The court granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) ordering the release of three of seven immigrant detainees based on serious, unmet medical needs. The court further found that the remaining four petitioners, who had a history of smoking, pre-diabetes, and high blood pressure, "do not meet the CDC’s current criteria for individuals at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19." Because those individuals had not shown they had CDC high-risk factors, ICE was not on notice of their heightened risk and the subjective prong of deliberate indifference test was not met. Note that the court later granted a TRO for these four petitioners after additional evidence was filed.
Elderly, Immigrant Detention, Other, Parole or Probation Violations, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail], Significant Criminal History, Pending Appeal
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
20-cv-2821-AJN
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
S.D.N.Y.
Decision
Motions Partially Granted
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
Bergen County Jail
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Bail Reform Act, Bail Pending Sentence or Appeal, 18 U.S.C. § 3143, Bail Reform Act, Bail Pending Trial, 18 U.S.C. § 3142, First Step Act Exhaustion, First Step Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), Other, § 2241 Habeas, § 2255 Habeas, Fed. R. App. P. 23(b)
Release Conditions
Reasonable conditions set to expire 04/28/2020; Parties are to meet and propose reasonable conditions.
Convictions
Petitioner 1: menacing; possession of a forged instrument; Petitioner 3: stolen goods, motor vehicle violations, shoplifting, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and disorderly conduct.
Case Status
Decision Made But Case Still Pending
Motions Partially Granted
Motion granted and release ordered for 3 out of 7 petitioners based on medical conditions, other 4 did not provide enough evidence of high risk.
Compassionate Release Exhaustion Holdingsin Federal Case
An individual can move for compassionate release after 30 days have passed from the date the application was submitted to the warden, irrespective of whether the warden has granted or denied the request.
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.