A federal judge orders better attorney access at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

A state-run immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” must provide people detained there with better access to their attorneys, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell issued a preliminary injunction saying Alligator Alcatraz officials must provide access to timely, free, confidential, unmonitored, unrecorded outgoing legal calls. Attorneys previously filed statements with a federal court in Fort Myers saying their clients were unable to call them using staff cellphones and the attorneys were unable to make unannounced visits to the facility.