Dulnuan v. Kelly

Filing 18

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Abdul K Kallon on 7/31/2018. (AFS)

FILED
2018 Jul-31 PM 03:48
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
MIDDLE DIVISION
RICHARD DULNUAN,
Petitioner,

v.
JEFF SESSIONS, Attorney General
of the United States,
Respondent.

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Civil Action Number
4:17-cv-00730-AKK-JHE

MEMORANDUM OPINION
On May 5, 2017 Richard Dulnuan filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 alleging he was being unlawfully detained pending
his deportation. Doc. 1. At the time he filed his petition, Dulnuan, a native of the
Phillipines, was incarcerated at the Etowah County Detention Center, in the
custody of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). Id.
After an Immigration Judge granted Dulnuan a $3,000 bond in February 2018,
Dulnuan posted bond on July 17, 2018, and ICE released him from its custody.
See doc. 17-2. As a result, the court finds that this case is due to be dismissed as
moot.
Article III of the Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to the
consideration of “cases or controversies.” U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. The doctrine of
mootness is derived from this limitation because “an action that is moot cannot be

characterized as an active case or controversy.” Adler v. Duval Cnty. Sch. Bd., 112
F.3d 1475, 1477 (11th Cir. 1997). A case is moot and must be dismissed if the
court can no longer provide “meaningful relief.” Nyaga v. Ashcroft, 323 F.3d 906,
913 (11th Cir. 2003) (citations omitted).
The relief sought by Dulnuan in his petition is to be released from ICE
custody. Where, as here, Dulnuan is no longer in ICE custody, his petition has
been rendered moot, unless an exception to the mootness doctrine applies.
Because the court concludes that neither of the two exceptions to the mootness
doctrine, “collateral consequences” or “capable of repetition yet evading review,”
see Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 237 (1968); Murphy v. Hunt, 455 U.S. 478,
482 (1982), apply here, there is no longer any relief that the court can grant to
Dulnuan, and his petition is due to be dismissed as moot.
Based on the foregoing, this case is due to be dismissed as moot. A separate
order will be entered.
DONE the 31st day of July, 2018.

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ABDUL K. KALLON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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