Baqer v. St. Tammany Parish Government (E.D. La.) - Preliminary Injunction Denied - No Punitive Intent/Failed Substantial Likelihood of Success on the Merits
The plaintiffs were pre-trial detainees at St. Tammany Parish Jail. They brought a class action for declaratory, injunctive and compensatory relief regarding the dirty and cramped conditions at St. Tammany Parish Jail in light of COVID-19. The court first found that one of the plaintiffs lacked standing to seek injunctive relief because he failed to prove that he had exhausted all of his administrative remedies (as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act) at the jail before filling this suit. The court then held that the plaintiffs failed to meet the burden in establishing a substantial likelihood of success on the merits for constitutional violations after finding no punitive intent and that the crowded and unsanitary conditions at St. Tammany Parish Jail would not “offend society’s standards of decency.” The court further held that the plaintiffs failed to show a substantial threat of suffering an irreparable harm from contracting COVID-19 after finding that there had been no confirmed cases at the jail and that the jail had implemented significant measures to comply with the CDC guidelines. The court further noted that the plaintiffs could satisfy the last two prongs of a preliminary injunction. As a result, the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.
Baqer v. St. Tammany Par. Gov't, No. CV 20-980-WBV-JCW, 2020 WL 1820040 (E.D. La. Apr. 11, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/11/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (State Charges)
Relief Requested
Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Louisiana
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Pretrial Detention [jail]
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
2:20-cv-00980-WBV-JCW
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
E.D. La.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
St. Tammany Parish Jail
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Section 1983
Legal Authority
Louisiana Constitution
Legal Authority
LA. ADMIN. CODE tit. 22, pt. 3, subpt. 2 (2008).
Case Status
Decision Made
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
Not Discussed
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
No
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.