A federal court sharply criticized a Florida sheriff for using pepper spray on children and for failing to prevent violence at the Polk County Jail in an opinion that advances a Southern Poverty Law Center case against the sheriff.
A federal judge has blocked a discriminatory college tuition policy in Florida that the SPLC challenged on behalf of U.S. citizens living in the state but forced to pay out-of-state tuition because they were unable to prove their parents’ federal immigration status.
Children of undocumented immigrants who live in Florida will no longer be forced to pay out-of-state tuition rates as the result of a court ruling in an SPLC lawsuit challenging the state’s tuition policy.
African-American students in several Florida school districts were subjected to harsh disciplinary policies at a far higher rate than their white classmates. These students were often subjected to long-term suspensions, expulsions and even arrested at school for relatively minor misconduct.
When 11-year-old J.B. was caught with a cell phone in class, the student received a five-day suspension. The school district in Okaloosa County, Fla., meted out the harsh punishment because the incident was considered “inappropriate behavior.”
Wendy Ruiz has lived in Florida her entire life. She graduated from a Florida public high school and enrolled at Miami Dade College. But because she can’t prove the federal immigration status of her parents, she must pay out-of-state tuition, which can more than triple the cost of a college education in Florida.
Last spring, Florida lawmakers passed Senate Bill 2112, which allows counties to place children charged as juveniles in adult jails.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and community members urged county leaders at Florida's Hillsborough County Juvenile Justice Task Force meeting today not to adopt juvenile detention policies similar to those of Polk County, where an SPLC lawsuit has been filed against the sheriff who houses children charged as juveniles in an adult jail.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of Polk County youth, which charges that Polk County detains youth charged as juveniles under adult standards. It also charges that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd allows guards to brutalize children and fails to provide these youth with adequate educational and rehabilitative services.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit against Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd for regularly subjecting children held at the county’s adult jail to abuse, neglect and violence - including the placement of children in a cage for punishment.
