Pro se Plaintiff, Elvis Chavers, filed this action seeking review of an unfavorable decision on his disability insurance benefits claim by the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. The complaint was filed August 9, 2019, and Plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Defendant has not yet filed a response to the Complaint. If interested, please email reinhart@flsd.uscourts.gov.
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The Court is requesting a volunteer attorney to represent a pro se prisoner Plaintiff in the jury trial of his First Amendment claim for retaliation. The trial is currently set to commence on or about September 16, 2019. The Court denied Defendant's summary judgment motion on June 18, 2019. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
In this section 1983 action, Plaintiff, Norberto Iglesias, alleges numerous Defendants employed by the Florida Department of Corrections and Inspector General’s Office violated his Eighth Amendment rights. Plaintiff additionally asserts state law claims of gross negligence and civil RICO. Plaintiff states he witnessed, on multiple occasions, certain Defendants sell firearms, ammunition, TEXTER C-4, and GPS cellular telephones to the inmates at Everglades Correctional Institution. Plaintiff claims he made several formal and informal requests to other Defendants regarding this matter but never received a response. Plaintiff alleges he was the victim of retaliation by another inmate who was hired to attack and kill him. During the attack, Plaintiff was stabbed 19 times and sustained life-threatening injuries. Plaintiff is now blind in his left eye. Plaintiff maintains the Defendants were aware of these illegal activities and deliberately refused to act or protect him from harm. Plaintiff is now seeking $2,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. Plaintiff’s claims have survived Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, and discovery is ongoing. Plaintiff is required to file his Pre-Trial Statement by September 19, 2019.
If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
As of August 7, 2019, there is a Report recommending one of Plaintiff's claims not be dismissed against one Defendant, a dentist. [ECF 95]. The Report recommended dismissal of the other Defendants.
In the Amended Complaint, it presents two set of claims that relate to the denial of, or the delay in denying, a root canal treatment while in jail. Plaintiff allegedly endured significant pain for over eighteen months with a gum infection, a swollen jaw, weight loss, and an inability to chew food. [ECF 16, pp. 12-13]. According to Plaintiff, certain Defendants enforced a “no root canal” policy by delaying responses and by denying treatment. See generally [ECF 16, pp. 21-23]. Despite a specialist allegedly recommending root canal treatment [ECF 16, p. 3], Plaintiff was only offered, and declined, extractions. [ECF 16, pp. 18-19].
Plaintiff’s second set of claims relate to one Defendant’s refusal to provide a cavity filling, causing Plaintiff to endure pain until another dentist performed the filling procedure one month later. [ECF 16, pp. 34-37]. This is the claim that the Report recommended to proceed. See [ECF 95]. In addition, Plaintiff sued a Defendant for his handling of a grievance which concerned the refusal to provide a filling procedure. [Id.].
If interested, please email both FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov and Reid@flsd.uscourts.gov
Plaintiff alleges that she was denied Social Security benefits (Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income benefits) even though she presented medical evidence of her disability to support her claim of being unable to work. Plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Pro se plaintiff, Douglas H. Adacia, filed this action against the State of Florida, Miami-Dade County and three police officers. The plaintiff alleges that his rights under the U.S. Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment, were violated when three police officers attacked him at the State Attorney’s Office. The incident occurred around January 2017. The complaint was filed on June 7, 2019. The plaintiff has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The United States Marshal is in the process of serving the defendants with a copy of the complaint. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Broderick Williams sues certain Miami-Dade County corrections officers and others under 28 U.S.C. § 1983. While an inmate at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Williams alleges that officers handcuffed him for the purpose of transporting him through the prison. At some point during this process, Williams claims to have been handcuffed in his cell alongside his cellmate, who was not handcuffed. The cellmate allegedly assaulted Williams. Williams claims that the officers’ failure to intervene or stop the assault violated his constitutional rights and resulted in serious physical and psychological harm to him. A record of counseling issued by the County related to the incident, which is attached to the complaint, describes the incident and suggests it was recorded on video. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov
Plaintiff alleges his monthly benefits were wrongfully reduced after the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) conducted a re-determination of his income, but not a medical re-determination. Plaintiff alleges this reduction was based on the same facts the SSA received the year before. Plaintiff filed for reconsideration of the decision reducing his benefits, which the SSA denied. Plaintiff requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, which has been scheduled for July 17, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in West Palm Beach. Plaintiff has moved for the case to be remanded to state court. Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss, and this case has not been set for trial. If interested, please email marra@flsd.uscourts.gov.
In this § 1983 action, pro se Plaintiff Freddie Land alleges that Officer Smith, a classification officer at South Bay Correctional Facility, failed to adequately protect him as required by the Eighth Amendment. As a result of Plaintiff's belief that his cellmate was mentally unstable and seeking physical confrontation, Plaintiff requested reassignment from Smith or reported problems to Smith five times between July 11, 2016 and October 6, 2016. Despite Plaintiff’s requests, and despite a September incident in which the cellmate physically assaulted Plaintiff, neither of the men were reassigned. Plaintiff subsequently suffered severe injuries when he was assaulted by the cellmate in January of 2017. Plaintiff’s claim has survived screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 as well as Officer Smith’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Trial is currently scheduled for July 22, 2019, with a status conference on July 17, 2019. If interested, please email middlebrooks@flsd.uscourts.gov
Pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Plaintiff Regina Lee Kelley brings age discrimination and retaliation claims against her former employer, Family Dollar/Dollar Tree Stores, and several of her former co-workers. Plaintiff alleges that she was hired in October 2018 as an assistant manager in training for a store manager position. She was subject to abuse and harassment by an assistant managers at the store at which Plaintiff worked. Plaintiff reported the abuse to human resources and to the district manager, and she was eventually transferred to another store. Shortly thereafter, however, she alleges that she was terminated in retaliation for having reported the harassment. The case is in the early stages of litigation: pursuant to her motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Plaintiff must submit an amended complaint that states a claim by July 12, 2019. Defendants have not yet been served. If interested, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov.