The court granted release to three Petitioners in immigration detention and converted a TRO to a PI. All petitioners "suffer[ed] from conditions that place[d] them at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 under current CDC guidance," including PTSD, bipolar disorder, lung disease, and obesity. The court found that respondents acted deliberately indifferent because they knew of these health conditions and did not take sufficient measures to protect high-risk individuals from COVID-19 in Bergen County Jail. As such, the Petitioners' continued detention would cause irreparable harm to their health and violate their rights under the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
Barbecho v. Decker, No. 20-CV-2821 (AJN), 2020 WL 2317876 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
5/11/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
New York
Type of Case
Group
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention, Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
1:20-cv-02821-AJN
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
S.D.N.Y.
Decision
Motion 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)
Obesity (severe); SPMI (possible schizophrenia); Various circulatory diseases; History of tuberculosis and lung abnormalities resulting in diminished lung capacity; Recent history of pneumonia.
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Yes
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.