SMITH v. CALDWELL

• Court: District Court, D. New Jersey
• Decided: January 19, 2022
• Docket: 1:20-cv-11052
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY ______________________________ : GEORGE B. SMITH, : : Petitioner, : Civ. No. 20-11052 (NLH) : v. : MEMORANDUM ORDER : : WARDEN EUGENE CALDWELL,1 : : Respondent. : ______________________________:

APPEARANCE:

George B. Smith 32448 Cumberland County Correctional Facility 54 W Broad St. Bridgeton, NJ 08302

Petitioner Pro se

Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor Andre R. Araujo, Assistant Prosecutor Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office 115 Vine St. Bridgeton, NJ 08302

Attorneys for Respondent

1 The default rule is that the proper respondent of a § 2241 petition is the warden of the facility where the prisoner is being held. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 435 (2004). Subsequent to the filing of this petition, Eugene Caldwell was appointed to the position as Warden of the Cumberland County Jail. The Court will direct the Clerk to substitute Eugene Caldwell as the Warden on the docket. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d). HILLMAN, District Judge WHEREAS, Petitioner George Smith filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his pretrial detention in the Cumberland County Jail, see ECF No. 1; and WHEREAS, Petitioner alleged the conditions of confinement violate the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendment of the Constitution

due to the jail’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, id.; and WHEREAS, the Court stayed the petition pending the resolution of a class action, Brown v. Warren, No. 1:20-cv-7907, involving the same factual and legal issues as the present habeas petition, ECF No. 7; and WHEREAS, the Court expects the parties in Brown to enter into an amended consent decree, THEREFORE, IT IS on this 19th day of January , 2022 ORDERED that the Clerk shall lift the stay on this matter and return the case to the Court’s active docket; and it is further

ORDERED that the Clerk shall substitute Eugene Caldwell as the Warden on the docket, Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d); and it is further ORDERED that Petitioner shall submit a supplemental brief in support of the § 2241 petition within 30 days of this Order. Respondent shall file a supplemental response within 21 days of Petitioner’s submission; and it is finally ORDERED that the Clerk shall send a copy of this Order to Petitioner by regular mail.

s/ Noel L. Hillman At Camden, New Jersey NOEL L. HILLMAN, U.S.D.J.