Florida Justice Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
591878598
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Miami, FL, USA
Phone
3053582081
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,853,392
Expenses
$1,751,105
Assets
$4,507,529
Liabilities
$817,291

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RAYMOND TASEFF (ATTORNEY): $157,095 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL J LANGLEY (EXECUTIVE DI): $142,444 total reported compensation
  • DANTE P TREVISANI (LITIGATION D): $133,994 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Florida justice institute, inc. Is a nonprofit corporation that uses impact litigation and advocacy to improve the lives of Florida's poor and disenfranchised residents, while focusing on criminal justice reform, homelessness & poverty, disability access, and other civil rights issues. The organization's activities are principally funded through grants, donations, and attorneys' fees awarded through litigation or settlement.

What it reported doing in 2024

We filed and settled a lawsuit against st. Johns county that criminalized requesting assistance, resulting in the county repealing the ordinance. We filed, have been litigating, our class action lawsuit on behalf of incarcerated people at a south Florida prison over the sweltering heat and humidity, seeking to improve the conditions so that they dont pose a risk of medical harm to people incarcerated there. We settled our lawsuit against lake city, resulting in the repeal of their panhandling ban, thereby allowing our client to distribute newspapers at intersections. We urged the passage of the tristin murphy act, which creates mental health diversion programs in the criminal justice system and came at the heels of our lawsuit representing mr. Murphys mother; the act successfully passed. We filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida department of corrections on behalf of an incarcerated man with a disability after the fdc sought and enforced at 500k lien against him, taking the proceeds of a previous civil rights settlement. We filed objections to a proposed legal mail rule that would make it more difficult for attorneys to communicate with incarcerated people in Florida. We filed a lawsuit against the city of miami over their aggressive panhandling ban, resulting in the repeal of the ordinance and avoiding hundreds of needless arrests. We filed a lawsuit challenging hillsborough countys panhandling ban, resulting in the repeal of the ordinance. We litigated and settled a lawsuit on behalf of incarcerated women who had been subjected to sexual abuse. We continued monitoring our disability rights settlement with the Florida department of corrections, which helps approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people in prison with physical disabilities by ensuring they get the accommodations they need to live with dignity, independence, and safety. We continued advocating for the dozens of individuals who contacted us for assistance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.3%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.57; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.3% of revenue deployed · 68.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.