Reid v. Donelan ( 2021 )


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  •           United States Court of Appeals
    For the First Circuit
    Nos. 19-1787, 19-1900
    MARK ANTHONY REID; ROBERT WILLIAMS, on behalf of himself and
    others similarly situated; LEO FELIX CHARLES, on behalf of
    himself and others similarly situated,
    Petitioners, Appellants/Cross-Appellees,
    v.
    CHRISTOPHER J. DONELAN, Sheriff, Franklin County, Massachusetts;
    LORI STREETER, Superintendent, Franklin County Jail & House of
    Correction; THOMAS M. HODGSON, Sheriff, Bristol County,
    Massachusetts; JOSEPH D. MCDONALD, JR., Sheriff, Plymouth
    County, Massachusetts; STEVEN W. TOMPKINS, Sheriff, Suffolk
    County, Massachusetts; ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS*, Secretary of the
    Department of Homeland Security; DENIS C. RIORDAN, Director,
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement Boston Field Office; MERRICK
    B. GARLAND, Attorney General; JEAN KING, Acting Director of the
    Executive Office for Immigration Review; EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR
    IMMIGRATION REVIEW; DAVID DUBOIS, Sheriff, Strafford County, New
    Hampshire; CHRISTOPHER BRACKETT, Superintendent, Strafford
    County House of Corrections; TAE D. JOHNSON, Acting Director,
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
    Respondents, Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
    APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
    [Hon. Patti B. Saris, U.S. District Judge]
    *  Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), Secretary of Homeland
    Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland,
    Acting Director Jean King, and Acting Director Tae D. Johnson have
    been substituted as respondents.
    Before
    Lynch, Lipez, and Kayatta,
    Circuit Judges.
    Anant K. Saraswat and Michael Tayag, with whom Michelle Nyein,
    Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C., Grace Choi, Kayla Crowell, Aseem
    Mehta, Alden Pinkham, Bianca Rey, Marisol Orihuela, Michael
    Wishnie, Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, Michael K.T.
    Tan, and ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project were on brief, for
    appellants/cross-appellees.
    William Tong, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut,
    Clare Kindall, Solicitor General of the State of Connecticut,
    Joshua Perry, Special Counsel for Civil Rights, Kathleen Jennings,
    Attorney General of the State of Delaware, Keith Ellison, Attorney
    General of the State of Minnesota, Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General
    of the State of Nevada, Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General of
    the State of New Mexico, Letitia James, Attorney General of the
    State of New York, Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General of the
    State of Oregon, Thomas J. Donovan, Jr., Attorney General of the
    State of Vermont, Maura Healey, Attorney General of the
    Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mark R. Herring, Attorney General
    of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Karl A. Racine, Attorney
    General of the District of Columbia, on brief for the States of
    Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York,
    Oregon, and Vermont, the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and
    Virginia, and the District of Columbia, amici curiae.
    Alina Das, Rebecca Suldan, and Washington Square Legal
    Services, Immigrant Rights Clinic, on brief for Boston College
    Immigration Clinic, Boston University School of Law, Immigrants'
    Rights and Human Trafficking Program, Detention Watch Network,
    Families for Freedom, Greater Boston Legal Services, Harvard Law
    School Crimmigration Clinic, Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant
    Legal Resource Center, Lawyers for Civil Rights, National
    Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and Suffolk
    University Law School Immigration Clinic, amici curiae.
    Kevin P. Martin, Madelaine M. Cleghorn, and Goodwin Procter
    LLP, on brief for The American Immigration Lawyers Association,
    amicus curiae.
    Sarah H. Paoletti and Transnational Legal Clinic, University
    of Pennsylvania Law School, on brief for International Law
    Professors and Human Rights Clinicians, amici curiae.
    James J. Beha II and Morrison & Foerster LLP, on brief for
    Retired Immigration Judges and Board of Immigration Appeals
    Members, amici curiae.
    Nina Rabin and Immigrant Family Legal Clinic, UCLA School of
    - 2 -
    Law, on brief for 35 Scholars and Researchers in Sociology,
    Criminology, Anthropology, Psychology, Geography, Public Health,
    Medicine, Latin American Studies, and Law, Whose Work Relates to
    Incarceration, Detention, and the Effect of U.S. Immigration
    Detention and Removal Policies on Migrant Populations, amici
    curiae.
    Jonathan D. Selbin, Jason L. Lichtman, Katherine I. McBride,
    Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Andrew R. Kaufman, and Lieff Cabraser
    Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, on brief for Civil Law Professors, amici
    curiae.
    Lauren E. Fascett, Senior Litigation Counsel, Civil Division,
    Office of Immigration Litigation, with whom Joseph H. Hunt,
    Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, William C. Peachey,
    Director,   District   Court   Section,  Office   of   Immigration
    Litigation, Elianis N. Perez, Assistant Director, Sarah S. Wilson,
    Senior Litigation Counsel, Appellate Counsel Section, Office of
    Immigration Litigation, and Catherine M. Reno, Trial Attorney,
    Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation, were on brief
    for appellees/cross-appellants.
    October 26, 2021
    - 3 -
    KAYATTA, Circuit Judge.       This class action, brought on
    behalf of noncitizen detainees held without possibility of release
    pending the completion of their removal proceedings, comes before
    this court for a second time.      See Reid v. Donelan, 
    819 F.3d 486
    (1st Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 
    138 S. Ct. 1547
     (2018), withdrawn,
    Nos. 14-1270, 14-1803, 14-1823, 
    2018 WL 4000993
     (1st Cir. May 11,
    2018).    On this occasion, we affirm the district court's ruling
    that there is no per se constitutional entitlement to a bond
    hearing after six months of detention.         We otherwise vacate the
    district court's declaratory and injunctive relief as advisory and
    remand for entry of judgment.      Our reasoning follows.
