Bah v. Lynch et al

Filing 14

MEMORANDUM OPINION Signed by Chief Judge Karon O Bowdre on 12/21/16. (SAC )

FILED
2016 Dec-21 PM 02:42
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
MIDDLE DIVISION
MOUSSA HAROUN BAH,
Petitioner,
v.
LORETTA LYNCH, Attorney General
of the United States of America, et al.,
Respondents.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

CIVIL ACTION NO.
4:16-cv-0424-KOB-JEO

MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is a habeas corpus action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. It was filed by
Petitioner Moussa Haroun Bah, an immigration detainee acting pro se, seeking his
release from custody. (Doc. 1); see also generally Zadvydas v. Davis, 544 U.S. 678
(2001). The court concludes that the action is due to be dismissed as moot.
When Petitioner filed the action on March 14, 2016, he was being held on
behalf of federal immigration authorities at the Etowah County Detention Center in
Gadsden, Alabama. On August 15, 2016, the court received a notice from Petitioner
advising that he had been transferred to the Houston Contract Detention Facility in
Houston, Texas. (Doc. 7). On November 16, 2016, the court mailed to Petitioner at
that facility’s address a copy of an order granting a motion filed by the Government
asking for leave to substitute an attorney. (See Doc. 9; Staff Note dated 11/16/2016).

On December 2, 2016, that mail was returned to the court, marked as undeliverable,
with the notation, “detainee released from facility.” (Doc. 10). That prompted the
court to issue an order on December 5, 2016, requiring the petitioner to show cause in
writing why this habeas action is not due to be dismissed as moot because the court
can no longer provide “meaningful relief.” Nyaga v. Ashcroft, 323 F.3d 906, 913 (11th
Cir. 2003). A copy of that order to show cause has itself also been returned to the
court with the notation that the detainee has been released from the facility. (Doc. 12).
Further, the time in which the Petitioner was to have responded to the order to show
cause has expired.
Because it appears that Petitioner has been released from custody, this habeas
corpus action seeking his repatriation or release is due to be DISMISSED as MOOT.
A separate Final Order will be entered.
DONE, this 21st day of December, 2016.

____________________________________
KARON OWEN BOWDRE
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

2