Mendez filed a § 2241 habeas petition seeking release from state custody due to COVID-19. The court first determined that the petition should be properly categorized as a § 2254 petition. The court then construed the petition as challenging the fact of detention, a requirement for habeas petitions, by inferring that Mendez meant to state that no set of conditions could offer him adequate protections and that he must be released. However, the court dismissed the petition without prejudice because it held that Mendez had not demonstrated that he had exhausted his state remedies. The court also refused to appoint counsel to him or issue a certificate of appealability due to the failure to exhaust.
Mendez v. Brown, No. 2:20-cv-00123-JTN-MV, 2020 WL 4362311 (W.D. Mich. July 30, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
07/30/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (State Charges)
Relief Requested
Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Michigan
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison]
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
2:20-cv-00123-JTN-MV
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
W.D. Mich.
Decision
Other
Place of Incarceration
State Prison
Name of Facility
Kinross Correctional Facility
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
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.