    I.
    Petitioners represent a certified class of noncitizens
    who have been detained by the Department of Homeland Security's
    (DHS)    Immigration   and   Customs   Enforcement   (ICE)   division   in
    Massachusetts and New Hampshire pursuant to 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c) for
    more than six months without a bond hearing.1          Section 1226(c),
    often called the mandatory detention provision, "carves out a
    statutory category of aliens who may not be released" during
    removal proceedings, outside of certain limited circumstances.
    1  At the close of discovery in the district court case, 113
    individuals had vested into the class; of those, 104 had received
    bond hearings as a result of the district court's injunction in
    this case. By the time briefing was submitted in this appeal, the
    number of class members had risen to 158.
    - 4 -
    Jennings v. Rodriguez, 
    138 S. Ct. 830
    , 837 (2018) (emphasis in
    original).     Under section 1226(c), the government "shall take into
    custody" any noncitizen who is inadmissible or deportable based
    on, among other things, a conviction for certain crimes involving
    moral    turpitude,     controlled      substance       offenses,     aggravated
    felonies, certain firearm offenses, or certain acts associated
    with terrorism. 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c)(1). The statute allows release
    of a noncitizen properly subject to mandatory detention under
    section 1226(c) "only for witness protection purposes and only
    [then] if the alien shows he is not a danger to the community or
    a risk of flight."      Reid v. Donelan, 
    390 F. Supp. 3d 201
    , 214 (D.
    Mass. 2019); see also 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c)(2).
    The district court judge to whom the case was first
    assigned observed that the absence of any provision for release on
    bond    from   a   prolonged    detention      might     call   the    statute's
    constitutionality into question.              The district court therefore
    read into section 1226(c) a requirement that detainees receive an
    individualized     bond     hearing    once    further     detention     becomes
    "unreasonable."     Reid v. Donelan, 
    991 F. Supp. 2d 275
    , 277—78 (D.
    Mass.    2014).       The   court     then    further     considered     whether
    "reasonableness" should be assessed for each detainee based on his
    or her individual circumstances or whether the statute shall be
    read as requiring a "bright-line rule" limiting detention without
    a bond hearing to six months for all persons detained under
    - 5 -
    section 1226(c).      
    Id.
     at 279—80.          The court concluded that the
    statute should be read as mandating an individualized bond hearing
    after no more than six months of detention.              Id. at 279.        In the
    alternative, the court found that even if no bright-line rule
    applied,   Reid's     own     individual       circumstances      required      an
    opportunity for a bond hearing, citing the length of his fourteen-
    month detention, the uncertainty of his removal, and the absence
    of any dilatory tactics by Reid himself.            Id. at 282.
    On   appeal,      this     court   reversed     the    holding     that
    section 1226(c)     included    a    bright-line    rule   that    all     persons
    detained must receive an individualized bond hearing after six
    months of detention.         Reid, 819 F.3d at 491, 496.             We agreed,
    though, that the statute included "an implicit reasonableness
    limitation," the length of which would turn on the individual
    circumstances presented by each detainee.               Id. at 494, 496, 502.
    At the same time, we reviewed and affirmed the district court's
    alternative     holding        that        section 1226(c)       required       an
    individualized bond hearing in Reid's own case.              Id. at 501.
    Importantly for our present purposes, we observed that
    "the   bright-line    rule     was    an    essential    predicate    to     class
    certification."      Id.    In vacating the class certification order,
    we left it for the district court in the first instance to decide
    on remand whether "it is feasible to redefine the class."                   Id. at
    502.
    - 6 -
    The Supreme Court subsequently issued its decision in
    Jennings        v.    Rodriguez,      rejecting     the     contention        that
    section 1226(c) can be read as requiring bond hearings after six
    months     of    immigration     detention.        The     Court     found    that
    section 1226(c) clearly precludes release on bond prior to the end
    of removal proceedings (except for witness protection purposes).
    
    138 S. Ct. at 846-47
    .            The Court reasoned that the canon of
    constitutional avoidance had no role to play when the statute
    itself spoke clearly on the matter at hand.               
    Id. at 847
    .    Whether
    the statute for that reason might be unconstitutional under some
    circumstances, the Court did not decide.             See 
    id. at 851
    .
    Following Jennings, we withdrew our 2016 opinion and
    vacated the judgment.       See Reid v. Donelan, Nos. 14-1270, 14-1803,
    14-1823, 
    2018 WL 4000993
    , at *1 (1st Cir. May 11, 2018).                     In so
    doing, we affirmed the district court's judgment as to named
    plaintiff Mark Reid himself,2 vacated the judgment as to the class
    members,    and      remanded   the   case    to   the    district    court    for
    "reconsideration of the certification order."               
    Id.
    2  The district court made only one ruling specific to Reid:
    that even if there was no presumption that detention over six
    months was unreasonable, the individualized circumstances of
    Reid's case rendered his continued detention unreasonable. The
    district court ordered a hearing. After the hearing, Reid posted
    bond and was released, following 400 days of civil detention.
    Reid, 819 F.3d at 492.
    - 7 -
    Following remand, a second district court judge took
    over the case.     After briefing and argument, the district court
    allowed the addition of two new named plaintiffs to replace Reid.
