Opinion

Brandon v. Marshall

Court
District Court, S.D. West Virginia
Filed
Jun 4, 2024
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 32.8%

The opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA

CHARLESTON DIVISION

CHESTER BRANDON, III, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:24-cv-00265

COMMISSIONER WILLIAM

K. MARSHALL, et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

The Court has reviewed the Plaintiffs’ Verified Class Complaint for Declaratory Injunctive

Relief (Document 1), the Plaintiffs’ Emergency Motion for Temporary and Preliminary Injunctive

Relief (Document 2) and exhibit(s), and the Memorandum Supporting Plaintiffs’ Emergency

Motion for Temporary and Preliminary Injunctive Relief (Document 3). On May 30, 2024, the

Court held a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction, during which both parties

presented witness testimony. The Court has considered the facts presented in the verified

complaint, the exhibit attached to the motion for a preliminary injunction, and the testimony

presented during the hearing.

FACTS

The named Plaintiffs are Chester Brandon, III, and Harold Midkiff. The Plaintiffs bring

this claim on behalf of a class, defined to include:

all persons on parole under the authority of the WVDCR [West

Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation] who, after

having been previously approved by the Parole Board or their parole

officer to be housed at a non-West Virginia Alliance of Recovery

Residences (WVARR) certified recovery residence and not having

violated any element of their parole, have been or are being forced

by Defendants to vacate their previously approved housing by May

31, 2024.

(Compl. at ¶ 24.) The Defendants are William K. Marshall, Commissioner, the executive head of

the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR), Ronald Arnold, the Director

of Parole Services for the DCR, and Anne Thomas, the Assistant Commissioner of the DCR,

Bureau of Community Corrections. All are sued in their official capacities. This case arises in

response to a recent decision by the Defendants to require parolees who were released, in

accordance with approved home plans to recovery residences that are not certified pursuant to state

law, to vacate those residences and find other housing with limited notice.

Defendant Anne Thomas described the change in policy that led to the directive to move

parolees living in uncertified recovery residences. A state law passed in 2019 established a

process for certification of recovery residences and barred referrals from DCR, among others, to

non-certified recovery residences. Recovery residences are certified by the West Virginia

Alliance of Recovery Residences (WVARR). Legislation passed this year, Senate Bill 475,

amended that statute to provide that parolees may not be “released” to uncertified recovery

residences. She distinguished between “referrals,” which occur when staff find a place to send a

parolee, and “releases,” which includes anyone released on parole, including to residences they

identified for themselves. Ms. Thomas explained that DCR interpreted that change to be

retroactive, requiring all parolees currently in uncertified recovery residences to move. She

issued a memo on March 29, 2024, explaining the change to parole officers and other relevant staff

members, directing that all parolees be required to find alternative housing by May 31, 2024. The

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memo did not require the impacted parolees to be notified within a particular timeframe or describe

a process for finding such housing or addressing an inability to do so. She testified that

individuals who were unable to find alternative housing by May 31, 2024, would be able to remain

in their previously approved residences until they found an alternative.

Ms. Thomas testified that DCR intends to work with impacted parolees to find housing and

will not revoke anyone’s parole because of this change in policy. However, she also explained

that homelessness is not acceptable on parole, and individuals who become homeless may be

sanctioned with a jail sentence of up to 30 days while they try to secure housing. Plaintiff Harold

Midkiff testified that he was aware of someone who went to a Salvation Army shelter as a result

of the change in policy. Ms. Thomas also described a parolee who did have a revocation filed

because, after he had been informed that he needed to vacate his previously approved residence by

May 31, 2024, he moved without first obtaining approval of his new residence from his parole

officer.

