COVID-19 Summary: On April 7, 2020, inmates detained on parole warrants in New York City jails filed this state court lawsuit alleging that holding the inmates in jails amidst the COVID-19 outbreak represented deliberate indifference to the welfare of the inmates in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and New York Constitution's right to Due Process. The state court released some of the inmates but not others.

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On April 7, 2020, 101 separate inmates detained on parole warrants in New York City jails filed this lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx. (In New York, Supreme Court is the trial court.) They alleged that holding the inmates in jails amidst the COVID-19 outbreak represented deliberate indifference to the welfare of the inmates in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and New York Constitution's right to Due Process. The state court released some of the inmates but not others. The writ pointed out that, at the time of filing, New York City was one of the world's hardest hit localities and the prisons and jails were particularly affected. Moreover, the prisoners seeking habeas were immuno-compromised, elderly, or otherwise thought to be particularly susceptible to the virus.

Six days later, Judge Ralph Fabrizio issued his decision, weighing the risk of detainees not returning to Court or custody, versus the health risk to the detainee if they were not released.
Judge Fabrizio's order summarized the following outcomes:
-Fifty-one inmates were released
-Fourteen of the petitioners withdrew their petition or were otherwise mooted their petitions for unknown reasons
-Thirty-four inmates were denied release
-One inmate's petition remained pending, as the Court was still waiting to find out whether they had already been released by the state
-One inmate had already died of COVID-19.

Jack Hibbard - 06/11/2020


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