Avendano Hernandez v. Decker
- James Oetken
- 2:20-cv-01589
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Avendaño Hernandez v. Decker, Judge Oetken granted release after finding substantial medical-care claims and extraordinary COVID-19 circumstances.
Gaspar Avendaño Hernandez was ordered released from immigration detention on reasonable conditions, while the respondents were required to address proposed bond conditions.
What happened
Avendaño Hernandez v. Decker concerned Gaspar Avendaño Hernandez’s request for temporary release from immigration detention while his petition challenging detention remained pending. He argued that his serious heart and muscle conditions, lack of follow-up care, and the risk of COVID-19 at the facility created a serious medical-care problem.
The court found that Hernandez had shown a substantial claim that officials were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. The court noted that officials knew about his conditions but had identified no specific measures addressing the heightened risks faced by high-risk detainees.
Judge Oetken also found extraordinary health circumstances making immediate release necessary to provide an effective remedy. He granted the motion, ordered Hernandez’s immediate release on reasonable conditions, and directed the parties to propose bond conditions.
The detailed version
- Avendano Hernandez v. Decker · No. 2:20-cv-01589
- James Oetken
- Mar. 31, 2020
Background
Gaspar Avendaño Hernandez filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a procedure allowing a person to challenge the legality or conditions of detention. He sought relief from detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He moved for temporary release while the petition was pending, relying on Mapp v. Reno.
Hernandez alleged that ICE officers tased him between fifteen and twenty times during his arrest and that he was later diagnosed with a right bundle branch block and rhabdomyolysis. He had been instructed to obtain follow-up cardiac care, including an echocardiogram and electrocardiogram, but had not received that care while detained at Hudson County Correction Facility.
The facility reported its first COVID-19 case on March 22, 2020. Hernandez alleged that social distancing was impossible and that his medical conditions placed him at increased risk of serious injury or death if he contracted COVID-19. Respondents identified general measures at the facility, including changes to intake, suspending visits, increased sanitation, and screening employees and vendors.
Legal standard
Under Mapp v. Reno, federal courts have limited authority to release a person on bail while a habeas petition is pending. The petitioner must show both that the petition raises substantial claims and that extraordinary circumstances make release necessary for the habeas remedy to be effective.
Court’s analysis
The court concluded that Hernandez had raised a substantial deliberate-indifference claim. Deliberate indifference to serious medical needs requires showing both a serious, unmet medical need and that officials knew or should have known that failing to address it created a substantial health risk.
The court found that Hernandez’s medical conditions met the serious-medical-need requirement because rhabdomyolysis could lead to kidney damage and death, and his cardiac abnormality posed additional risks. The court also considered his heightened risk from COVID-19. It found that respondents knew about his conditions and the specific COVID-19 risks, but had identified no action taken in direct response to those risks. The general facility measures, the court concluded, did not address the particular needs of high-risk detainees.
The court separately found extraordinary circumstances. It described severe health issues as a type of circumstance that can justify release while a habeas case is being decided. Because continued detention exposed Hernandez to a significant risk of contracting COVID-19, the court concluded that immediate release was necessary to make the habeas remedy effective.
Disposition
The court GRANTED Hernandez’s motion to compel immediate release pending resolution of his habeas petition. It ordered respondents to immediately release him on reasonable conditions. The parties were ordered to meet and confer and propose reasonable bond conditions by April 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. The clerk was directed to close the motion at Docket Number 9. The opinion addressed temporary release; it did not state that the court finally resolved the underlying habeas petition.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.