Welch v. United States

MEMORANDUM

BLAKE, District Judge.

Ricardo Antonio Welch, Jr. suffered a 422-day detention under an immigration statute that was unconstitutionally applied due to its failure to afford Mr. Welch a bail hearing. See Welch v. Reno, 101 F.Supp.2d 347 (D.Md.2000), aff'd on other grounds, Welch v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 213 (4th Cir.2002). Although the Supreme Court subsequently rejected a constitutional challenge to the statute in another case, see Demore v. Hyung Joon Kim, 538 U.S. 510, 123 S.Ct. 1708, 155 L.Ed.2d 724 (2003), Mr. Welch’s litigation led to a court-ordered hearing at which an immigration…