Kutak Rock attorney Amanda Cefalu, on behalf of the ACLU-MN, prevailed in Minnesota’s U.S. District Court’s first remote jury trial, Myriam Parada v. Anoka County.

On January 28, a jury found that Anoka County falsely imprisoned plaintiff Myriam Parada in 2017 by applying an unwritten and unconstitutional policy which required jail detention deputies to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when foreign born persons were brought to the jail. The jury concluded that Ms. Parada was falsely imprisoned when the jail transferred her to ICE instead of releasing her after processing. The jury awarded Ms. Parada $30,000 in damages. 

According to a press release from the ACLU-MN, “The jail held her for several hours so it could turn her over to ICE. In a previous ruling in this case, the U.S. District Court in Minnesota already found that the jail’s unwritten policy of holding anyone born outside the U.S. for ICE -- regardless of citizenship or immigration status -- discriminates against people on the basis of national origin, violating the 14th Amendment right to equal protection.” 

“I’m so proud of being part of this lawsuit and getting rid of this policy,” Myriam Parada said. “I didn’t want to see this happen to anyone else. I’m so thankful to everyone.” Attorneys on this case included Amanda Cefalu and Nathan Boone of Kutak Rock LLP; Alain Baudry of Saul Ewing; and Ian Bratlie and Teresa Nelson of the ACLU-MN.