    Reid v. Donelan, No. 13-30125-PBS, 
    2018 WL 5269992
    , at *3 (D. Mass.
    Oct. 23, 2018).   The court also allowed plaintiffs to pursue a new
    theory:     that "the Due Process Clause or Excessive Bail Clause
    requires that they at least have the chance to plead their case
    after six months at an individualized bond or reasonableness
    hearing."    Id. at *5.   Based on this new constitutional version of
    a bright-line six-month rule, the district court allowed the case
    to proceed as a class action.      Analogizing to the earlier ruling
    certifying a class to advocate for relief based on an implied
    statutory requirement of a bright-line six-month rule, the court
    reasoned that the new theory similarly posed a common question
    that could generate a right to relief as a matter of law without
    reference to varying individual circumstances.      Id. at *5—6.   "A
    holding that the Constitution provides a right to a reasonableness
    hearing during a prolonged detention would resolve all class
    members' claims at once."      Id. at *6.3   The district court also
    expanded the class slightly to include "[a]ll individuals who are
    or will be detained within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or
    3  The "reasonableness hearing" sought by plaintiffs would
    take place before an immigration judge, who would determine
    "whether the continued denial of a bond hearing was reasonable."
    - 8 -
    the State of New Hampshire pursuant to 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c) for over
    six months and have not been afforded an individualized bond or
    reasonableness hearing."   Id. at *8.4
    After cross-motions for summary judgment "on whether
    mandatory detention of the class members under 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c)
    for over six months violates the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause
    or the Eighth Amendment Excessive Bail Clause," the district court
    partially granted and partially denied each side's motion and
    issued a declaratory order and a permanent injunction.      Reid, 390
    F. Supp. 3d at 209–10, 227–28.
    Most significantly for present purposes, the district
    court rejected petitioners' contention that every detainee must
    have the opportunity for a hearing after no more than six months
    of detention.   Instead, the court reasoned, determining the length
    of time that might constitutionally pass without a bond hearing
    requires   "a   fact-specific    analysis"   that   turns   on   each
    "noncitizen's individual circumstances."     Id. at 209.
    Rather than stopping at that point, the district court
    also issued declaratory and injunctive relief in favor of all class
    members, irrespective of their individual circumstances.         That
    4  The class was defined originally as "all individuals who
    are or will be detained within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
    pursuant to § 1226(c) for over six months and are not provided an
    individualized bond hearing." Reid v. Donelan, 
    297 F.R.D. 185
    ,
    187 (D. Mass. 2014).
    - 9 -
    relief    established   detailed   substantive     and    procedural   rules
    whereby individual detainees might pursue release.                The court
    decreed that detention without a bond hearing "is likely to be
    unreasonable if it lasts for more than one year [during removal
    proceedings before the agency], excluding any delays due to the
    alien's dilatory tactics."     Looking even further ahead to possible
    bond hearings themselves, the district court also ordered the
    government to follow the "procedural rules mandated by due process
    at a bond hearing."      Id. at 226.      In the district court's view,
    those rules meant that in any bond hearing held for a class member
    whose    individual   circumstances    warranted   such    a   hearing,   the
    government must prove the noncitizen "either dangerous by clear
    and convincing evidence or a risk of flight by a preponderance of
    the evidence."    Id. at 228.      The immigration court would not be
    allowed "to impose excessive bail, must evaluate the alien's
    ability to pay in setting bond, and must consider alternative
    conditions of release such as GPS monitoring that reasonably assure
    the safety of the community and the alien's future appearances."
    Id.
    Both sides appeal.
    II.
    We begin with a jurisdictional digression not raised by
    any party.    In 2014, the district court ordered the government to
    conduct a bond hearing as to Mark Reid; after the hearing took
    - 10 -
    place, Reid posted bond and was released after 400 days of civil
    detention.    Reid, 819 F.3d at 492.     After detaining new class
    representative Leo Charles for more than a year, the government
    announced he was not properly subject to mandatory detention and
    released him the day before the government's brief in his case was
    due.   And the government deported the last class representative,
    Robert Williams, after eleven months of mandatory detention, but
    he then won his petition for review.   Petitioners point to no facts
    at all showing that renewed detention is imminent, or even likely.
    The government in turn disavows any intent to detain them further.
    Their claims are therefore at this point moot.
    Nevertheless,   post-certification     mootness   of   the
    individual claims of a class representative regarding an actual
    prior detention does not necessarily moot either the claims of the
    class or the case as a whole.    See Sosna v. Iowa, 
    419 U.S. 393
    ,
    402 (1975) ("[While] there must be a live controversy at the time
    [a c]ourt reviews [a] case," "[t]he controversy may exist . . .
    between a named defendant and a member of the class represented by
    the named plaintiff, even though the claim of the named plaintiff
    has become moot."); Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 
    569 U.S. 66
    , 74 (2013) (citing Sosna for the proposition that "a class
    action is not rendered moot when the named plaintiff's claim
    becomes moot after the class has been duly certified" (emphasis in
    original)).   "The Court reasoned [in Sosna] that when a district
    - 11 -
    court certifies a class, 'the class of unnamed persons described
    in the certification acquire[s] a legal status separate from the
    interest asserted by [the named plaintiff].'"     Genesis Healthcare
    Corp., 
    569 U.S. at
    74–75 (quoting Sosna, 
    419 U.S. at
    399–402).        We
    therefore proceed to the merits of the appeal.5
    III.
