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Must read Terms of Service & Privacy Policy and be at least 18

Saying Farewell to a Friend

Please join us in honoring the legacy of a giant in the world of human rights and human decency. Randall Berg and the Florida Justice Institute he founded have been our strongest allies. If you know someone who is or has been incarcerated, Randy was one of their strongest allies, too. We are all deeply saddened that Randy has passed out of this life. We are better for having known him, and the world will be worse off with his passing.

I knew Randy for seventeen years. The first time I ever met him face to face was in Tallahassee in 2003. We went there to protest a proposed rule by the Florida Department of Corrections. He carried an old worn leather briefcase and wore a genuine smile. Something about him struck me as a character right out of a John D. MacDonald novel right away. This was clearly a guy who was fighting the good fight. That notion never faded. In fact, it only grew stronger.

If you ever met Randy on the other side of a legal matter, you always walked away knowing damn well you had been in a fight. He was a force, but he always respected good people and good points on both sides of the conversation. I never saw him carry water for a cause he didn’t believe in. I don’t believe he was capable of it.

Randy and the other members of the Florida Justice Institute team down there in the Bank of America building in Miami always felt like sentries in a watchtower looking out over us all, especially WriteAPrisoner.com. In seventeen years, Randy never failed to call or email me back. He never left us hanging. As far as I know, he never left anyone hanging. He genuinely cared about the world he lived in, both people and planet. He was just a really great guy, and he’s always made me want to be a better one. That is even more true today.

Randy’s life was lived to its fullest fighting for causes that mattered deeply to him. He could have done anything with his life, but he chose to fight for those less fortunate, those who had no voice. Randy made countless contributions for the betterment of everyone. Please help keep his memory and work alive by supporting the Florida Justice Institute, which Randy put his entire heart and soul into. I can think of no better way to honor his life’s work than by supporting it. Would you please consider making a contribution on his behalf?

 

Please donate to the Florida Justice Institute, which Randy founded in 1978:

Donate to the Florida Justice Institute
Subscribe to the Florida Justice Institute Mailing List

Send cards and arrangements to:

St. Philips Episcopal Church
1121 Andalusia Avenue
Coral Gables, FL 33134

 

Thank you,
Adam Lovell, President WriteAPrisoner.com