The court granted petitioner's motion for temporary restraining order and release pending hearing of his habeas petition. The court reasoned that his lifelong asthma amid the pandemic put him at high risk and that despite the Hudson jail's lack of punitive intent and slight attempts to mitigate risk of infection, his individual risk and ICE's ability to monitor detainees without confinement made his continued confinement not "rationally related to [a] legitimate purpose" such that "the circumstances present in the instant case are . . . tantamount to punishment" in violation of Due Process. Id at *6, *8.
Jeferson V. G. v. Decker, No. CV 20-3644 (KM), 2020 WL 1873018 (D.N.J. Apr. 15, 2020)
Immigrant Detention, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
20-cv-03644-KM
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
D.N.J.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Hudson County Correctional Center
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) [arises with “second or successive habeas petitions”], 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, Section 1983, § 2241 Habeas, § 2241 Habeas Exhaustion, § 2254 Habeas, Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)
Asthma, Cancer, Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Hypertension (high blood pressure), Kidney Disease, Lung Disease, Obesity, Other, Bronchitis; scar tissue from a collapsed lung; benign head tumor
Pre-Existing Health Conditions Notes
Asthma (moderate-severe)
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Yes
Attorney Email Posted on Site
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.