The Court denied without prejudice Petitioner's habeas petition requesting immediate release. Construing the petition as requesting a preliminary injunction, the Court found that Petitioner had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on his claim that his detention amounted to punishment, as the facility where he was detained has taken measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Court additionally found that Petitioner was unlikely to succeed on his claims that that Respondents ignored his medical needs or denied him adequate medical care, or that he had been denied meaningful access to counsel during the pandemic, as guaranteed by the 5th Amendment and the Immigration Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1299a(b)(4)(A). While Petitioner has recently been in poor health and even had some symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the Court found that Petitioner would not be irreparably harmed if he remained in detention, weighing heavily the fact that Petitioner did not have the pre-existing conditions that the CDC has listed.
Reyes v. Edwards, No. CV 20-3686, 2020 WL 2474423 (D.N.J. May 13, 2020)
Elderly, Immigrant Detention, Parole or Probation Violations, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail], Significant Criminal History
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Compassionate Release Specific Characteristics
Has a significant criminal history, Was sentenced as a Career Offender under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Went to trial
Case Tracking Number
20-cv-03686-MCA
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
D.N.J.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Hudson County Correctional Center
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference, 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)
Sexual abuse in the first degree, involving sexual contact with a person under 11 years old.
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Not Discussed
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.