McKissic v. Barr - Release Denied - Failure to State a Claim
The court dismissed plaintiff's Section 1983 civil action, which alleged that his present detention in Muskogen Correctional Facility in Michigan violated his Eighth Amendment rights because his age and history of diabetes and hypertension made communal confinement a threat to his health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court found that the suit and request for release were improperly brought under Section 1983 and should have been brought as a petition of habeas corpus. The court also found that the facility's response to COVID-19 was sufficient to show that defendants did not act with deliberate indifference to the harm faced by plaintiff and therefore did not violate plaintiff's constitutional rights. The court also denied plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, finding that "plaintiff [had] failed to show that he is subject to any risk, much less a significant risk, of COVID-19 infection under the present circumstances."
McKissic v. Barr, No. 1:20-cv-526, 2020 WL 3496432 (W.D. Mich. June 29, 2020)
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.