Summary
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana referred the petition for a writ of habeas corpus to the magistrate judge for consideration and disposition. The court denied the accompanying application for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, concluding that the requested release or bond hearing duplicated the ultimate habeas relief sought and that the petitioner was not entitled to bypass habeas procedures through a TRO.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction may be used to obtain immediate release when release is the ultimate relief sought in a pending habeas petition.
- Whether the petitioner was entitled to a bond hearing as emergency preliminary relief.
Holdings
- A petitioner may not use a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to bypass the ordinary consideration of a habeas petition and obtain the ultimate relief sought—here, immediate release.
- Under Fifth Circuit precedent cited by the court, an illegal alien is not entitled to a bond hearing solely because the person has resided in the United States for years.
Key quotations
“one cannot skip the line by dressing a habeas petition in TRO clothes.”
“the purpose of injunctive relief is to preserve the status quo; it is not to give the movant the ultimate relief he seeks.”
Factual background
The petitioner sought habeas relief and simultaneously requested emergency injunctive relief. The requested injunction would have required her immediate release or a bond hearing. The district court concluded that these requests mirrored the ultimate relief sought in the habeas petition.
Procedural history
Annerys Mariana Cano Alvarez filed a habeas petition and an application for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the same action. The district court referred the habeas petition to the magistrate judge for consideration and disposition, but denied the request for immediate release or a bond hearing because the requested relief duplicated the ultimate relief sought through habeas corpus.