Gayle v. Johnson

81 F. Supp. 3d 371, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9630, 2015 WL 351669
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedJanuary 28, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 12-2806 FLW
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 81 F. Supp. 3d 371 (Gayle v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gayle v. Johnson, 81 F. Supp. 3d 371, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9630, 2015 WL 351669 (D.N.J. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

WOLFSON, District Judge:

This putative class action challenges the constitutionality of detention procedures related to mandatory detention of aliens under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c), codified as the' Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). Putative class representatives Garfield O. Gayle (“Gayle”) and Neville Sukhu (“Suk-hu”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs” or “Named Plaintiffs”) aver that they and other similarly situated individuals in New Jersey have been subjected to unconstitutional mandatory immigration detention under § 1226(c) by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“DHS”/“ICE”). In that connection, Plaintiffs challenge (1) the standards to determine whether an alien is improperly designated as subject to mandatory detention (also known as Joseph hearings,1 which was first established in Matter of Joseph, 22 I. & N. Dec. 799 (BIA 1999)); (2) the adequacy of notice given to those manda-torily detained aliens regarding their right to a Joseph hearing, and (3) the lack of a [375]*375contemporaneous verbatim record of Joseph hearings. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to enjoin the Government 2 from carrying out the current mandatory detention procedures and to require the Government to implement constitutionally adequate ■procedures.

The Government moves to dismiss all of Plaintiffs’ claims or, in the alternative, moves for summary judgment.3 The Government contends that (1) Named Plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims on behalf of the putative class; (2) Plaintiffs’ adequacy of notice claim is either meritless or moot; (3) Plaintiffs’ proposed new standard regarding the burden of proof at a Joseph hearing is not mandated by the Constitution. In response, Named Plaintiffs oppose the Government’s motion and cross-move for summary judgment. Named Plaintiffs also seek to certify a class consisting of “all individuals detained within the State of New Jersey” pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c) “who have a substantial challenge to ‘threshold deportability’ or ‘inadmissibility’ on one of the statutory grounds that trigger mandatory detention.”

For the following reasons, the Court decides the parties’ summary judgment motions as follows: summary judgment is (1) GRANTED in favor of Plaintiffs as to their adequacy of notice claim; (2) both parties’ motions are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as to Plaintiffs claim related to the constitutionality of the Joseph hearing; and (3) GRANTED in favor of the Government as to Plaintiffs’ contemporaneous verbatim records claim. Finally, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class as necessary.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are undisputed. Gayle is a Jamaican national and legal permanent resident of the United States. Defs.’ Resp. to Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 22. He has lived in the United States for approximately 30 years. Id. ¶ 23. According to documents filed by ICE, in May 1995, Gayle was convicted after a bench trial of criminal possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell in the third degree under New York State Penal Law § 220.16. Id. ¶ 24. In March 2007, Gayle pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge for which he was sentenced to ten days in jail. Id. ¶ 25. On March 24, 2012, ICE officers arrested Gayle. Pis.’ Resp. to Defs.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 3. ICE issued a Notice to Appear (“NTA”), charging Gayle with removal on the ground that his 1995 conviction rendered him deportable, and also found him subject to mandatory immigration de[376]*376tention based on his 2007 conviction.4 Defs.’ Resp. to Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶¶ 27-28.

On March 24, 2012, Gayle received a Form 1-286 Notice of Initial Custody Determination. Id. ¶ 29. At the time of receipt, as its policy, ICE provided every detainee under § 1226(c) mandatory detention with a Form 1-286 notifying him that he “shall be: detained in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security” and checked the second box regarding IJ review, which stated that he “may not request review of this determination by an immigration judge [“IJ”] because the Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits your release from custody” (“Second Box”). Id. ¶ 30. However, the second box was not checked on the Form 1-286 served on Gayle; instead, ICE cheeked the first box on Gayle’s Form 1-286, indicating that he “may request” that an IJ re-determine ICE’s custody decision (“First Box”).5 Id. ¶ 31. Gayle checked the box located on the bottom of the form indicating that he requested a custody redetermination hearing by an IJ. See Gayle 1-286 Form. On April 10, 2012 and June 13, 2012, proceedings were held in front of IJ Alan L. Page. Pis.’ Resp. to Defs.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 9. At the June 13th hearing, IJ Page advised Gayle that ICE had documents establishing that Gayle had been convicted of a controlled substance offense in 2007, and that Gayle needed to present disposition documents showing the substance of the 2007 conviction. Id. ¶¶ 10-11. Neither of the two hearings, however, constituted a custody redetermination hearing under Joseph — in fact, Gayle never received a Joseph hearing.6 Defs.’ Resp. to [377]*377Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 61. Further, according to Gayle’s Notice to Appear, Gayle’s 2007 drug conviction was not a basis for his removal. See Gayle Notice to Appear.

On September 20, 2012, Gayle filed a Motion to Terminate removal proceedings based on the Government’s failure to prove the existence of the alleged 1995 conviction, i.e., attempted drug sale. Defs.’ Resp. to Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 35. The IJ denied the Motion to Terminate on October 23, 2012. Id. ¶ 36. Subsequently, Gayle was mandatorily detained for approximately twelve months at the Monmouth County Correctional Facility in Freehold, New Jersey. Defs.’ Resp. to Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 33.

Sukhu is a Guyanese national and LPR of the United States, who has lived in this country for approximately 20 years, almost entirely in New York City. Id. ¶ 40. In June 1997, Sukhu pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 120.05(6) and was sentenced to 90 days imprisonment. Id. ¶ 41. In May 2011, Sukhu pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of theft of services in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15 and was sentenced to time served. Id. ¶ 42; Pis.’ Resp. to Defs.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 20. On August 15, 2011, ICE officers arrested Sukhu, Id. ¶ 21, and on the same day, ICE issued a Notice to Appear, charging Sukhu with removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)© — which governs crimes of moral turpitude — based on his 1997 conviction. Defs.’ Resp. to Pis.’ Stmt, of Mat’l Facts at ¶ 44.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 F. Supp. 3d 371, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9630, 2015 WL 351669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gayle-v-johnson-njd-2015.