#TRO #PreliminaryInjunction #Jurisdiction #Habeas
Several immigration detainees filed a habeas corpus petition seeking their release based on the COVID-19 pandemic and the conditions of the jails in which they were housed. Without offering the government a chance to respond, the district court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), demanding the release of the plaintiffs pending resolution of the issue. The 3rd Circuit stayed the TRO and ordered briefing on the merits of the case. The 3rd Circuit held that, though a TRO is generally interlocutory and not appealable, the district court’s order altered the status quo, and was thus a preliminary injunction, not a TRO. And given that a preliminary injunction is appealable, the 3rd Circuit possessed jurisdiction to hear the case.
