: www.hrw.org
Services: Conduct fact-finding investigations into human-rights abuses in all regions of the world. Works with local partners and monitors conditions of detention around the world. Publish findings in books and reports.
Innocence Project of Florida.
1100 East Park Ave.
Tallahassee, FL, 32301
Phone: (850) 561-6767
Website: www.floridainnocence.org
Services: Assists inmates with postconviction DNA innocence cases and helps exonerees in obtaining compensation for wrongful convictions.
Innocence Project
40 Worth St., Suite 701
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212)364-5340
Services: The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook
Website: http://jailhouselaw.org
Services: This handbook is a resource for prisoners who wish to file a §1983 lawsuit in federal court regarding poor conditions in prison and/or abuse by prison staff. The handbook is available for free online at http://jailhouselaw.org.
Just Detention International
3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 340
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone: (213) 384-1400; (213) 384-1411 fax
E-mail: info@justdetention.org
Website: www.justdetention.org
Services: Just Detention International (JDI) is a non-profit health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention. JDI’s website provides information for survivors, a legal section with legislation and case law, appeals for action, a comprehensive bibliography, and links to articles, reports, and other resources.
THE MARSHALL PROJECT
156 West 56th Street, Suite 701
New York, NY 10019
212-803-5200
website: https://www.themarshallproject.org
About: The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. They impact the system through journalism, rendering it more fair, effective, transparent and humane.
Narcotics Anonymous
PO Box 9999
Van Nuys, CA 91409
Website: http://www.na.org
Phone: (818)773-9999
Services: NA publishes a wide variety of materials concerning drug addiction and recovery, some of which are expressly produced for persons currently incarcerated, including Behind the Walls.
OPEN BOOKS PRISON BOOKS PROJECT
1040 N. Guillemard St.
Pensacola FL 32501
Website: www.openbookspcola.org
Services: Sends free reading material to inmates in Florida.
Pen Prison Writing Program
Pen American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
Website: https://pen.org/about/programs/prison-writing
Phone: (212)334-1660
Services: PEN Prison Writing Program believes in the restorative, rehabilitative power of writing and provides hundreds of prisoners across the country with skilled writing teachers and audiences for their work. It provides a place for prisoners to express themselves freely and encourages the use of the written word as a legitimate form of power. PEN's Prison Writing Program sponsors an annual writing contest, publishes the free book, Handbook for Writers In Prison, provides one-on-one mentoring to prisoners, conducts workshops, and seeks to promote prisoners’ work publicly through literary publications and readings.
Prisoner Reentry Institute
John Jay College of Criminal Law
524 W 59th St, Rm 609B
New York, NY 10019
Website: http://johnjaypri.org
Phone: (212)393-6435
Services: The Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice with the mission of supporting the successful reentry of justice-involved people back into communities. PRI regularly produces studies and publications made available for prisoners, including the Guide to Continuing Your Education after Prison.
Prison Health News c/o Books Through Bars
4722 Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Website: https://prisonhealthnews.wordpress.com/
Phone: (215)525-0460, ext. 417
Services: A quarterly newsletter and health resource. The newsletter is published quarterly for people in prison and strives to lift up the voices, experience and expertise of currently and formerly incarcerated people. They respond to all types of health questions from prisoners everywhere in the United States. Write to them for a free subscription or with health questions. Past issues are downloadable from the website.
Prisoner Visitation and Support (PVS)
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215)241-7117; Fax: 215-241-7227
Website: www.prisonervisitation.org
Services: PVS is a nationwide visitation that has 300 volunteers across the U.S. who visit federal and military prisoners. Their goal is to visit any prisoner who wishes to receive a visit and they have access to all prisons and prisoners in the federal and military prison systems. Volunteers visit once a month. Limited services for Spanish-speaking prisoners.
Prison Library Project
915-C West Foothill Boulevard – PMB 128
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 626-3066
Email: claremontforum@gmail.com
Services: Provide books and cassette tapes to individual prisoners, study groups, prison libraries and prison chaplains free of charge. Also publish Ways and Means: A Resource List for Inmates.
An Internet community/forum that provides general information and networking for families of inmates. Also, has Florida specific forum that addresses issues ranging from dealing with the D.O.C. to coping with incarceration.
Solitary Watch
P.O. Box 11374
Washington, DC 20008
Website: http://solitarywatch.com
Email: info@solitarywatch.com
Services: Solitary Watch works to expose and oppose the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails, and offers a free quarterly newsletter to prisoners. Solitary Watch also welcomes submissions of writing by those currently or formerly serving time in solitary.
Southern Center for Human Rights
Address: 83 Poplar St, NW
Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Phone: (404)688-1202
Website: https://www.schr.org
Services: Representing prisoners in challenges to unconstitutional conditions and practices in prisons and jails. Challenging systemic failures in the legal representation of poor people in the criminal courts. Representing people facing the death penalty who otherwise would have no representation.
Special Litigation Section
US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: toll-free at (877) 218-5228
Email:Special.Litigation@usdoj.gov
Website: https://www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section
Services: The Special Litigation Section is one of several Sections in the Civil Rights Division. They work to protect civil rights in the following areas: (1) the rights of people in state or local institutions, including: jails, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, and health care facilities for persons with disabilities; (2) the rights of individuals with disabilities to receive services in their communities, rather than in institutions; (3) the rights of people who interact with state or local police or sheriffs’ departments; (4) the rights of youth involved in the juvenile justice system; (5) the
rights of people to have safe access to reproductive health care clinics; and, (6) the rights of people to practice their religion while confined to state and local institutions. They can also act on behalf of people at risk of harm in these areas.