The Plaintiffs presented testimony from Beverly Sharp, who runs a reentry nonprofit

providing resources and support to assist people in reentering society after incarceration. She

explained that there is a shortage of housing for previously incarcerated individuals in West

Virginia, regardless of certification, making it nearly impossible to find acceptable housing for a

large group of displaced parolees. In particular, she testified that people who had been convicted

of sex offenses and/or violent crimes lacked options, and no recovery residences currently certified

by WVARR accept sex offenders or people with lengthy violent criminal records. She and staff

members at her organization called every certified recovery residence in the state on behalf of

clients following the change in DCR policy, and found only two open beds, one of which they

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were able to secure for a client. Both Ms. Sharp and Robert Yost, the regional director for Hope

Center Ministries, where the named Plaintiffs were placed, described a chaotic scramble to find

housing for the displaced parolees, and both described conversations with DCR agents in which

they were informed that essentially any housing would be approved – a homeless shelter, a camper

at a campground, etc.

The two named Plaintiffs, and a third putative class member, David Patterson, were

released on parole to Hope Center Ministries near Parkersburg, West Virginia. Mr. Midkiff and

Mr. Patterson both provided testimony during the preliminary injunction hearing. The regional

director of Hope Center, Robert Yost, also testified. Hope Center is a religion-based spiritual

mentorship program that provides housing, substance abuse treatment, vocational training,

employment assistance, and other supportive services. Hope Center Ministries is a national non-

profit with locations across the country. The Parkersburg location has been open approximately

three years and has been receiving newly released parolees for about two years. It has national

accreditations as a recovery support specialist but is not WVARR certified. Hope Center is

currently seeking WVARR certifications but was told it could take several months because of a

backlog as uncertified residences seek to come into compliance with the new law. Mr. Brandon,

Mr. Patterson, and Mr. Midkiff were all doing well at the Hope Center and found the supportive

programming valuable, particularly in helping them maintain sobriety from controlled substances.

Hope Center was approved as their release residence in each of their Home Plans when they were

granted parole, and they had no parole violations or problems while there.

Their parole officer informed them on or about May 7, 2024, that they would need to leave

Hope Center by May 31, 2024. They, their parole officer, and Hope Center staff sought to identify

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similarly supportive housing with little success. Mr. Midkiff and Mr. Patterson were both moved

to the Union Mission, a men’s shelter in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 29, 2024. The Union

Mission offers a long-term inpatient substance abuse treatment program, which Mr. Midkiff

believes he will be able to join. Mr. Midkiff expressed concern that the disruption of his stable

housing and treatment program, with staff he found supportive, would increase his risk of relapse.

Mr. Patterson likewise expressed concern with being moved from Hope Center to a shelter. He did

not initially even recall the name of the shelter where he now resides. Mr. Patterson described

positive relationships with staff and volunteers at the Hope Center that he had developed over the

approximately nine months he had been there. They both stated that they wanted to remain at the

Hope Center. No other residence had been secured for Mr. Brandon at the time of the hearing,

and he remains at the Hope Center.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court withheld ruling on the broader motion for a

preliminary injunction but ordered that no additional parolees be moved from their previously

approved residences pending the Court’s ruling.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Rule 65(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a temporary restraining

order may be issued without notice

only if (A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint

clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage

will result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in

opposition; and (B) the movant’s attorney certifies in writing any

efforts made to give notice and the reasons why it should not be

required.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b)(1). A preliminary injunction may be issued “only on notice to the adverse

party.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(a)(1). The Defendant has appeared and responded in this matter.

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“A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that he is likely to succeed on

the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the

balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Nat.

Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008). Plaintiffs must satisfy all four requirements. JAK

Prods., Inc. v. Bayer, 616 F. App'x 94, 95 (4th Cir. 2015) (unpublished, per curiam opinion); Real

Truth About Obama, Inc. v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 575 F.3d 342, 346 (4th Cir. 2009), cert.

granted, judgment vacated, 559 U.S. 1089, 130 S. Ct. 2371, 176 L. Ed. 2d 764 (2010), and adhered

to in part sub nom. The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. F.E.C., 607 F.3d 355 (4th Cir. 2010).

The standard requires the plaintiff “to make a clear showing of likelihood of success on the merits.”

Dewhurst v. Century Aluminum Co., 649 F.3d 287, 292 (4th Cir. 2011) (quotation marks omitted).

