03/25/2020 DA 18-0661 Case Number: DA 18-0661 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 2020 MT 69 AGUSTIN RAMON, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. DARREN SHORT, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Lincoln County and Administrator of Lincoln County Detention Center, Defendant and Appellee. APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Nineteenth Judicial District, In and For the County of Lincoln, Cause No. DV-18-218 Honorable Matthew J. Cuffe, Presiding Judge COUNSEL OF RECORD: For Appellant: Alex Rate (argued), Elizabeth K. Ehret, ACLU of Montana, Missoula, Montana Shahid Haque, Border Crossing Law Firm, Helena, Montana Cody Wofsy, Spencer Amdur, ACLU Foundation, Immigrants’ Rights Project, San Francisco, California Omar C. Jadwat, Daniel Galindo (argued), ACLU Foundation, Immigrants’ Rights Project, New York, New York For Appellee: Maureen H. Lennon (argued), MACo Defense Services, Helena, Montana For Amicus Curiae Scholars: James H. Goetz, Jeff Tierney, Goetz, Baldwin & Geddes, P.C., Bozeman, Montana For Amicus Curiae Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: Colin M. Stephens, Smith & Stephens, P.C., Missoula, Montana Katherine Evans, University of Idaho College of Law, Moscow, Idaho For Amicus Curiae United States: Kurt G. Alme, United States Attorney, Chad C. Spraker, Assistant United States Attorney, Helena, Montana Joseph P. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, William C. Peachey, Director, Erez Reuveni, Assistant Director, Lauren Bingham, Senior Litigation Counsel, Francesca M. Genova (argued), Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. Argued and Submitted: January 8, 2020 Decided: March 25, 2020 Filed: oe,,6tA- -if __________________________________________ Clerk 2 Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Opinion of the Court. ¶1 Appellant Agustin Ramon (“Ramon”) appeals from a November 16, 2018 Nineteenth Judicial District Court, Lincoln County, order denying his application for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. In August 2018, Ramon was arrested on a charge of burglary and booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center (“Detention Center”) in Libby, Montana. When Ramon attempted to post bond, the Detention Center informed the bond company that Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short (“Sheriff”)1 would continue to detain Ramon, even if his bond were paid and he was otherwise entitled to release, since the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Border Patrol”) had sent the Detention Center a civil immigration detainer request under the Immigration and Nationality Act. ¶2 We restate the following issues on appeal: Issue One: Whether an exception to the mootness doctrine applies to a challenge to the lawfulness of a Montana law enforcement officer detaining an individual for a suspected violation of civil immigration law at the request of the federal government. Issue Two: Whether a Montana law enforcement officer carrying out a federal detainer constitutes an arrest under Montana law. Issue Three: Whether a Montana law enforcement officer has state law authority to conduct a civil immigration arrest in response to a federal detainer request. ¶3 We affirm in part and reverse in part. 1 At the time of the complaint, the Sheriff of Lincoln County was Roby Rowe. However, for the purposes of this Opinion we will maintain consistency and clarity by referring ...
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