    We consider next petitioners' argument that the district
    court erred in refusing to hold that all persons detained under
    section 1226(c)   have   a   constitutional   right     to   a   hearing
    concerning the reasonableness of their continued detention after
    they have been detained longer than six months.       For the following
    reasons, we agree with the district court.
    First, we adhere to the notion that "the Due Process
    Clause imposes some form of 'reasonableness' limitation upon the
    duration of detention . . . under [section 1226(c)]," Reid, 819
    F.3d at 494.   We nevertheless also continue to view the Supreme
    Court's ruling in Demore v. Kim, 
    538 U.S. 510
    , 530–31 (2003), "as
    implicitly foreclosing our ability to adopt a firm six-month rule"
    5  The government does not argue that the failure to designate
    a new class representative should affect this appeal, nor does it
    challenge    the   adequacy   of   the   currently    named   class
    representatives under Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil
    Procedure. In the absence of prejudice to the defendant, courts
    have consistently granted plaintiffs leave to substitute named
    representatives when a class has already been certified and the
    certified representative becomes unavailable.      1 McLaughlin on
    Class Actions: Law & Practice § 4:36 (17th ed. 2020).
    - 12 -
    equally applicable to all section 1226(c) detainees, Reid, 819
    F.3d at 497.6 Jennings, which caused the withdrawal of our previous
    opinion in this case, did nothing to call that view into question.
    It requires no reading of tea leaves to see that Demore
    is fatal to the claim here that every single person detained for
    six months must be entitled to a bond hearing.         The detainee in
    Demore, Hyung Joon Kim, had already been detained for six months,
    yet the Court reversed the lower court's order requiring the
    government to hold a bond hearing.        Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 531
    .     It
    is simply not possible to read Demore as anticipating that the
    Court's opinion would have been different if Kim's detention had
    lasted one day more.
    That is not to say that Demore categorically blessed
    six-month   detentions.    The    Supreme    Court   had   been   advised
    (incorrectly, it would appear)7 that section 1226(c) detention
    6  Petitioners in Demore challenged the constitutionality of
    detention pursuant to section 1226(c).      The Court denied the
    challenge, due in part to what the Court viewed as "the limited
    time period necessary for . . . removal proceedings." Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 526
    .
    7  In Jennings, the government informed the Court that the
    statistics it provided in Demore had been incorrect, and that
    "[d]etention normally lasts twice as long as the [g]overnment then
    said it did."      Jennings, 
    138 S. Ct. at 869
     (Breyer, J.,
    dissenting); see also 
    id. at 860
     (Breyer, J., dissenting) ("The
    classes before us consist of people who were detained for at least
    six months and on average one year.").
    In the instant case, petitioners represent that the median
    time class members spent in detention, prior to this appeal, is
    - 13 -
    lasts "roughly a month and a half in the vast majority of cases in
    which it is invoked, and about five months in the minority of cases
    in which the alien chooses to appeal."    Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 530
    .
    Furthermore, in describing Kim's six-month detention, the Court
    observed that some portion of that detention was likely the result
    of Kim's own request for a continuance in his remand proceedings.
    
    Id.
     at 531 n.15.   While the Court's holding implicitly rejected an
    across-the-board rule that some hearing must always be held within
    six months, the opinion would seem to leave open the possibility
    that in most individual cases, detentions of six months (or of
    even less time) might necessitate some type of hearing to see if
    continued detention is reasonably necessary to serve the statute's
    purposes.    Indeed, in the very case before us, the government has
    conceded "that mandatory detention under [section] 1226(c) without
    a bond hearing violates the Due Process Clause when it becomes
    unreasonably prolonged in relation to its purpose in ensuring the
    removal of deportable criminal noncitizens."    Reid, 390 F. Supp.
    3d at 215.
    Petitioners argue that another Supreme Court decision,
    Zadvydas v. Davis, 
    533 U.S. 678
    , 701 (2001), nevertheless calls
    363 days, with 25% detained for fewer than eight and a half months
    and 25% detained for more than a year and a half. The four longest
    terms of detention prior to this appeal were 1,541, 1,291, 1,101,
    and 1,048 days -- in other words, between almost three years and
    more than four years.
    - 14 -
    for a per se six-month limit on detention without a bail hearing.
    But Zadvydas was decided before Demore.                 And the petitioners in
    Zadvydas challenged only their detention pending the execution of
    their final orders of removal, see 
    533 U.S. at 682
    , which the Court
    in Demore recognized as "materially different" from detention
    under section 1226(c), see 
    538 U.S. at
    527–28.                        So, too, is
    petitioners' analogy to Sixth Amendment case law inapt, as the
    district court explained.         See Reid, 390 F. Supp. 3d at 218.
    Petitioners       also   seek     to     analogize      to    Cheff    v.
    Schnackenberg,    
    384 U.S. 373
    ,   380    (1966)        (plurality     opinion)
    (ruling that "sentences exceeding six months for criminal contempt
    may not be imposed by federal courts absent a jury trial or waiver
    thereof"), United States v. Comstock, 
    560 U.S. 126
    , 131 (2010)
    (describing a statute which, in contrast to section 1226(c),
    requires "judicial hearings at the request of the confined person
    at [six-]month intervals"), and Mathews v. Eldridge, 
    424 U.S. 319
    ,
    335 (1976) (describing general requirements for procedural due
    process).     But these analogies provide insufficient support for
    rejecting the much more direct message strongly implied by Demore.
    Petitioners alternatively contend that detention under
    section 1226(c)       beyond    six   months        without    an    individualized
    hearing violates the Excessive Bail Clause of the Eighth Amendment.
