The judge presiding over a civil rights case in which detainees of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County are seeking remote access to the New Jersey State Court system has indicated she will address new issues raised by immigration authorities “in due course.”

Judge Stephanie L. Haines, presiding in the District Court located in Johnstown, last month ruled that Moshannon Valley was to provide remote access for detainees who contended in a civil rights lawsuit that they were being deprived of their constitutional right to have access to the New Jersey state court system.

The detainees maintained in a lawsuit filed by The American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights Program of New Jersey that they were having difficulty addressing criminal charges that landed them in Moshannon Valley in the first place, and which jeopardized their efforts to remain in the United States.

Moshannon Valley is a detention facility that houses more than 1,200 individuals taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Haines, during a preliminary injunction hearing in which the attorneys for the immigrant plaintiffs argued their clients were being denied access to the court system, ruled the constitutional rights of the inmates were being violated.

In her opinion, Haines pointed out that ICE had taken custody of the individuals and that ICE, not New Jersey, was therefore “tasked with ensuring detainees’ civil rights are supported.”

The lawsuit contended that remote access to the New Jersey Criminal Court System was the best way to resolve the issue.

But immigration authorities responded that they needed clarification concerning Haines’ order.

They wanted to know if the order applied only to the individuals who filed the lawsuit, or if it applied to all 1,200 inmates.

The authorities wanted the judge to determine if tablets and telephones were to be made available at various locations in the institution and how facilities for remote hearings would be scheduled.

Haines asked both sides of the issue to file additional legal briefs addressing the new issues raised by Moshannon Valley and immigration authorities.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in their brief pointed out that “individuals charged with a crime have a right to appear and defend themselves in criminal court proceedings. And yet, defendants, government actors responsible for enforcing federal immigration law, deny the only readily available and meaningful way for the people they detain at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center with unresolved charges against them in New Jersey to attend court: virtual access.”

The defense in a brief filed Friday requested dismissal of several charges aired in the lawsuit, and noted that the people named as plaintiffs have now all been released from custody and therefore the lawsuit is moot.

The government response also indicated that at this point no “class” of people (such as all the detainees at Moshannon Valley) has yet been certified or given plaintiff status.

The defense also takes issue with the suggestion that Moshannon Valley inmates have no access to the state criminal court system, noting in-person writs are available to the inmates. Under a writ, a person would be released to New Jersey officials for a hearing and then be returned to Moshannon Valley after the hearing.

The last hearing on the issues occurred on March 11.