Murai v. Adducci

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMay 18, 2020
Docket3:20-cv-10816
StatusUnknown

This text of Murai v. Adducci (Murai v. Adducci) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murai v. Adducci, (E.D. Mich. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION ______________________________________________________________________

MOHAMAD AHMAD MURAI,

Petitioner, v. Case No. 20-10816 REBECCA ADDUCCI, MATTHEW T. ALBENCE, KEVIN MCALEENAN, and WILLIAM P. BARR,

Respondents. ________________________________/

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner Mohamad Ahmad Murai filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1.) Petitioner is currently detained by the United States Immigration Customs and Enforcement Agency (“ICE”) at the Calhoun County Detention Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. He alleges that the current threat of infection from the Coronavirus Disease (“COVID-19”) and the potential for serious medical complications while in confinement pose an ongoing and unjustifiable risk to Petitioner’s health, violating Petitioner’s Fifth Amendment right to due process. The court is asked to grant injunctive relief, release Petitioner from detention, and to award attorney fees. The government has filed a response and Petitioner replied. (ECF Nos. 10, 13.) The court finds a hearing unnecessary, and for the reasons provided below, the petition will be denied. E.D. Mich. L.R. 7.1(f)(2). I. BACKGROUND Petitioner was born in Syria in 1968. (ECF No. 1, PageID.21; ECF No. 10-2, PageID.472, ¶ 4.) He was admitted into the United States as a refugee in 2016. (ECF No. 1, PageID.19; ECF No. 10-2, PageID.472, ¶ 4.)

In 2017, Petitioner committed a sexual assault and was convicted of Fourth Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in August 2018. (ECF No. 10-2, PageID.472-73, ¶¶ 6- 7) He was sentenced to 183 days imprisonment. (Id., PageID.473, ¶ 7.) In June 2018, Petitioner submitted a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. (Id., PageID.472, ¶ 5.) That request was denied due to Petitioner’s failure to respond to requests for information about his sexual assault arrest. (Id.) ICE arrested and detained Petitioner on January 13, 2020. (ECF No. 1, PageID.19; ECF No. 10-2, PageID.473, ¶ 8.) Petitioner was charged under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) as removable from the United States for being convicted of a crime that “involve[d] moral turpitude[,] committed within five years . . . after [Petitioner’s] date of

admission,” that is punishable by “a sentence of one year or longer.” (ECF No. 1, PageID.19; ECF No. 10-2, PageID.473, ¶ 8.) Pending removal proceedings, Petitioner has been detained in ICE custody at the Calhoun County Correctional Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. (ECF No. 1, PageID.19-20; ECF No. 10-2, PageID.472, ¶ 3.) Petitioner filed this habeas petition against his alleged legal custodians in their official capacity. He lists Rebecca Adducci, Director of ICE Detroit Field Office; Matthew T. Albence, Acting Director of ICE; Kevin McAleenan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and William P. Barr, U.S. Attorney General, as respondents. (ECF No. 1, PageID.20-21.) Petitioner seeks release from detention due to the outbreak of COVID-19. II. DISCUSSION Petitioner argues his detention violates the Fifth Amendment. The court will first

address its jurisdiction to hear his petition and will then turn to the merits. A. Jurisdiction Respondents do not contest the court’s jurisdiction to hear Petitioner’s constitutional claim. Nonetheless, “federal courts have a duty to consider their subject matter jurisdiction in regard to every case and may raise the issue sua sponte.” Answers in Genesis of Ky., Inc. v. Creation Ministries Int’l, Ltd., 556 F.3d 459, 465 (6th Cir. 2009). Petitioner has filed suit under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. That statute provides that “[w]rits of habeas corpus may be granted by . . . the district courts . . . within their respective jurisdictions.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a). It grants federal courts “the authority to hear

applications for habeas corpus by any person who claims to be held ‘in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.’” Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466, 473 (2004) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)). Petitioner is being held in custody by the United States, and he alleges his detention violates the Constitution. The court has jurisdiction. See Ly v. Hansen, 351 F.3d 263 (6th Cir. 2003) (analyzing the merits of a habeas challenge to immigration detention pending removal proceedings), vacated on other grounds by Hamama v. Adducci, 946 F.3d 875 (6th Cir. 2020). B. Petitioner’s Claims Petitioner primarily argues that his confinement exposes him to an unacceptable risk of serious harm to his health. He cites Sixth Circuit and Supreme Court caselaw on claims for deliberate indifference. (ECF No. 1, PageID.31-35 (citing Helling v. McKinney,

509 U.S. 25, 36 (1993); Flanory v. Bonn, 604 F.3d 249, 255 (6th Cir. 2010)).) However, Petitioner may be asserting, in addition, a claim of unconstitutional punishment of a detainee prior to a conviction or hearing. Although he does not detail the requirements of the claim and cites no relevant Sixth Circuit or Supreme Court cases, Petitioner’s “Claim for Relief” includes “Unlawful Punishment,” and he asserts that “civil detainees . . . may not be subject to punishment.” (Id., PageID.39.) It is not clear whether Petitioner is asserting deliberate indifference akin to unconstitutional punishment, as deliberate indifference is tied to the Eighth Amendment’s bar on “cruel and unusual punishment,” or instead a separate legal claim.1 Winkler v. Madison Co., 893 F.3d 877, 890 (6th Cir. 2018). The court will nonetheless analyze the petition under

both deliberate indifference and unconstitutional punishment. The claims will be addressed in turn. 1. Indifference to Medical Needs Petitioner alleges that his confinement during the spread of COVID-19 constitutes deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. While this claim is typically brought by convicted prisoners under the Eight Amendment and its bar on “cruel and unusual punishment,” it can also be advanced by pretrial and immigration detainees

1 Generally, “[i]ssues adverted to in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by some effort at developed argumentation, are deemed waived.” McPherson v. Kelsey, 125 F.3d 989, 995-96 (6th Cir. 1997). under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. U.S. Const. amend. VIII; U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; Winkler, 893 F.3d at 890 (quoting Phillips v. Roane Co., 534 F.3d 531, 539 (6th Cir. 2008)) (“The Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment generally provides the basis to assert a . . . claim of deliberate indifference

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Bluebook (online)
Murai v. Adducci, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murai-v-adducci-mied-2020.