    See   U.S.   Const.     amend. VIII      ("Excessive          bail   shall    not   be
    required.").    Some jurists have opined that "excessive" conditions
    - 15 -
    may include "refusal to hold any bail hearing at all."                                See
    Jennings, 
    138 S. Ct. at 862
     (Breyer, J., dissenting); Carlson v.
    Landon,   
    342 U.S. 524
    ,    569    (1952)       (Burton, J.,        dissenting);
    Castañeda v. Souza, 
    810 F.3d 15
    , 44 (1st Cir. 2015) (en banc)
    (Torruella, J.,           concurring)              (noting         "the          ongoing,
    institutionalized        infringement        of    the   right     to    bail").      But
    petitioners point to no court that has treated the prohibition on
    excessive    bail   as    categorically           requiring   an     opportunity      for
    release within a specific amount of time.                 Nor do they provide any
    convincing reason to think that the Excessive Bail Clause would
    require a bond hearing when the Due Process Clause does not.
    Nor, finally, does our recent opinion in Hernandez-Lara
    v. Lyons, 
    10 F.4th 19
     (1st Cir. 2021), call for a different result.
    The petitioner in that case was detained under section 1226(a),
    not section 1226(c).       We were therefore able to distinguish Demore
    fairly, 
    id.
     at 35–36, citing the "quite different" circumstances,
    id. at 36, and noting that detention under section 1226(a) (of
    persons not convicted of crimes triggering 1226(c) detention)
    often lasted longer than the "brief" detention at issue in Demore,
    id. at 30.
    IV.
    Having correctly ruled that six months of detention did
    not on its own necessarily trigger a constitutional right to a
    reasonableness      hearing      or   bond    hearing     for    a      person    already
    - 16 -
    convicted of a crime that triggers detention under section 1226(c),
    and that any such relief must be adjudicated on an individual
    basis,   the   district   court    nevertheless    proceeded   to   issue
    declaratory and injunctive relief specifying how district courts
    and immigration officials should adjudicate requests for bond.
    Reid, 390 F. Supp. 3d at 227–28.           The district court sought to
    "provide guidance in determining the reasonableness of prolonged
    mandatory detention under § 1226(c)." Id. at 219. That "guidance"
    took the form of a binding declaration, holding that
    mandatory detention without a bond hearing
    under 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c) violates due process
    when the    detention becomes unreasonably
    prolonged in relation to its purpose in
    ensuring the removal of deportable criminal
    aliens.     The most important factor in
    determining the reasonableness of a criminal
    alien's mandatory detention is the length of
    the detention. Mandatory detention without a
    bond hearing is likely to be unreasonable if
    it lasts for more than one year, excluding any
    delays due to the alien's dilatory tactics. A
    criminal alien subject to mandatory detention
    without a bond hearing under § 1226(c) must
    bring a habeas petition in federal court to
    challenge his detention as unreasonably
    prolonged. If the court agrees, the alien is
    entitled to a bond hearing before an
    immigration judge.
    Id. at 227.
    The district court also issued a mandatory injunction
    dictating the burdens of proof and the substantive factors that
    would control in any future bond hearings in immigration court.
    Specifically, it ordered that
    - 17 -
    [f]or any bond hearing held for a class
    member, . . . the immigration court [must]
    require the [g]overnment to prove that the
    alien is either dangerous by clear and
    convincing evidence or a risk of flight by a
    preponderance   of    the   evidence.      The
    immigration court may not impose excessive
    bail, must evaluate the alien's ability to pay
    in setting bond, and must consider alternative
    conditions   of   relief[,]    such   as   GPS
    monitoring[,] that reasonably assure the
    safety of the community and the alien's future
    appearances.
    Id. at 228.
    Both sides appeal from this declaratory and injunctive
    relief.   Petitioners complain about being ordered to bring their
    requests for bond hearings before district courts rather than
    immigration judges; they also assert that a detainee should be
    presumptively entitled to a bond hearing well before the passage
    of one year of detention.    And they object to the ruling that they
    can be denied bail if the government proves they are a flight risk
    by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than by clear and
    convincing evidence. The government marshals a more global assault
    on the declaratory and injunctive relief.       It argues, among other
    things,   that   the   district   court's   rulings   are   free-floating
    advisory opinions untethered to any actual case or controversy
    between any of the parties.
    As the district court explained, the class was certified
    as a Rule 23(b)(2) class, Reid, 297 F.R.D. at 194, on the basis of
    a single common question that bound together its members: "whether
    - 18 -
    the Constitution . . . requires an individualized hearing for
    those detained under § 1226(c) beyond six months,"         Reid, 
    2018 WL 5269992
    , at *4.      That question satisfied the requirements of
    Rule 23(a)(2) because its adjudication would "resolve an issue
    that is central to the validity of each one of the claims in one
    stroke."     Id. at *5 (quoting Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 
    564 U.S. 338
    , 350 (2011)).      In plain terms, the question could be
    answered for all class members with nary an eye toward their
    individual     circumstances;   if   the   answer   were   "yes,"   each
    individual would get a hearing automatically, while a "no" would
    leave each person as before. The need for an answer to the question
    was also pressing:     Petitioners had all been detained without a
    bond hearing for more than six months, and were therefore already
    due more process than they had received if they were correct that
    a bond hearing must be provided in all instances after no more
    than six months of detention.
