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Case Name
Cuban American Bar Ass'n., Inc. v. Christopher
IM-FL-0003
Docket / Court
94-2183-CV-CCA ( S.D. Fla. )
State/Territory
Florida
Case Type(s)
Immigration and/or the Border
Case Summary
On October 23, 1994, the Cuban American Bar Association, Inc., Cuban Legal Alliance, Inc., and Due Process, Inc. and several Cuban detainees being held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay under a grant of safe haven, filed a class action complaint the United States District Court for the ...
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On October 23, 1994, the Cuban American Bar Association, Inc., Cuban Legal Alliance, Inc., and Due Process, Inc. and several Cuban detainees being held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay under a grant of safe haven, filed a class action complaint the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, challenging the detainees' denial of access to attorneys. Plaintiff sought an injunction to prevent the government from denying Cuban rights organizations reasonable access to their Guantanamo Bay clients and from "encouraging or coercing, directly or indirectly, the repatriation to Cuba of, and repatriating, any [Cuban migrant] currently being detained by the United States Government."
The Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of Haitians detained at Guantanamo Bay under a grant of safe haven. Both cases were assigned to District Court Judge C. Clyde Atkins.
The District Court (Judge Atkins) entered a series of preliminary injunctions, granting attorneys for Cuban and Haitian migrants access to their clients and setting limitations on other government activity. The Court also required the government to release names of all detained migrants to the humanitarian organizational plaintiffs. The government appealed and the cases were consolidated by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals (Judge Birch) dissolved the preliminary injunctions issued by the District Court and remanded the cases. The Court held that the Cuban and Haitian migrants that were detained in safe haven outside of the physical borders of the United States did not have any cognizable statutory or constitutional rights and that the plaintiff humanitarian organizations did not have a First Amendment right to associate with the detainees. Cuban American Bar Ass'n, Inc. v. Christopher, 43 F.3d 1412 (11th Cir. 1995).
Dan Dalton - 11/13/2007
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
General
Conditions of confinement
Immigration/Border
Asylum - criteria
Asylum - procedure
Constitutional rights
Immigration lawyers
Refugees
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Causes of Action
Ex Parte Young (Federal) or Bivens
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Plaintiff Description
Cuban and Haitian refugees detained at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay under a grant of safe haven.
Class action status sought
Yes
Class action status granted
Unknown
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
Yes
Nature of Relief
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief
Litigation
Filed
10/23/1994
Case Closing Year
1995
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
No docket sheet currently in the collection
General Documents
U.S. Court of Appeals
01/18/1995
Opinion
(43 F.3d 1412)
IM-FL-0003-0001.pdf
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
People
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Judges
Birch, Stanley F. Jr.
(Eleventh Circuit)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Carnes, Edward Earl
(Eleventh Circuit)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Kravitch, Phyllis A.
(Fifth Circuit, Eleventh Circuit)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Baruch, Douglas W.
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Boyer, Robert L.
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Castillo, Carlos B.
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Dorta, Martias
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Garcia-Pedrosa, Jose
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Jimenez, Marcos Daniel
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Juceam, Robert E.
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Kadre, Manuel
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Koh, Harold H.
(Connecticut)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Kurzban, Ira J.
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Levin, Oscar
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Martinez, Roberto
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Ochoa, Leopold
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Scherker, Elliot H.
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Tetzeil, Helena
(Florida)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Defendant's Lawyers
Kanter, William
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Kessler, Elizabeth A.
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Kneedler, Edwin S.
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Loeb, Robert Mark
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Mollin, Alfred
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Raab, Michael S.
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Singer, Michael Jay
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Other Lawyers
Coradin, Ahpaly J. G.
(New York)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Guttentag, Lucas
(New York)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Mariner, Joanne
(New York)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
McNary, Gene
(Missouri)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Rees, Grover Joseph
(Louisiana)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
Vasquez, Carlos Manuel
(District of Columbia)
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IM-FL-0003-0001
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