The final two factors, “assessing the harm to the opposing party and weighing the public

interest…merge when the Government is the opposing party.” Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 435

(2009).

DISCUSSION

The Plaintiffs argue that a pre-certification class-wide preliminary injunction is appropriate

to prevent the Plaintiffs and putative class members from the loss of liberty and other “irreparable

harms, including loss of therapeutic and support relationships important to the ongoing fight

against relapse into substance abuse habits, and loss of employment obtained and pursued as part

of the rehabilitative process.” (Pl.s’ Mem. at 6.) They assert that un-approving previously

approved housing and treatment placement for parolees, without any change in conditions, is

arbitrary and capricious under these circumstances. They note that the newly enacted legislation

does not require removal of people already placed in non-certified homes. They contend that they

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are likely to succeed on their substantive due process claim because the state action is arbitrary,

unjustifiable, and outrageous, and threatens their liberty interest in continued release on parole.

The Plaintiffs stress the harm caused by removing them from supportive housing, where they have

built positive relationships and progressed in their recovery. They also argue that the balance of

equities and public interest favor preliminary relief because the DCR is in no way harmed by

permitting them to continue to reside in their previously approved recovery residences, ensuring

continued support and rehabilitation for parolees protects the public, and risking unnecessary

reincarceration into overcrowded jails and prisons harms both the parolees and the public. They

urge a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo.

The Defendants argue that there is no imminent threat of irreparable injury. They contend

that the parolees impacted by the policy change will have to have new home plans approved by

the agency, and those home plans will be designed to meet their needs. They emphasize Ms.

Thomas’s testimony that DCR will work with parolees who are struggling to find new housing,

and that there is no plan to revoke parole for those who cannot find new housing before the

deadline, and there is therefore no deprivation of liberty. They contend that parolees will still be

able to access treatment options and employment opportunities.

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

The Plaintiffs bring this claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting violation of their

14th Amendment substantive due process right to liberty. 42 U.S.C. §1983 “imposes liability on

state actors who cause the ‘deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the

Constitution.’” Callahan v. N. Carolina Dep't of Pub. Safety, 18 F.4th 142, 145 (4th Cir. 2021)

(quoting 42 U.S.C. § 1983). “The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause protects

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individuals from states that would ‘deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due

process of law.’” Id. (quoting U.S. Const. Amend. XIV, § 1.) “[A] plaintiff asserting a § 1983

substantive due process claim must allege both the deprivation of his life, liberty, or property

interest by a state actor, and that the deprivation of this interest was arbitrary in the constitutional

sense.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Cases analyzing substantive due process rights

address two “strands” of the doctrine: one that “protects rights that are ‘fundamental,’” and a

“second [that] ‘protects against the exercise of governmental power that shocks the conscience.’”

D.B. v. Cardall, 826 F.3d 721, 740 (4th Cir. 2016) (citing and quoting Seegmiller v. LaVerkin City,

528 F.3d 762, 767 (10th Cir. 2008)). Generally, when the “claimed violation is by executive act,”

“the issue of fatal arbitrariness should be addressed as a threshold question, asking whether the

challenged conduct was so egregious, so outrageous, that it may fairly be said to shock the

contemporary conscience.” Hawkins v. Freeman, 195 F.3d 732, 738 (4th Cir. 1999).

The Supreme Court has recognized that “the liberty of a parolee,” though subject to

restrictions not applicable to the general public, “is valuable and must be seen as within the

protection of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 482 (1972). In

Hawkins v. Freeman, the Fourth Circuit considered a substantive due process claim involving a

plaintiff who had been released on parole, despite his ineligibility under state law, then returned to

prison when officials realized their error. 195 F.3d at 737. In analyzing whether the

governmental conduct was fatally arbitrary, the court outlined descriptions of the type of conduct

that can support a substantive due process claim, noting that careful analysis of the specific context

and circumstances is necessary. Id. at 742. “It is conduct that involves abusing executive power,

or employing it as an instrument of oppression,” that is “more blameworthy than simple

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negligence,” and that is “intended to injure in some way unjustifiable by any government interest.”

