Opinion
No. 3:18-cv-01106-VAB
07-10-2018
J.S.R. and V.F.B., by and through their next friend, Joshua Perry, Plaintiffs, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, et al., Defendants.
SUPPLEMENTAL RULING AND ORDER ON MOTION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AD TESTIFICANDUM
On July 6, 2018, the Court issued an Order granting in part and denying in part Plaintiffs' motion for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. ECF No. 27. That Order did not address the part of Plaintiffs' motion requesting that Plaintiffs themselves be brought to the courthouse for the July 11 hearing. See Mot. for Writ at 1, ECF No. 18 (requesting an order commanding the in-person appearance of J.S.R. and V.F.B. at the July 11 hearing).
The Court finds that issuing a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum to command the in-person appearance of J.S.R. and V.F.B., who are currently being held in Connecticut by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, is appropriate in this case because it will allow the children to appear at the hearing, and communicate with their parents by videoconference, to the extent necessary. See Atkins v. City of New York, 856 F. Supp. 755, 757 (E.D.N.Y. 1994) (noting that the decision of whether to issue a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum is within the discretion of the district court); see also Order at 8 (requiring the Government to facilitate a videoconference between and among the children, their parents, and counsel).
The Court therefore GRANTS the motion for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum to order the in-person appearance of J.S.R. and V.F.B. at the July 11 hearing.
By 1:00 p.m. today, the parties are directed to work together to determine a time by when the children should be brought to the courthouse on July 11, and to contact the Courtroom Deputy with that time. The Court will then issue the writs.
SO ORDERED at Bridgeport, Connecticut, this 10th day of July, 2018.
/s/ Victor A. Bolden
Victor A. Bolden
United States District Judge