The court denied release, holding that it is not available under § 1983 and that challenges to confinement should instead be brought by a habeas corpus petition. However, the court allowed Sanders’s Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference and First Amendment retaliation claims to proceed. Sanders cited the lack of educational posters and cleaning products; the staff’s refusal to wear masks, wash their hands, or enforce social distancing; and the staff’s threats against him when he asked about social distancing and said he would file a grievance. Sanders has asthma, sleep apnea, and anemia from vitamin deficiency. The court dismissed his Fifth Amendment claims for failing to state the facts, and denied his request for counsel.
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.