Id. (internal punctuation and citations omitted). The court concluded that the decision at issue in

Hawkins could not meet that test, as “[n]othing about it suggests any element of vindictiveness or

of power exercised simply to oppress,” and “[t]here were legitimate governmental interest and

objectives a-plenty to justify the act.” Id. at 746.

The Defendants assert that they acted in an effort to comply with newly enacted legislation.

West Virginia Code Section 16-59-2, governing voluntary certification of recovery residences,

was amended this year to, inter alia, provide that:

A recovery residence without a valid certificate of compliance, as

provided in § 16-59-2 of this code, is prohibited from receiving a

referral or receiving a person released from prison for the placement

of any prisoner, parolee, probationer, or prospective, current, or

discharged patient, or client from the Division of Corrections and

Rehabilitation, the Parole Board, the county probation officers, day

report center, municipal courts, or a medical or clinical treatment

facility that receives funds for its operation from the State Treasury.

W. Va. Code § 16-59-2(j) (eff. June 7, 2024). Both the previous and updated versions of W. Va.

Code § 16-59-3 include language instructing the same entities not to “make a referral of any

prisoner, parolee, probationer, or prospective, current or discharged patient, or client to a recovery

residence unless the recovery residence holds a valid certificate of compliance….” W. Va. Code

§ 16-59-3(b) (eff. May 20, 2019 – June 6, 2024) and § 16-59-3(a) (eff. June 7, 2024).

As a general rule, retroactivity is disfavored. Landgraf v. USI Film Prod., 511 U.S. 244,

264, 114 S.Ct. 1483, 128 L.Ed.2d 229 (1994). A statute has retroactive effect if “it would impair

rights a party possessed when he acted, increase a party’s liability for past conduct, or impose new

duties with respect to transactions already completed.” Id. at 280, 114 S.Ct. 1483. In West

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Virginia, “[a] statute that diminishes substantive rights or augments substantive liabilities should

not be applied retroactively to events completed before the effective date of the statute ... unless

the statute provides explicitly for retroactive application.” Syl. pt. 2, Pub. Citizen, Inc. v. First

Nat. Bank in Fairmont, 198 W.Va. 329, 480 S.E.2d 538, 540–41 (1996); see also W. Va. Code §

2–2–10(bb) (“A statute is presumed to be prospective in its operation unless expressly made

retrospective.”). Further, “[t]he presumption is that a statute is intended to operate prospectively,

and not retrospectively, unless it appears, by clear, strong and imperative words or by necessary

implication, that the Legislature intended to give the statute retroactive force and effect.” Syl. pt.

3, Findley v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 213 W.Va. 80, 576 S.E.2d 807, 810 (2002) (internal

quotation marks omitted).

Nothing in Senate Bill 475, the legislation that amended the relevant sections of state code,

indicates that it has retroactive effect. As such, the change in state law provides no justification

for the Defendants’ actions. Therefore, the Court must consider whether the Defendants’ decision

to require the Plaintiffs, and the purported Plaintiff class,1 to vacate the uncertified recovery

residences, that were previously approved in their home plans, comports with due process. Based

on the testimony presented to the Court, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs’ liberty is meaningfully

at stake. First, although the Defendants indicated that they do not intend for members of the

Plaintiff class to become homeless or be revoked directly because of their inability to secure

alternative housing, there was testimony that parolees were transferred to homeless shelters as a

result of this policy, and that homelessness can result in incarceration for people on parole. Thus,

1 “[C]ourts may enter class-wide injunctive relief before certification of a class.” J.O.P. v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland

Sec., 409 F. Supp. 3d 367, 376 (D. Md. 2019); Mullins v. Cole, 218 F. Supp. 3d (S. D. W. Va. 2016) (Chambers, J.)

(granting preliminary injunction based on class-wide harms prior to class certification).

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there is a direct risk that people rendered homeless because of the Defendants’ sudden insistence

that they vacate the homes, that they secured and had approved prior to their release, will be jailed

because no suitable housing is available to them.

