John M. v. Barr
- Wilhelmina Wright
- 0:19-cv-01438
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In John M. v. Barr, Judge Wright denied as moot John M.’s custody petition after his release and removal.
John M.’s detention petition and application to proceed without paying court fees were denied as moot, and the action was dismissed without prejudice after his release from ICE custody and removal from the United States.
What happened
In John M. v. Barr, John M. asked the court for release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody under a federal law allowing challenges to detention.
Before the magistrate judge issued a recommendation, John M. was released from custody and removed from the United States. The court therefore found that his petition had become moot, meaning it no longer presented a live issue for the court to decide.
Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright adopted the recommendation, denied the petition as moot, denied John M.’s application to proceed without paying court fees as moot, and dismissed the action without prejudice.
The detailed version
- John M. v. Barr · No. 0:19-cv-01438
- Wilhelmina Wright
- Sept. 13, 2019
Background
John M. filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking release from the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Magistrate Judge Becky R. Thorson recommended denying the petition. The opinion states that John M. was released from ICE custody and removed from the United States on July 16, 2019, before the Report and Recommendation was issued. Because of that timing, it did not appear that he received a copy of the recommendation.
Court’s analysis
John M. did not file timely objections to the Report and Recommendation. When no timely objections are filed, the district court reviews the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake on the face of the record. Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright reviewed the record and found no clear error in the recommendation’s conclusion that the petition became moot after John M.’s release and removal. A moot claim no longer presents a live dispute for the court to resolve.
Disposition
In John M. v. Barr, Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright adopted the July 30, 2019 Report and Recommendation. The court denied John M.’s petition as moot, denied his application to proceed without paying court fees as moot, and dismissed the action without prejudice. The court directed that judgment be entered.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.