Release ordered on petitioner’s punitive detention claim for individual with preexisting health conditions that put them at higher risk and who had symptoms of COVID-19 (although these seemed to have improved). The court found that "although representatives of ECCF have presented substantial evidence of great efforts to enforce social distancing, the fact remains that there have been a significant number of cases among the staff and inmates." Furthermore, there was "substantial evidence that these measures are imperfect, and indeed are almost unavoidably imperfect in an institutional setting: that [petitioner] is unable to practice social distancing at ECCF, that commonly touched surfaces within the facility are not being cleaned frequently enough, and that he and other detainees have not been provided with facial masks even when they are symptomatic." Of note, the Court did not find a likelihood of success on petitioner’s inadequate medical care claim.
Juan E. M. v. Decker, No. CV 20-4594 (KM), 2020 WL 2214586 (D.N.J. May 7, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
5/7/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Bond Hearing, Class Certification, Implementing Release Procedures, Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
New Jersey
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Elderly, Immigrant Detention, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail], Significant Criminal History
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
20-cv-04594-KM
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
D.N.J.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Essex County Correctional Facility
Legal Authority
Procedural Due Process (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Restricted to home confinement and electronic monitoring ordered, the preliminary injunction will remain in effect until July 3, 2020 with a status conference on July 1 to see whether it should be extended.
Convictions
Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01.
Case Status
Decision Made
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.
COVID-19 symptomatic with normal chest X-ray / lung exam but critically low oxygen saturation; obesity (31.2 BMI) and history of smoking.
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
Yes
Charges
Criminal Mischief 4th; Attempted Assault 3rd; and Harassment 2nd, all under New York Law.
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.