The court denied petitioner's motion for a habeas corpus bond hearing and for a TRO authorizing his release from immigration detention. The court found that the conditions of petitioner's detention did not violate his substantive due process rights under the 5th Amendment because the prison had taken "reasonable steps," in accordance with the CDC's guidelines for prisons, to limit the spread of COVID-19 (such as reducing the population and providing two N95 masks to each person in the facility) and because petitioner did not suffer from any medical conditions linked to vulnerability to COVID-19. The court also found that petitioner's 14-month detainment had not become so "unreasonably prolonged" that it violated his procedural due process rights and warranted a bond hearing.
Serrano-Ramirez v. Doll, No. 1:20-CV-00913, 2020 WL 3265362 (M.D. Pa. June 17, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/17/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Bond Hearing, Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Pennsylvania
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention, Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
1:20-cv-00913-JPW
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
M.D. Pa.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
York County Prison
Legal Authority
Procedural Due Process (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), § 2241 Habeas
Case Status
Decision Made
Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Other, History of Ear Infections; Symptoms of COVID-19 in April 2020 that have since disappeared
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
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.