ACLU files petition to evacuate those in Manatee County jail due to Piney Point leak
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and last updated 2021-04-06 15:16:15-04
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and Larry Eger, public defender for the 12th Judicial Circuit, filed an emergency petition Tuesday on behalf of people incarcerated in Manatee County Jail, seeking their release from custody or transfer to a safe location due to the imminent collapse of a nearby phosphate wastewater reservoir.
The leak at Piney Point has led to a mandatory evacuation order in the surrounding area. The ACLU says the jail is in the mandatory evacuation zone, yet at least 700 individuals remain in custody at the jail.
Piney Point poses âunreasonable riskâ for Manatee jail inmates, A.C.L.U. argues
Officials say the jail is prepared if the old phosphate plant is breached, but an emergency petition filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit argues the inmates should be released or relocated.
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Aerial view overlooking the site of the Piney Point wastewater release on Sunday, April 4, 2021 in Palmetto. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
Updated 1 hour ago
PALMETTO â When it became clear Saturday that the old Piney Point phosphate plant was in danger of imminent collapse, officials raced to evacuate about 315 nearby homes that risked being inundated by a 20-foot wastewater flood. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in three surrounding counties.
Nonprofits file amicus brief defending Florida public records law
March 09, 2021
MIAMI The First Amendment Foundation, ACLU of Florida and the Southern Poverty Law Center have filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs in the case Human Rights Defense Center v. Armor Correctional Health Services Inc.
The brief was filed due to the organizations’ longstanding interest in preserving an open and transparent government and protecting the public’s right to access public records, including public records held by private companies that provide services to Florida’s incarcerated population.
The Human Rights Defense Center filed a public records request with Armor Correctional Health Services, which provides medical care in Florida prisons, seeking details of its treatment of incarcerated people. The trial judge dismissed the case because Armor is a private company and any request for information needed to go through the Florida Department of Corrections. Hum
NorthJersey.com
They expected to be together this Valentine’s Day, sharing a romantic meal perhaps, holding hands and planning their future as newlyweds in the United States.
Instead, Jason Eidelstein of North Bergen will spend the holiday thousands of miles from his fiancée, Maira Alejandra Brandon Guerrero, who lives in Cali, Colombia. In Sierra Vista, Arizona, meanwhile, Sara Bourland plans to reminisce over old photos in a video call with her betrothed, Benjamin Stevenson of Fife, Scotland.
The engaged couples are among thousands who have been forced to live apart over the past year not only because of COVID-19 travel restrictions but also because of a near-complete pause by the U.S. State Department in issuing K-1 visas. Those documents permit foreign-born fiancées of U.S. citizens to move legally to America to get married.
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