The court had previously certified a class of all people in immigration detention at two facilities and granted a temporary restraining order establishing a system for adjudicating dozens of individual applications for release. The court criticized ICE for blanket opposing every single request for release, for only taking steps to protect people in detention after the court forced them to, and for making "at least one misrepresentation to the Court about a matter of great importance." The court held that "ICE’s conduct and attitude towards its detainees at Mesa Verde and Yuba County Jail since the pandemic began have shown beyond doubt that ICE cannot currently be trusted to prevent constitutional violations at these particular facilities without judicial intervention." However, the court also found that conditions at the facility had become sufficiently safe, such that the preliminary injunction would only order a continuation of the status quo.
Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, No. 20-CV-02731 (VC), 2020 WL 3055449 (N.D. Cal. June 9, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/9/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
20-cv-02731-VC
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
N.D. Cal.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Mesa Verde Detention Center; Yuba County Jail
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
§ 2241 Habeas
Convictions
Wire fraud, misdemeanor drug conviction
Case Status
Decision Made But Case Still Pending
Improved Conditions Ordered
Efficient manner to expedite release requests; population reduction at detention centers; improved screening procedures.
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Not Discussed
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.