The plaintiff, an Afghan citizen in ICE detention since August 2018, petitioned for habeas relief in May 2019 and for emergency immediate release due to COVID-19 in April 2020. The court denied the habeas petition because the plaintiff failed to show that there was no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. The court denied the plaintiff’s emergency release motion as well, first questioning whether courts have legal authority to order the plaintiff’s release and then deciding that even if it did have such authority, the plaintiff had not met the requirement that he present a substantial habeas claim.
Shamal v. Barr, No. 19-cv-6375-CJS, 2020 WL 2193663 (W.D.N.Y. May 6, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
5/6/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Improved Conditions, Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
New York
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Elderly, Immigrant Detention, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
19-cv-6375-CJS
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
W.D.N.Y.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Buffalo Federal Detention Facility
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference, Procedural Due Process (both 14th and 5th Amendments), 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.