Lawrence v. Reno

Full title: GAVIN LAWRENCE, Petitioner, v. JANET RENO, et al., Respondents

Court: United States District Court, S.D. New York

Date published: Jul 18, 2001

00 Civ. 4559 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y. Jul. 18, 2001)

Opinion

00 Civ. 4559 (LAK)

July 18, 2001

ORDER

LEWIS A. KAPLAN, District Judge.

Petitioner's motion for relief from the judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) is denied. Zadvydas v. Davis, 2001 WL 720662 (U.S. June 28, 2001), does not warrant a different result. That case held that the government may not detain an alien pending removal for an indefinite period where "there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future." Id. *15. That is not the case here. Moreover, in view of the Second Circuit's dismissal on June 27 of petitioner's petition for review of the removal order, petitioner's removal from the country appears to be imminent. Finally, petitioner has remained in custody for a lengthy period as a result of his having obtained judicial stays that have blocked his removal from the country. While part of the delay was an unfortunate result of an administrative error that prolonged one of the judicial stays, that affords no basis for releasing petitioner from custody.

SO ORDERED.