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| NAACP sues Florida Department of Corrections |
| By Ocala Star-Banner |
| Published: 11/14/2003 |
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A year after they lost a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections, a group of current and former employees of area prisons is back in court, fighting for changes in the way DOC does business. In a bench trial before Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges, attorneys for the employees are seeking an injunction to force DOC to change the way it promotes, disciplines and trains corrections officers. The nine black employees and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued DOC in 2000, claiming a pattern of discrimination at Lowell Correctional Institution, Marion Correctional Institution and Lake Correctional Institution. The plaintiffs contended they were subjected to a pattern of racial and gender discrimination in hiring, promotion, discipline and work assignments while employed at Marion, Lowell and Lake correctional institutions. An all-white, all-male jury rejected all of the plaintiffs' claims in November 2002. The jury trial didn't touch on the injunction issue, which required a separate hearing before Hodges. DOC officials testified Thursday that the promotion process for the prisons includes, among other requirements, a five-question interview process, with each question's response graded by three staff members. The plaintiffs have called the process an "oral exam," with right or wrong answers, instead of an interview. Prison administrators acknowledged that the interviews are graded only on answers to the pre-selected questions, and that how applicants appear, speak or dress doesn't affect the outcome of the selection process. Hodges isn't expected to rule on the injunction for at least several weeks. Lowell Correctional Institution is a women's prison, while both the adjacent Marion Correctional Institution and the Lake Correctional Institution in Clermont house male prisoners. All three facilities house inmates in a range of security classifications ranging from community residential programs up to one step below maximum security. |
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