Lawrence v. Decker
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:19-cv-08256
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lawrence v. Decker, Judge Briccetti dismissed Lawrence’s detention petition as moot after ICE released him from custody.
The dismissal ended Lawrence’s challenge to his detention; the court did not decide whether his detention had been lawful or whether venue was proper.
What happened
Lawrence v. Decker concerned Ricardo Dwayne Lawrence’s challenge to his detention at Bergen County Jail in New Jersey. He asked to be released or receive a bond hearing.
The respondents told the court that Lawrence had been released from custody on October 10, 2019, under an order of supervision after posting a $25,000 bond. Lawrence did not reply.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti agreed that the case was moot because Lawrence had been released and dismissed the petition. The court also closed the case and said it would not decide whether venue was proper in the district.
The detailed version
- Lawrence v. Decker · No. 7:19-cv-08256
- Vincent Briccetti
- Nov. 25, 2019
Background
Ricardo Dwayne Lawrence filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a federal law allowing a person to challenge unlawful custody, on September 3, 2019. He claimed he was unlawfully detained at Bergen County Jail in New Jersey in the physical custody of the respondents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He sought release from detention or a bond hearing.
Mootness
The respondents notified the court that Lawrence had been released from custody on October 10, 2019, under an order of supervision after posting a $25,000 bond. The release followed the expiration of the 90-day detention period for a person subject to a final removal order. Lawrence did not submit a reply. The respondents asked the court to dismiss the petition as moot, meaning that the requested relief no longer presented a live dispute.
Ruling
The court agreed that the action was moot because Lawrence had been released from ICE custody. It therefore dismissed the petition, instructed the Clerk to close the case, and directed that a copy of the order be mailed to Lawrence at the address on the docket. The court stated that it did not need to address, and expressed no opinion on, whether venue was appropriate in the Southern District of New York.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.