    When the district court answered the class's common
    question by holding that there exists no per se entitlement to a
    bond hearing after six months of detention under section 1226(c),
    Reid, 390 F.3d at 216, every class member had a final answer to
    the common question central to the claim that they shared.          Both
    the Supreme Court, see Jennings, 
    138 S. Ct. at
    851–52, and a prior
    panel of this court, see Reid, 819 F.3d at 501–02, had hinted that
    the resolution of that common question against the class would
    - 19 -
    remove the justification for any further litigation on behalf of
    a class in this action.
    The district court disagreed, and issued the decrees
    discussed above regarding issues that might or might not arise for
    some but certainly not all class members and that had yet to be
    considered by the tribunals in which the issues would arise if
    they did arise.       No class member is able to say with reasonable
    assurance whether he or she will receive a hearing.             Indeed, many
    class members will likely not get a bond hearing.              And without a
    hearing, a class member has no legal interest in the procedures to
    be followed in hearings held for others.          We therefore cannot say
    that the court's declaration and injunction, beyond rejecting the
    per se six-month claim, resolves "an issue that is central to the
    validity of each [person's] claims in one stroke."             Wal-Mart, 
    564 U.S. at 350
    .
    Although a class can be certified even if there are some
    individual issues that can be efficiently and fairly adjudicated
    individually, see In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation, 
    907 F.3d 42
    ,
    51—52(1st Cir. 2018), no precedent of which we are aware supports
    using a properly certified class as a bootstrap to then adjudicate,
    on   a   class-wide   basis,   claims    that   hinge   on   the     individual
    circumstances of each class member.
    It   does    not    matter     that   some       class     members'
    circumstances suggested a more concrete and imminent need for a
    - 20 -
    ruling on the applicable burdens of proof at a bond hearing.                A
    Rule 23(b)(2) class, such as this one, may only be maintained if
    "the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on
    grounds that apply generally to the class, so that final injunctive
    relief   or    corresponding     declaratory       relief   is   appropriate
    respecting the class as a whole."             Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2); see
    also Wal-Mart, 
    564 U.S. at 360
     ("The key to the (b)(2) class is
    'the indivisible nature of the injunctive or declaratory remedy
    warranted -- the notion that the conduct is such that it can be
    enjoined or declared unlawful only as to all of the class members
    or as to none of them.'" (quoting Richard A. Nagareda, Class
    Certification in the Age of Aggregate Proof, 
    84 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 97
    ,
    132 (2009))); 7AA Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice &
    Procedure     § 1784.1   (3d   ed.   2021)    ("[T]he   common-question   and
    superiority standards of Rule 23(b)(3) are in some ways much less
    demanding       than     that        of       either    Rule 23(b)(1)      or
    Rule 23(b)(2) . . . ."); 1 McLaughlin on Class Actions:                 Law &
    Practice § 5:15 (17th ed. 2020) ("Indeed, a Rule 23(b)(2) class
    must actually have more cohesiveness than a Rule 23(b)(3) class."
    (collecting cases)).      A class consisting of some members who might
    be entitled to a bond hearing and others who are not lacks
    sufficient cohesiveness to obtain relief regarding the conduct of
    those hearings under Rule 23(b)(2).
    - 21 -
    With its resolution of the common class claim complete,
    the district court was left with no plaintiff possessing any
    current or imminent stake in the resolution of assorted issues
    addressed   in   the   court's   declaratory   and   injunctive   relief,
    including the allocation of the burden of proof and bail terms.
    Reid's claim was long ago mooted.      And his class claim, as we have
    explained, did not encompass the remaining issues addressed by the
    court.    Whether we call this a lack of standing, see, e.g. In re
    Asacol Antitrust Litigation, 907 F.3d at 48 ("In a class action
    suit with multiple claims, at least one named class representative
    must have standing with respect to each claim." (quoting 1 William
    B. Rubenstein, Newberg on Class Actions § 2:5 (5th ed. 2012))), or
    the absence of a case or controversy, see U.S. Const. art. III,
    § 2, cl. 1; Carney v. Adams, 
    141 S. Ct. 493
    , 498 (2020) ("We have
    long understood that constitutional phrase to require that a case
    embody a genuine, live dispute between adverse parties, thereby
    preventing the federal courts from issuing advisory opinions."),
    the result is the same: The district court lacked the jurisdiction
    necessary to turn its considered guidance into binding equitable
    relief.
    We recognize that having clear standards for determining
    whether and when a section 1226(c) detainee need be released
    pending the conclusion of the detainee's removal proceedings would
    make life simpler for all involved.        Such standards might arise in
    - 22 -
    the form of agency regulations.       Or they might emerge like common
    law   rules     of    precedential        force,        through   case-by-case
    adjudication, as in our recent decision in Hernandez-Lara.                    We
    simply hold that this particular Rule 23(b)(2) class action does
    not provide a vehicle for preemptively announcing such rules.
    V.
    For   the    foregoing    reasons,       we    affirm   the   judgment
    against the class rejecting the claim that persons detained for
    six months under section 1226(c) are automatically entitled to a
    hearing before an IJ that might lead to their release on bond
    pending the conclusion of removal proceedings. We otherwise vacate
    the district court's declaratory and injunctive orders, and remand
    for the entry of final judgment in accord with this opinion.
    Nothing in this opinion precludes any class member from pursuing
    a claim that he or she is entitled to a bond hearing or to release
    based on his or her individual circumstances.                Each party is to
    bear its own costs.
