COVID-19 Summary: This is a class action filed on behalf of all individuals incarcerated at FCI Butner, seeking release as well as mitigation measures due to COVID-19. The court denied the plaintiff's motion for temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and writ of habeas corpus on June 11, 2020. On June 29, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal.
On May 26, 2020, eleven people incarcerated in the Federal Corrections Institute Butner Low (FCI Butner) filed this action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of North Carolina, the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, and private counsel, under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-02 and the federal habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, alleging violations of the Eighth Amendment. Specifically, they alleged that their continued detention and the defendants' failure to provide adequate protections from COVID-19 was cruel and unusual punishment. The case was assigned to Judge Louise Wood Flanagan.
In their complaint, plaintiffs asserted that "hundreds of incarcerated people and staff have been infected and eight people housed at Butner have already died from COVID-19." Plaintiffs further contended that the facility was severely overcrowded, with "4,438 men . . . crammed into a space meant for no more than 3,998."
The plaintiffs sued on behalf of all those who were or would be incarcerated at FCI Butner during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also included subclasses for those who were over the age of 50 or who were medically vulnerable due to underlying health conditions.
On May 28, the plaintiffs filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and writ of habeas corpus, requesting the release of inmates deemed appropriate for release and a mitigation plan that included testing, medical isolation, social distancing, and proper hygiene.
The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, or alternatively, a motion for summary judgment on June 3, arguing that the court did not have jurisdiction and that the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. They also argued that the claims failed on the merits, citing the 2.1% COVID-19 morbidity rate for FCI Butner, which is lower than both the state and national rates of death, and that the purported class did not meet the requirements for class certification.
On June 11, Judge Flanagan denied the plaintiffs motion for temporary restraining order preliminary injunction, and writ of habeas corpus. 2020 WL 3105094. Judge Flanagan stated that while the plaintiffs had demonstrated irreparable injury, they had not shown they were likely to succeed on the merits and that the defendants had made reasonable efforts to prevent unnecessary illness and death. Judge Flanagan also determined that habeas claims concerning confinement conditions were not cognizable.
On June 29, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal.
Caitlin Kierum - 06/14/2020
Chandler Hart-McGonigle - 11/02/2020
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