Mokheiche v. Lowe et al

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM (Order to follow as separate docket entry)As relief, Mokheiche sought his immediate release from ICE detention under an order of supervision. See Doc. 1, p. 12. A submitted copy of a Warrant of removal issued by ICE in Petitioners case c onfirms that he was removed from the United States on April 26, 2016. See Doc. 4-1, p. 2. Since Petitioner is no longer being detained by ICE, under the principles set forth in Steffel, Mokheiches instant petition is subject to dismissal as moot since it no longer presents an existing case or controversy. An appropriate Order will enter.Signed by Honorable Richard P. Conaboy on 5/3/16. (cc)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

fOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT Of PENNSYLVANIA

KHALED MOKHEICHE ,
Petitioner
CIVIL NO . 3 :CV- 1 6-S21

v.
WARDEN LOWE,

ET AL .,

( Judge Conaboy)

FILED
SCRANTO

Respondents
MEMORANDUM
.-ER _ _ _",.,..,.+---+_ _

Background

Khaled Mokheiche,
and Customs En forcemen t

a detainee of the Bureau of Immigration
(ICE)

County Prison, Lords Valley ,

presently confined at the Pike
Pennsylvania ,

filed this £.IQ se

petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
The required filing fe e has been paid.

Named as Respondents are

the Warden Lowe of the Pike County Prison and multiple federal
officials.

Service of the pet iti on was recentl y ordered on

April 12, 2016.
Mokheiche states that he is a native and national of
Lebanon who entered the United States in 1983 as a legal
permanent r esident through his spouse's petition.
detained by ICE for ov er s ix months.

has been

According to the Petition ,

he was arrest e d in 2014 and charged with illegal reentry and
antique smuggling.

After pleading guilty to those charges ,

Mokheiche served a five month term of imprisonment and was

1

transferred into ICE custody.

It is alleged that ICE has been

unable to deport Mokheiche to Lebanon.

Petitioner's pending §

2241 petition challenges his indefinite detention pending
removal under the standards announced in Zadvydas v.
U. S.

678

(2001)

Davis,

533

and for failure to timely effect his removal.

Discussion
On May 2,
Mootness."

2016 ,

Doc . 4,

Respondent filed a "Suggestion of
p.

1.

The notice states that Petitioner was

deported from the United States pursuant to a Warrant of
removal/Deportation on April 26 , 2016.

Accordingly ,

Respondent

contends that since the relief sought by his pending action can
no longer be granted,

dismissal on the basis of mootness is

appropriate.
The case or controversy requirement of Article III,

§

2 of

the United States Constitution subsists through all stages of
federal judicial proceedings .

Parties must continue to have a

"'personal stake in the outcome'

of the lawsuit."

Continental Ba n k Corp .,

472,

Newkirk,

422 U.S.

395,

494 U . S.
401

the course of the action,

(1975).

477-78

Lewis v .

(1990) ;

In other words,

Preiser v .
throughout

the aggrieved party must suffer or be

threatened with actual inj ury caused by t he defendant .

Lewis ,

494 U.S . at 477.
The adjudicatory power of a federal court depends upon "the
continuing existence of a live and acute controversy ."

2

Steffel

v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 459 (1974)

(emphasis in original).

"The rule in federal cases is that an actual controversy must be
extant at all stages of review, not merely at the time
complaint is filed."

. at n.IO

(citations omitted).

"Past

exposure to illegal conduct is insufficient to sustain a present
case or controversy ... if unaccompanied by continuing, present
adverse effects."
(S.D.N.Y. 1985)

~~~~~~~~~f

622 F. Supp. 1451, 1462

(citing O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 495­

96 (1974)); see also

~~~~~~~~~~,

slip op. at p. 2 (M.D. Pa. May 17, 2002)

Civil No. 3:CV-02 465,
(Vanaskie, C.J.).

As relief, Mokheiche sought his immediate release from ICE
sion.

detention under an order of supe

See Doc. 1, p. 12.

A

submitted copy of a Warrant of removal issued by ICE in
Petitioner's case confirms that he was removed from the United
States on April 26, 2016.

Doc. 4 1, p. 2.

Since Petitioner

is no longer being detained by ICE, under the principles set
Mokheiche's instant petition is subject to

forth in
di

ssal as moot since it no longer presents an

or controversy.

DATED: MAY

An appropriate Order will enter.

~C16
3

sting case