In addition, there is a real risk that the Plaintiffs and putative class members will be revoked

because of relapse or other violations that are far more likely after they lose the stability and

support of their approved recovery residences. Mr. Midkiff testified that he tried multiple times

to get approval for a home plan prior to his parole but could not obtain approval until he had

identified Hope Center as a release residence. Presumably, the DCR requires certain parolees to

be released to recovery residences, even if uncertified, because it determines that they are more

likely to succeed on parole with the supports those residences offer, whether that is substance abuse

treatment, therapy sessions, general structure and assistance building positive relationships, or

vocational training and employment assistance. Suddenly removing parolees who are doing well

in those residences and transferring them—with little effort at a smooth transition—to shelters or

homes with less support risks interfering with their recovery and causing them to relapse, which

may result in revocation. Even parolees moved to places with similar supportive programming

available may suffer from the disruption. Adjusting to a new substance abuse treatment program,

new therapists or other treatment providers, new participants in group therapy, finding a new

vocational program or employer, if necessary, can all be particularly burdensome for formerly

incarcerated people, as this Court regularly sees in handling a criminal docket and as the witnesses

explained. Removing someone from a substance abuse treatment program that is working, with

no process or meaningful explanation, may well trigger a relapse into active drug abuse, which

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violates the conditions of release on parole. Thus, the Plaintiffs have demonstrated that this policy

may well result in re-incarceration.

As discussed above, the Supreme Court has recognized that parolees have a liberty interest

in remaining free from unjustified re-incarceration. The Plaintiffs here have presented sufficient

evidence to show a likelihood of success in demonstrating that the Defendants’ actions threaten

that interest. The Court must next consider whether the Defendants’ actions are sufficiently

egregious and oppressive to be constitutionally arbitrary. Cnty. of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S.

833, 845–47 (1998). The Defendants approved home plans and released the Plaintiffs and

putative class members to the uncertified recovery homes where they participated in assorted

supportive programming. Following amendments to a statute that, on the record before the Court,

did nothing to alter the Plaintiffs’ status or the legality of their release to these placements—release

which pre-dated the statutory amendment—the Defendants gave them approximately three weeks’

notice to leave those residences, despite a long-standing shortage of housing of any sort for

parolees. Despite previously requiring these individuals to secure housing in a recovery residence

in their home plans, the Defendants now encourage them to find anything with running water and

electricity, or simply transport them to a shelter. In short, the Defendants placed all the burden of

a crisis they manufactured on the shoulders of those most vulnerable and least able to weather it.2

Giving people already facing barriers to finding housing three weeks to move is outrageous.

Suddenly removing people with substance abuse disorder from treatment programs they are

progressing in and wish to continue, with the constant threat that relapse can result in revocation,

2 For example, there is nothing in the record suggesting efforts to facilitate or pressure WVARR to process

certification applications of recovery residences like the Hope Center before the June 7 effective date of the legislation,

rather than displacing residents.

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shocks the conscience. In ordering the Plaintiffs to leave their recovery residences without

sufficient time or any process to challenge the directive, the Defendants disregarded the interests,

and indeed the humanity of the affected parolees, even though they are in large part the group that

the certification requirement was designed to protect. Treating the parolees as though their lives

are of no consequence and cavalierly throwing away their hard work and progress in recovery and

rehabilitation supports a finding of oppressive ill-intent, not mere negligence.

The outrageousness of the executive action here is unmitigated by any countervailing

governmental interest. Certification of recovery homes is, of course, a valid legislative priority.

However, the legislation does not require disruption of existing placements, and the policy is not,

for instance, to transfer people from uncertified recovery residences into appropriate certified

recovery residences as space becomes available. Instead, the Defendants chose to unilaterally

displace vulnerable parolees, causing some to become homeless and risking the recovery efforts

of others. Therefore, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits.