    - Dissenting Opinion Follows -
    - 23 -
    LIPEZ, Circuit Judge, dissenting.       My colleagues rely on
    a "message strongly implied by the Supreme Court" to conclude that
    certain noncitizens detained by the government for six months have
    no right to a bond hearing to determine the need for their
    continued detention.     I disagree that the Supreme Court has tipped
    its hand on that issue and, perhaps more importantly, I disagree
    that it is appropriate to engage in such predictive analysis.
    Rather,   we   should   address   the   novel   constitutional   question
    presented to us and determine through the familiar due process
    balancing test the procedural safeguards necessary to protect the
    liberty interest of noncitizens detained pursuant to 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (c).     In my view, that balancing demonstrates that such
    individuals are entitled to a bond hearing when they have been
    detained for six months.8     I therefore dissent.9
    8 Perhaps to offer an alternative as a compromise, petitioners
    propose that a "reasonableness" hearing be held at the six-month
    point of detention to determine detainees' entitlement to a bond
    hearing. As I shall explain, detention without a bond hearing for
    more than six months is a due process violation for all detainees.
    Accordingly, there would be no separate "reasonableness" question
    for the IJ to resolve.
    9Because my view is that a six-month rule should apply equally
    to all class members, I do not confront the class certification
    issues that lead the majority to vacate the declaratory and
    injunctive relief ordered by the district court.        I limit my
    dissent to the core constitutional issue -- entitlement to a
    hearing after six months.
    - 24 -
    I.
    The majority's rejection of a hearing requirement after
    six months rests on its reading of Demore v. Kim, 
    538 U.S. 510
    (2003), where the Supreme Court addressed a facial challenge to
    § 1226(c).     The Court considered the question of whether it is
    constitutional       to   detain     noncitizens      with     certain     criminal
    convictions without a bond hearing.              The Court answered in the
    affirmative.    Significantly, however, its analysis did not address
    any specific timeframe.            Here, we are faced with an as-applied
    challenge to § 1226(c) that requires us to determine whether it is
    constitutional       to   detain     noncitizens      with     certain     criminal
    convictions without a bond hearing for more than six months.                       The
    Supreme Court's answer to the question in Demore does not dictate
    the answer to the question before us.
    In    other     words,     while   Demore    tells    us    that   it    is
    constitutional to detain this category of noncitizens without a
    bond hearing for some amount of time, Demore does not address the
    constitutional       status   of    detentions   that    are    prolonged.          To
    illustrate     the    difference,      I     offer    this     example:      Is    it
    constitutional to detain a citizen without an immediate judicial
    determination of probable cause that she committed a crime?                       Yes.
    See Cty. of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 
    500 U.S. 44
    , 58-59 (1991).
    Is it constitutional to detain a citizen for more than 48 hours
    without a judicial determination of probable cause?                  No.   
    Id.
         Put
    - 25 -
    simply, the passage of time may make a difference when one's
    liberty is in the balance.        As the Third Circuit observed, the
    benefit to the government of presuming that a class of noncitizens
    should be detained to prevent flight or danger to the community
    eventually   will    be   outweighed   by   those    individuals'    loss   of
    liberty: "'At this tipping point' . . . due process requires the
    [g]overnment to justify continued detention at a bond hearing."
    Santos v. Warden Pike Cty. Corr. Facility, 
    965 F.3d 203
    , 209 (3rd
    Cir. 2020) (quoting Chavez-Alvarez v. Warden York Cty. Prison, 
    783 F.3d 469
    , 475 (3d Cir. 2015)).
    In reading rejection of a six-month rule into Demore, my
    colleagues necessarily rely on the fact that the petitioner there,
    Hyung Joon Kim, had been detained for more than six months by the
    time the Supreme Court decided his case.            But the six-month mark
    was neither a factor in Kim's arguments to the Court nor a basis
    for the Court's ruling.       Rather, "the petitioner argued that his
    detention    was    unconstitutional    from   the    outset   due   to     the
    categorical nature of the mandatory detention regime."               Reid v.
    Donelan, 
    819 F.3d 486
    , 493 (1st Cir. 2016), withdrawn, Nos. 14-
    1270, 14-1803, 14-1823, 
    2018 WL 4000993
     (1st Cir. May 11, 2018).10
    10 Our prior decision in this case, which concluded that
    § 1226(c) includes "an implicit reasonableness requirement," Reid,
    819 F.3d at 502, was withdrawn following the Supreme Court's ruling
    in Jennings v. Rodriguez, 
    138 S. Ct. 830
     (2018). The Court in
    Jennings held that the statute itself contains no time limit on
    detention. See 
    id. at 846-47
    .
    - 26 -
    The Court's silence on an issue that was not raised does
    not create precedent.     We are bound by the precedential holdings
    and reasoning of the Supreme Court, not by "speculation about what
    the Supreme Court might or might not do in the future."        Columbia
    Nat. Res., Inc. v. Tatum, 
    58 F.3d 1101
    , 1107 n.3 (6th Cir. 1995).
