The district court granted a request for a temporary restraining order and ordered the release from immigration detention of a medically high-risk person with many diagnoses including lung disease. Petitioner, Janet Malam, was subject to mandatory detention during her removal proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1226(c). The court found that she satisfied the deliberate indifference factors because there were no conditions that could assure her “reasonable safety” in detention where distancing was impossible and that she was likely to suffer irreparable harm if she stayed in detention. Notably, the court did not credit the respondent’s assertion that there were no cases of COVID-19 at the jail because of the long incubation period and the risk of asymptomatic transmission, and it stated that Petitioner would satisfy even the subjective Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference standard. Petitioner was released with conditions and Respondents were restrained from re-arresting her.
Malam v. Adducci, No. 20-cv-10829, 2020 WL 1672662 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 5, 2020), as amended (Apr. 6, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/6/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Michigan
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention, Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Significant Criminal History
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
1:20-cv-10829-JEL
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
E.D. Mich.
Decision
Motions Partially Granted
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
Calhoun County Correctional Facility
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Other, § 2241 Habeas, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c)
Release Conditions
Petitioner was subject to fourteen days of home quarantine; Petitioner must comply with all Michigan Executive Orders; Petitioner must appear at all hearings pertaining to her removal proceedings; Respondents may impose other reasonable nonconfinement terms of supervision. The conditions were to remain in place until the State of Emergency in Michigan (related to COVID-19) was lifted.
Convictions
Two larceny convictions; two retail fraud convictions; one attempted simple larceny conviction
Case Status
Decision Made But Case Still Pending
Motions Partially Granted
The Temporary Restraining Order under which Petitioner was released was set to expire and the Respondents ordered to show cause why it should not be converted into a preliminary injunction.
Lung Disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)); Substance Use Disorder (opioid addiction and nicotine dependence)
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
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.
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