U.S. District Judge Denise Casper ruled to move Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s case to Vermont on Friday, denying the government’s motion to dismiss Öztürk’s habeas corpus petition and request to transfer the case to Louisiana, where Öztürk is currently held.
Casper’s decision follows a Thursday court hearing where Öztürk’s lawyers argued for her transfer to Vermont, if not to Massachusetts.
“The irregularity of the arrest, detention and processing here is coupled with the failure to disclose Ozturk’s whereabouts even after the government was aware that she had counsel and the Petition was filed in this Court,” Casper wrote in the court order.
Casper ruled that the District of Vermont is the proper court for Öztürk’s case because she was held overnight in Vermont when the petition was filed. Öztürk’s counsel cannot be faulted for filing the petition’s respondents in Massachusetts, the state she was detained in, because Öztürk was unable to communicate her whereabouts to her counsel until she was in Louisiana, Casper continued.
“To ensure that Ozturk has an opportunity to have the Petition considered by the District of Vermont, and to preserve the status quo, this Court’s March 28, 2025 Order enjoining the government from removing her from the United States, D. 16, shall remain in effect unless and until the transferee court orders otherwise,” Casper wrote.
