ACLU: Feds Settle Suit For Illegal Imprisonment
DENVER (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union says the federal government has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit over claims that a man was illegally held in jail while authorities investigated his immigration status.
The ACLU said Tuesday Luis Quezada spent 47 days in the Jefferson County jail while the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated if he was violating immigration laws.
ICE officials were reviewing the case and didn't immediately comment Tuesday.
The ACLU says a lawsuit against Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink is pending.
Quezada was arrested in May 2009 for not appearing in court on traffic charges. ICE asked the jail to hold Quezada for 48 more hours while they debated taking him into custody.
The ACLU says Mink should have released Quezada after the hold expired.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
