Feroz v. Sessions et al

Filing 19

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala on 2/14/2018. (KEK)

FILED
2018 Feb-14 PM 04:11
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
MIDDLE DIVISION
MUHAMMED FEROZ,
Petitioner,
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
UNITED STATES, et al.,

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Case No.: 4:18-cv-00102-MHH-JHE

Respondents.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On August 28, 2017, petitioner Muhammed Feroz filed in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Georgia a petition for a writ of habeas
corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (Doc. 1). When he filed his petition, Mr.
Feroz, a native of Pakistan, was incarcerated at the Folkston ICE Processing Center
in Folkston, Georgia, in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. (Doc. 1, p. 1). In his petition, Mr. Feroz alleged that he was being
illegally detained by ICE pending his deportation to Pakistan.
After he filed his petition, Mr. Feroz was transferred to the Etowah County
Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama. (Doc. 9). Based on Mr. Feroz’s transfer,
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia transferred
Mr. Feroz’s petition to the United States District Court for the Northern District of
Alabama. (Doc. 14).

On February 14, 2018, the respondents filed a status report and a motion to
dismiss this action as moot. (Doc. 18). In their status report and motion, the
respondents state that on February 12, 2018, Mr. Feroz was removed from the
United States to Pakistan. (Doc. 18, p. 1; see Doc. 18-1).
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 court must dismiss a case as moot if the
court no longer can provide “meaningful relief.” Nyaga v. Ashcroft, 323 F.3d 906,
913 (11th Cir. 2003) (citations omitted).
In his petition, Mr. Feroz seeks to be released from ICE custody. Because
Mr. Feroz no longer is in ICE custody, the Court cannot provide meaningful relief,
and Mr. Feroz’s petition is moot.

Accordingly, the Court will grant the

respondent’s motion to dismiss.
The Court will enter a separate final order.
DONE and ORDERED this February 14, 2018.

_________________________________
MADELINE HUGHES HAIKALA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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