Detained individuals brought a class action against a county seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under § 1983 based on deliberate indifference to conditions of confinement during COVID-19 pandemic, and seeking a federal writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 requiring immediate release of all medically vulnerable detainees. The district court granted in part the detainees' TRO/PI. Defendants appealed and filed a motion for stay pending appeal. The Court of Appeals held that the district court erred in granting detainees' TRO/PI, stayed the district court order, and ordered expedited appeal. The order did not address the 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition other than to note that it was denied without prejudice.
Swain v. Junior, 958 F.3d 1081 (11th Cir. 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
5/5/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (State Charges)
Relief Requested
Class Certification, Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal Appellate Court
Location
Florida
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
1:20-cv-21457-KMW
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
11th Cir.
Decision
Other
Place of Incarceration
Local / County Jail
Name of Facility
Metro West Detention Center
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference, Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Compassionate Release Exhaustion Holdingsin Federal Case
An individual can move for compassionate release after 30 days have passed from the date the application was submitted to the warden, irrespective of whether the warden has granted or denied the request., Exhaustion is subject to equitable exceptions.
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.