The government challenged a preliminary injunction to improve conditions at an immigration detention facility granted by the district court. The circuit court found that the petitioners (immigrant detainees) were experiencing a violation of their Fifth Amendment rights because they were placed at an unconstitutional risk of contracting COVID-19 due to lack of access to masks, soap, social distancing, etc. By the time of the appellate proceedings, the detention center was experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, so the court affirmed and part and remanded in part to allow for the preliminary injunction to reflect the worsening situation.
Roman v. Wolf, 977 F.3d 935 (9th Cir. 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
10/13/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Class Certification, Implementing Release Procedures, Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI)
Type of Court
Federal Appellate Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
5:20-cv-00768-THJ-PVC
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
9th Cir.
Decision
Motions Partially Granted
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Case Status
Decision Made
Improved Conditions Ordered
The conditions must reflect CDC guidelines that are specific enough to provide a workable standard for a preliminary injunction. The improved conditions must address overcrowding to allow for social distancing, and increase access to masks, soap/ hand sanitizer, clean towels, clean water, and testing.
Motions Partially Granted
The preliminary injunction was affirmed. However, because at the time of the appeal Adelanto was experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, the court vacated and remanded for further proceedings to be consistent in handling the higher numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Class Action Medically Vulnerable People
The court affirmed the district court's certification of the class, defined as "all Adelanto detainees." Many detainees belonged to a medically vulnerable group at the greatest risk of suffering severe complications, but the class included other detainees at Adelanto who were not medically vulnerable as well.
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
Yes
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.