Petition For Extraordinary Relief
Petition For Extraordinary Relief
10225)
Jason M. Groth (USB No. 16683) Nicolas H.K. Jackson (USB No. 15079)
Sara R. Wolovick (USB No. 17352) Disability Law Center
Leah Farrell (USB No. 13696) 205 North 400 West
ACLU OF UTAH FOUNDATION, INC. Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
355 North 300 West Telephone: (801) 363-1347
Salt Lake City, Utah 84103 Facsimile: (801) 363-1437
Telephone: (801) 521-9863 Email: [email protected]
Facsimile: (801) 532-2850 [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
v.
Defendants-Respondents
COMES NOW, the Petitioners, the ACLU OF UTAH, DISABILITY LAW CENTER,
CONTRACTING COVID-19 (“Petitioners”), by and through counsel, and hereby petitions this
Honorable Court for an Order granting Extraordinary Relief directing Respondents THE STATE
Director, Utah Department of Corrections; CARRIE L. COCHRAN, Board Chair, Utah Board of
Pardons and Parole; ALL COUNTIES; and ALL COUNTY SHERIFFS of the State of Utah, in
reduce the population of their Correctional Facilities and Correctional Centers by releasing—
with 180 days or fewer to serve on a sentence, and all individuals that are at high-risk for serious
complications from contracting COVID-19. This Order would prevent the loss of life and harm
that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic would cause in correctional facilities.
Extraordinary relief is an appropriate remedy in this situation where the dangerous spread
action from Respondents, and no other legal remedy would provide a plain, speedy, or adequate
response needed to avert a medical crisis in Utah’s correctional facilities. It is appropriate for this
Court to bypass Rule 65B’s requirement that this Petition originate in a district court and take
original jurisdiction of this Petition because filing multiple petitions to individual district courts
across the state would fail to effectively address time-sensitive health and medical issues in this
pandemic where crucial developments unfold not on a weekly or daily basis, but on an hourly
basis. Moreover, district courts are currently operating in limited capacity increasing the chances
of delay and confusion in attempting to obtain the relief needed here. For the aforementioned
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Burton
Utah Association of Criminal Defense
Attorneys
Aaron M. Kinikini
Nicholas H.K. Jackson
Disability Law Center