Unrestrained? New York's highest court weighs whether lawyers can use special petition to get the incarcerated out of shackles in hospitals

New York’s highest court heard arguments about whether an incarcerated, mentally ill man can use a habeas corpus petition to challenge physical restraints imposed by NYPD officers. The officers shackled him to a hospital bed for 26 days despite physician orders. Judges considered whether other legal remedies, such as a lawsuit, would be more appropriate, while also questioning whether extreme restraint that prevents basic bodily functions fits the purpose of habeas relief. The court examined concerns about whether habeas proceedings would move too quickly for the city to respond. A ruling could clarify the correct legal pathway in New York for challenging unlawful physical restraint by police and potentially expand habeas use.

"New York state's highest court heard arguments Wednesday in a case where NYPD officers shackled an incarcerated, mentally ill man to a hospital bed for 26 days against a physician's orders. Now, judges are weighing whether that man should be able to challenge those restraints not the custody itself with a habeas corpus petition, a legal action designed to get people out of illegal custody."

"Judges questioned whether other legal remedies, such as a lawsuit, would be more appropriate in these situations, while expressing the view that challenging this type of extreme physical restraint, where a person can't even stand to use the bathroom, may be exactly what habeas petitions were designed for."

"That's the point of a habeas: that there are particular types of confinement and restraint that must be dealt with immediately, that society says we cannot allow, Judge Jenny Rivera said in response to arguments from the city's attorney that allowing habeas petitions to be used in cases like this would be improper and result in proceedings that moved too fast for the city to properly argue."

"They might not have succeeded on the merits of the habeas, but we're just talking about the ability to move the case along, Rivera said. This is not like any other type of confinement. Ruling could set new precedent in New York on habeas petition What exactly a habeas petition can be used for has long been a question of debate."

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