Resource: Judge Abruptly Reverses Order to Have a Fact-Finder Investigate South Florida ICE Jails

By: Monique Madan

July 6, 2020

miamiherald.com

Just hours after appointing an independent fact-finder to investigate possible “inhumane conditions, deliberate indifference and cruel and unusual punishment” at three South Florida immigration detention centers, a Miami federal judge abruptly reversed her order on Monday without explanation.

In an eight-page scathing order filed earlier in the day, U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke assigned an investigator to determine whether or not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have violated her previous court orders aimed at preventing coronavirus cases behind bars.

However, hours after naming Michael B. Chavies– a longtime Miami trial lawyer, former Miami-Dade circuit judge and partner at Akerman LLP in Miami – to inspect and investigate the Krome Processing Center in Miami-Dade, the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and the Glades Detention Center in Moore Haven, Cooke undid her order.