The court granted class certification for individuals who are incarcerated at FCI Lompoc, over the age of 50, and who have a wide range of underlying health conditions including heart disease, asthma, Type 1 and 2 Diabetes, among others. Although the court holds that officials at Lompoc did not have the requisite mental state for "deliberate indifference" necessary to grant a preliminary injunction for improved conditions, the court believed that 1000 individuals testing positive for COVID-19 and the underlying health conditions present in the class show that Lompoc was deliberately indifferent when it came to considering individuals for home confinement, which is enough for petitioners' 8th Amendment claim to be granted. The court wrote preliminary injunctions that forced Lompoc to outline the process they were using to address individual compassionate release claims, as well as their process for identifying the class members who may be eligible for home confinement.
Torres v. Milusnic, 472 F. Supp. 3d 713 (C.D. Cal. 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
07/14/20
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Class Certification, Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
2:20-cv-04450
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
C.D. Cal.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Federal Prison
Name of Facility
FCI Lompoc and United States Penitentiary, Lompoc
Legal Authority
Eighth Amendment - Deliberate Indifference
Legal Authority
§ 2241 Habeas
Convictions
Carjacking with serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting a violent crime; conspiracy to manufacture and distribute, possession of PCP with intent to sell; armed bank robbery, armed carjacking, and destroying property; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 15 kilos of cocaine, violating terms of supervised release; possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
Case Status
Decision Made But Case Still Pending
Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Age, Asthma, Cancer, Cardiac Disease, Cognitive Disability, Diabetes, HIV, Hypertension (high blood pressure), Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, Lung Disease, Medication-Related Immunocompromise, Obesity, Other, Smoking, Sickle Cell Disease; Organ Transplant Related and Blood or Bone Marrow Transplant Immunocompromise; Cerebrovascular Diseases; Cystic Fibrosis; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Thalassemia
Pre-Existing Health Conditions Notes
Age (Over 50); Medication-Related Immunocompromise (corticosteroids); Obesity (higher than 30 BMI); Lung Disease (COPD); cancer (prostate)
Class Action Medically Vulnerable People
“all current and future people in post-conviction custody at FCI Lompoc and USP Lompoc over the age of 50, and all current and future people in post-conviction custody at FCI Lompoc and USP Lompoc of any age with underlying health conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; serious heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies; Type 2 diabetes; chronic kidney disease; sickle cell disease; immunocompromised state from a solid organ transplant; obesity (body mass index of 30 or higher); asthma; cerebrovascular diseases; cystic fibrosis; hypertension or high blood pressure; immunocompromised state from blood or bone marrow transplant; immune deficiencies, HIV, or those who use corticosteroids, or use
other immune weakening medicines; neurologic conditions such as dementia; liver diseases; pulmonary fibrosis; thalassemia; Type 1 diabetes; and smokers (hereinafter, “Underlying Health Conditions”).”
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.