On Thursday, Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal counsel filed a motion to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont for her immediate release or, alternatively, her return to Vermont. The government’s counsel argues that Öztürk’s petition remains improperly filed and that the only court with the proper jurisdiction over her case is in Louisiana, where she is currently detained. In a Vermont hearing on Monday, the district court will consider its jurisdiction over Öztürk’s case.
Öztürk’s counsel states that the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, has the proper jurisdiction to order for her release. Her lawyers state that the conditions of her detainment violate her constitutional rights and pose a risk to her health and the fulfillment of her education, making her release “necessary to preserve the effectiveness of the habeas remedy.”
In their claims for habeas relief, her counsel cited Öztürk’s rights under the First and Fifth Amendments, and describes her treatment as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Accardi doctrine, arguing that the government’s action violates “its regular processes and rules.” Her release will allow her to have regular access to her counsel and the judicial process, her counsel wrote.
Öztürk’s lawyers argue that the government’s motivations for and execution of her arrest and the conditions of her health — particularly the inadequate medical treatment for her asthma — present “extraordinary circumstances” which constitute her release.
In a written declaration cited in her council’s motion, Öztürk recounts the sequence of her arrest from personal memory. Öztürk describes how at the time of her arrest, she initially feared for her life, assuming that she was being kidnapped as a result of being doxxed by Canary Mission.
“They were all wearing civilian clothes. I thought this was a strange situation and was sure they were going to kill me,” Öztürk wrote.
Öztürk described concerns for her health, noting that she was not given access to her asthma medication while being transported to Louisiana and that she has suffered four asthma attacks in the Louisiana facility. Öztürk also expressed fear that her medical needs are not being met and that a lack of fresh air has exacerbated her asthma. The living conditions in the facility, Öztürk wrote, are “unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane.”
“We are in a cell that has a sign stating capacity for 14 but there are 24 of us in this small space,” Öztürk wrote. “None of us are able to sleep through the night. They come into the cell often and walk around triggering the fluorescent lights. They shout in the cell to wake up those who work in the kitchen around 3:30 am each day.”
Only after Öztürk suffered a second asthma attack was she given medical treatment. The doctors and nurses at the facility’s medical center are “insulting and condescending,” Öztürk wrote.
“Once they finally took me to the medical center, the nurse took my temperature. She said “you need to take that thing off your head” and took off my hejab without asking my permission. I told her you can’t take off my hejab and she said this is for your health. After a few minutes I put my hejab back on. But they did nothing to treat my asthma and gave me a few ibuprofen,” Öztürk wrote.
Two supporting amicus briefs were also filed on Thursday calling for her release — a brief by international law professors and practitioners and a statement signed by 27 Jewish congregations and organizations.
The government’s legal counsel argues that the District Court for the District of Vermont lacks the authority to grant bail because Öztürk is currently being held in Louisiana and her original petition did not list the correct “immediate custodian,” making it improperly filed.
Even if the petition was filed properly, government counsel also argues that no extraordinary circumstances necessitate the court to grant bail and that the Immigration and Nationality Act strips district courts of their jurisdiction over Öztürk’s case.