B. Irreparable Harm

The Court’s previous discussion touched on the harm caused to the Plaintiffs in the absence

of preliminary relief, and the Court will not belabor the point. Removing the Plaintiffs from stable

placements, which provide both housing and treatment, causes irreparable harm by interrupting

that treatment, disrupting positive relationships, and depriving them of stable housing. Although

programs with similar treatment availability were secured for some of the impacted parolees,

removing them from a consistent treatment program in which they were successful for the

uncertainty of a new program is harmful. Mr. Yost testified about the program phases at Hope

Center. Starting a new program will inevitably discard some progress, particularly progress that

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derives from relationships with treatment providers and fellow participants that develop over time.

Discontinuing a treatment program without any basis in the participant’s treatment goals, behavior,

progress, or needs, constitutes irreparable harm in these circumstances.

C. Balance of Equities and Public Interest

The Court further finds that the public interest supports an injunction. As the Supreme

Court explained:

The parolee is not the only one who has a stake in his conditional

liberty. Society has a stake in whatever may be the chance of

restoring him to normal and useful life within the law. Society thus

has an interest in not having parole revoked because of erroneous

information or because of an erroneous evaluation of the need to

revoke parole, given the breach of parole conditions. And society

has a further interest in treating the parolee with basic fairness: fair

treatment in parole revocations will enhance the chance of

rehabilitation by avoiding reactions to arbitrariness.

Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 484, 92 S. Ct. 2593, 2601–02, 33 L. Ed. 2d 484 (1972) (internal

citations omitted). The Plaintiffs’ chances of successfully rebuilding their lives, overcoming

addiction and mental health problems, repairing family relationships, and securing gainful

employment are diminished when they are removed from the very programs designed to help them

accomplish those goals. The public has a strong interest in ensuring that people released on parole

are able to transition successfully into law-abiding, productive citizens. The injunction requested

in this case ensures that the Plaintiffs and putative class members cannot be needlessly removed

from supportive programs where they wish to remain.

The Defendants did not identify any harm they will suffer by continuing the status quo for

those parolees who were released prior to the amendment to W. Va. Code § 16-59-1 et seq. The

Court would also note that the certification issue appears likely to be temporary. DCR will no

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longer release parolees to uncertified recovery residences, those recovery residences that are

eligible for certification will presumably pursue it, as Hope Center is, and parolees currently

enrolled in uncertified recovery residences will presumably complete the programs within the next

months or year(s). The issue here is only whether the Plaintiffs and putative class members may

remain in the uncertified recovery residences to which they were released while WVARR

processes certification applications prompted by the 2024 amendments.

Finding that the factors relevant to a preliminary injunction each weigh in favor of the

Plaintiffs, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary relief should be granted.

D. Bond

Rule 65(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “[t]he court may issue a

preliminary injunction…only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers

proper to pay the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined

or restrained.” The Plaintiffs argue that the bond should be waived or nominal because they are

indigent, the public has an interest in the issues raised herein, and the preliminary injunction

requested will not result in monetary costs or damages to the Defendants. Finding that the

Defendants would sustain no damages should the injunction granted herein be found to be

wrongful, and in light of the public interest in this matter, the Court finds that no bond should be

required.

CONCLUSION

Wherefore, after thorough review and careful consideration, the Court ORDERS that the

Plaintiffs’ Emergency Motion for Temporary and Preliminary Injunctive Relief (Document 2) be

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GRANTED. Specifically, the Court ORDERS that the following INJUNCTIVE RELIEF be

GRANTED:

1. The Defendants are DIRECTED to return to the status quo before the Defendants

began forcing individuals out of parole approved, uncertified recovery residences by

ceasing to force Plaintiffs and absent class members out of their parole approved

housing at recovery residences;

2. The Defendants are DIRECTED to permit members of the absent class who have

already been removed from their parole approved housing at recovery residences to

return to their prior housing arrangements, if so desired; and

3. The Defendants are DIRECTED to permit any member of the putative class who

has not yet been removed from their recovery residence housing to stay in that

housing—absent any unrelated change in circumstance—until such time as sufficient

recovery residence housing meeting the state’s certification requirement becomes

available for the class.

The Court DIRECTS the Clerk to send a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to

any unrepresented party.

ENTER: June 4, 2024

Dire. Benger’

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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