Nunez v. Davis
- Paul Magnuson
- 0:25-cv-02061
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
In Yannice Y. Nunez v. L.S. Davis, Judge Bullard recommended denying the moot habeas petition and dismissing the action after Nunez’s release.
Yannice Y. Nunez, whose federal custody challenge was recommended for denial as moot after her release; L.S. Davis, the respondent identified as the Acting Warden.
What happened
Yannice Y. Nunez asked the District of Minnesota to correct her federal release date, speed up her halfway-house placement, or order home confinement. Acting Warden L.S. Davis responded, and Nunez did not file a reply.
Nunez’s petition claimed that her release date had been miscalculated. The Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator showed that she had been released from custody on July 28, 2025, after the case had been fully presented to the court. Because she had already been released, the court said her requested relief could no longer change her situation.
Magistrate Judge Elsa M. Bullard recommended that the petition be denied as moot and that the action be dismissed. She found that no exception to the mootness rule applied. The recommendation was not a final order, and the parties could file written objections within 14 days after being served with it.
The detailed version
- Nunez v. Davis · No. 0:25-cv-02061
- Paul Magnuson
- July 23, 2026
Background
Yannice Y. Nunez filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a procedure allowing a federal prisoner to challenge the legality or duration of custody. At the time she filed, she was incarcerated at FCI Waseca. Her three claims alleged that her release date had been miscalculated. She requested correction of the release date, expedited placement in a halfway house, or immediate home confinement.
L.S. Davis, identified in the response as the Acting Warden, responded to the petition. Nunez did not file a reply. The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator showed that Nunez was released from Bureau of Prisons custody on July 28, 2025, about a month after the action had been fully briefed.
Mootness Analysis
The magistrate judge concluded that Nunez’s release made the petition moot. A case is moot when there is no longer a live dispute that a court can resolve. Because Nunez had already been released, the requested correction to her release date, halfway-house placement, or home confinement could no longer provide the relief sought in the petition.
The recommendation considered four possible exceptions to mootness: continuing or collateral injuries after the main injury ends; an issue likely to happen again while avoiding review; a defendant’s voluntary cessation of conduct that could resume; and a properly certified class action. The recommendation found that none applied. Nunez identified no continuing concrete injury other than the ended incarceration, would not be incarcerated again for the same offense, and had not brought a certified class action.
Recommended Disposition
The recommendation states:
1. Nunez’s petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 should be denied as moot. 2. The action should be dismissed.
This was a Report and Recommendation, not a final order or judgment of the District Court. The notice stated that it was not directly appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. A party could file specific written objections within 14 days after being served with the recommendation, and a response to objections could be filed within 14 days after service of the objections.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.