Phouk v. Warden, Stewart Detention Center

378 F. Supp. 3d 1209
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedApril 5, 2019
DocketCase No. 4:19-CV-19-CDL-MSH
StatusPublished

This text of 378 F. Supp. 3d 1209 (Phouk v. Warden, Stewart Detention Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phouk v. Warden, Stewart Detention Center, 378 F. Supp. 3d 1209 (M.D. Ga. 2019).

Opinion

Stephen Hyles, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

On March 27, 2019, Petitioner filed an "Emergency Motion to Authorize Discovery[.]" Pet'r's Mot. for Disc. 1, ECF No. 9. Respondents contend that Petitioner's discovery requests are based on "speculation" that "is not enough to rise to the level of showing good cause for discovery." Resp'ts' Resp. to Mot. for Disc. 4, ECF No. 11. The Court disagrees with Respondents and finds there is good cause to authorize discovery here.

I. Habeas Discovery

A habeas petitioner, "unlike the usual civil litigant in federal court, is not entitled to discovery as a matter of ordinary course." Bracy v. Gramley , 520 U.S. 899, 904, 117 S.Ct. 1793, 138 L.Ed.2d 97 (1997). But, habeas petitioners are not to be left without any method for developing facts in support of their claim. Rule 6 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts ("Habeas Rules") provides that "[a] judge may, for good cause, authorize a party to conduct discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure" in a habeas proceedings.1

Good cause exists "where specific allegations [ ] show reason to believe that the petitioner may, if the facts are fully developed, be able to demonstrate that [they are] entitled to relief." Daniel v. Comm'r, Ala. Dep't of Corr. , 822 F.3d 1248, 1281 (11th Cir. 2016) (citing Bracy , 520 U.S. at 908-09, 117 S.Ct. 1793 ). Conversely, good cause "cannot arise from mere speculation" and "cannot be ordered on the basis of pure hypothesis[.]" Arthur v. Allen , 459 F.3d 1310, 1311 (11th Cir. 2006). If discovery is warranted, "Rule 6(a) [of the Habeas Rules] makes it clear that the scope and extent of such discovery is a *1212matter confided to the discretion of the District Court." Bracy , 520 U.S. at 909, 117 S.Ct. 1793.

II. Elements of Petitioner's Claim

Before the Court can determine whether Petitioner is entitled to discovery, "we must first identify the essential elements of [his] claim." Id. at 904, 117 S.Ct. 1793. Petitioner contends his detention is unlawful because he has been detained longer than the presumptively reasonable period of six months following the entry of a final order of removal against him. Pet. 1, ECF No. 1. As prescribed by the U.S. Supreme Court, detention of an alien subject to an administratively final order of deportation/removal is authorized only for a period "reasonably necessary" to effectuate the removal. Zadvydas v. Davis , 533 U.S. 678, 699-700, 121 S.Ct. 2491, 150 L.Ed.2d 653 (2001).

The Zadvydas Court determined it was "practically necessary ... for the sake of uniform administration in the federal courts" to establish a "presumptively reasonable period of detention." Id. at 701, 121 S.Ct. 2491. The Court, believing "that Congress previously doubted the constitutionality of detention for more than six months[,]" set six-months as the outer boundary of that presumptively reasonable period. Id. Detention lasting longer than six months loses the presumption. Id. ("After this 6-month period, once the alien provides good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future, the Government must respond with evidence sufficient to rebut that showing."). The relationship between the time of confinement and the "reasonably foreseeable future" is an inverse one. Id. ("[F]or detention to remain reasonable, as the period of prior post[-]removal confinement grows, what counts as the reasonably foreseeable future conversely would have to shrink.").

The Eleventh Circuit interprets Zadvydas as requiring an alien to show: "(1) that the six-month period, which commences at the beginning of the statutory removal period, has expired when the § 2241 petition is filed; and (2) evidence of a good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future." Gozo v. Napolitano , 309 F. App'x 344, 346 (11th Cir. 2009) ; see also Akinwale v. Ashcroft , 287 F.3d 1050, 1052 (11th Cir. 2002) ("[I]n order to state a claim under Zadvydas the alien ... must show post-removal detention in excess of six months [and] also must provide evidence of a good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future."). Petitioner must meet these requirements in order to obtain the relief he seeks.

III. Good Cause

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Related

Bracy v. Gramley
520 U.S. 899 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Zadvydas v. Davis
533 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 2001)
Makushamari Gozo v. Janet Napolitano
309 F. App'x 344 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
Daniel v. Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections
822 F.3d 1248 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
378 F. Supp. 3d 1209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phouk-v-warden-stewart-detention-center-gamd-2019.