The court denied the incarcerated individual's petition for compassionate release, although it did hold the exhaustion requirement non-jurisdictional and waivable, and waived exhaustion for equitable purposes. The court ruled that the incarcerated person did not have any pre-existing health conditions warranting release, beyond his age of 61, especially given that he was reasonably healthy. While being incarcerated in general raised the risk of exposure to COVID-19, the court noted that "BOP has taken a number of steps to mitigate the spread of the virus in federal prisons, such as increased screening of inmates, restrictions on visitors, restrictions on gatherings, and mandated social distancing[,]" which seemed to be working at MDC given the low levels of infection at the facility. The court also declined to fashion an alternative remedy of temporary release, stating that it did not have such authority under the First Step Act, and declined to construe the motion as equivalent to a § 2241 habeas petition noting that "the Court will not, and cannot, construe what is not a habeas petition as a habeas petition, especially given that Haney is represented by able counsel."
United States v. Haney, No. 19-CR-541 (JSR), 2020 WL 1821988 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 13, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/13/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
New York
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail], Significant Criminal History
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
Yes
Case Tracking Number
19-cr-541-JSR
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
S.D.N.Y.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Federal Detention Center [typically federal pretrial detention]
Selling and laundering narcotics proceeds on a Bitcoin exchange
Case Status
Decision Made
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.