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Law360 (April 17, 2020, 10:37 AM EDT ) A Florida federal judge apologized late Thursday for incorrectly accusing ICE of filing declarations under seal in a lawsuit seeking the release of detainees during the coronavirus pandemic, saying he didn't realize immigration cases have restricted access on PACER.
Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman said that counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had informed him that they didn't file the two declarations under seal, but that the documents may not be viewable on PACER because immigration cases are restricted from public access.
"I owe defendants and their attorneys an apology," Judge Goodman said. "I am sorry that I incorrectly assumed that you tried to file the declarations under seal or otherwise restrict access to them."
Earlier that day, Judge Goodman had criticized ICE for supposedly filing the declarations under seal, saying that the agency had "not established good cause" for doing so.
The declarations do not identify the names of detainees, staff members or independent contractors, or contain other identifying personal information that would warrant the documents being filed under seal, Judge Goodman said.
"Not only are the materials not confidential, but they are relatively bland and innocuous," he said. "Filing documents under seal without leave of court and without a sound basis for confidential treatment is inherently at odds with the basic principle of open courts."
The detainees' counsel told Law360 in a Friday statement that the judge's confusion was "short-lived" and "quickly resolved."
The lawsuit is seeking the release of a proposed class of detainees in three South Florida immigration detention centers, and alleges that ICE failed to comply with its own guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The detainees say they are being held in close and possibly overcrowded quarters where staff and officers have only recently started to wear masks and other protective equipment while denying them the same.
Medical services have also often been delayed, and as a result of these conditions, the government is violating the Fifth Amendment through its failure to abide by guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they said.
Counsel for the government declined to comment.
The detainees are represented by Rebecca Sharpless of the University of Miami School of Law Immigration Clinic, Gregory P. Copeland and Sarah T. Gillman of the Rapid Defense Network, Mark A. Prada and Anthony Richard Dominguez of Prada Urizar PLLC, Paul R. Chavez and Maia Fleischman of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Andrea Montavon-McKillip of the Legal Aid Service Of Broward County Inc.
The government is represented by Dexter Lee and Natalie Diaz of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The case is Gayle et al. v. Meade et al., case number 1:20-cv-21553, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
--Additional reporting by Nathan Hale. Editing by Rebecca Flanagan.
Update: This story has been updated with more background and information about the case.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