    Moreover, to the extent reading tea leaves is appropriate, the
    Court's   decision   in   Demore   appears   to   forecast    different
    considerations -- with the possibility of a different outcome --
    for prolonged detentions.      As our prior decision in this case
    noted, "the brevity of the detention [was] central to" the Court's
    holding in Demore that § 1226(c) permissibly "'require[s] that
    persons such as respondent be detained        for the brief period
    necessary for their removal proceedings.'"    Reid, 819 F.3d at 493-
    94 (quoting Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 513
    ).        The Supreme Court made
    repeated reference to the limited timeframe at issue.        See Demore,
    
    538 U.S. at 513
     ("brief period"), 523 (same), 526 ("limited
    period"), 529 n.12 ("[t]he very limited time of the detention");
    531 ("limited period").    The Court also revealed what it meant by
    the "brief period" it was contemplating: "[T]he detention at stake
    under § 1226(c) lasts roughly a month and a half in the vast
    majority of cases in which it is invoked, and about five months in
    - 27 -
    the minority of cases in which the alien chooses to appeal."                   Id.
    at 530.11
    We now know that the timing assumptions underlying the
    Court's analysis in Demore were wrong.               As my colleagues note, the
    government informed the Court during the proceedings in another
    case involving § 1226(c), Jennings v. Rodriguez, 
    138 S. Ct. 830
    (2018), that "[d]etention normally lasts twice as long as the
    [g]overnment      then    said   it    did."     
    Id. at 869
       (Breyer,   J.,
    dissenting); see also 
    id. at 860
     (Breyer, J., dissenting) ("The
    classes before us consist of people who were detained for at least
    six months and on average one year.").               And it is worth repeating
    the data reported by petitioners in this case, which my colleagues
    acknowledge in a footnote.             The median time that class members
    spent in detention, before the appeal, was 363 days -- i.e., a
    year.       Twenty-five percent of the class members were detained for
    more than a year-and-a-half, and only 25% were detained for less
    than eight-and-a-half months.          These numbers are starkly different
    from the Supreme Court's understanding in Demore that five months
    was a long and uncommon period of detention under § 1226(c).
    My colleagues also acknowledge that Demore seemingly
    left    "open    the     possibility    that    in    most    individual   cases,
    The Court noted that Kim's six-month detention was
    11
    "somewhat longer than the average," but pointed out that he had
    requested a continuance of his removal hearing. Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 530-31
    .
    - 28 -
    detentions of six months (or of even less time) might necessitate
    some type of hearing to see if continued detention is reasonably
    necessary to serve the statute's purposes."    The government, too,
    recognizes that mandatory detention without a bond hearing will
    violate the Due Process Clause "when it becomes unreasonably
    prolonged in relation to its purpose."    See Reid v. Donelan, 
    390 F. Supp. 3d 201
    , 215 (D. Mass. 2019).    Nonetheless, my colleagues
    decline even to engage in a due process analysis to evaluate the
    petitioners' contention that, at least after six months, every
    noncitizen detained under § 1226(c) is entitled to a bond hearing
    to determine if continued detention would be improper. See Demore,
    
    538 U.S. at 532-33
     (Kennedy, J., concurring) ("Were there to be an
    unreasonable delay by the INS [Immigration and Naturalization
    Service] in pursuing and completing deportation proceedings, it
    could become necessary then to inquire whether the detention is
    not to facilitate deportation, or to protect against risk of flight
    or dangerousness, but to incarcerate for other reasons.").
    As   I   have   explained,   the   rationale   for   this
    sidestepping -- a supposed message from the Supreme Court in Demore
    -- simply does not withstand scrutiny.    My colleagues' avoidance
    of the constitutional question posed here is thus unsupportable
    because the inference they draw from Demore lacks both legal and
    factual foundation and because reading tea leaves is not our proper
    role.   See Sopo v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 
    825 F.3d 1199
    , 1212 (11th Cir.
    - 29 -
    2016), vacated, 
    890 F.3d 952
     (11th Cir. 2018) ("Outside of Justice
    Kennedy's       Demore   concurrence,       the   Supreme   Court   has    never
    addressed how long under § 1226(c) the government can detain a
    criminal alien[.]"); Rodriguez v. Robbins, 
    715 F.3d 1127
    , 1137
    (9th Cir. 2013) ("[W]e have consistently held that Demore's holding
    is limited to detentions of brief duration.").12
    I thus turn to the petitioners' contention that all
    noncitizens held pursuant to § 1226(c) are entitled to a bond
    hearing after six months of detention.
    II.
    The analysis in our recent decision in Hernandez-Lara v.
    Lyons,    
    10 F.4th 19
       (1st   Cir.   2021),   exemplifies    the   proper
    doctrinal approach for determining what due process protections
    must be afforded to immigration detainees.               There, we evaluated
    the proper allocation of the burden of proof at an immigration
    bond hearing by means of the three-part balancing test articulated
    in Mathews v. Eldridge, 
    424 U.S. 20
     319, 335 (1976).                      As we
    explained,
    The Mathews factors [to be balanced] are: (1)
    "the private interest that will be affected by
    12Several of the cases I cite in this dissent were vacated
    or otherwise diminished as authority as a result of the Supreme
    Court's decision in Jennings holding, as a matter of statutory
    construction, that § 1226(c) does not provide for release on bond
    -- with limited exceptions -- while removal proceedings are
    ongoing. See 
    138 S. Ct. at 846-47
    . I rely on these cases solely
    for observations and principles unaffected by the holding in
    Jennings.
    - 30 -
    the official action"; (2) "the risk of an
    erroneous deprivation of such interest through
    the procedures used, and the probable value,
    if any, of additional or substitute procedural
    safeguards"; and (3) "the [g]overnment's
    interest, including the function involved and
    the fiscal and administrative burdens that the
    additional     or    substitute     procedural
    requirement would entail."
    Hernandez-Lara, 10 F.4th at 28 (quoting Mathews, 
    424 U.S. at 335
    ).
    The   majority      dismisses    Mathews   as    having    little
    relevance to this case.       They do so, however, as part of their
    deference to the message they draw from Demore and, hence, neglect
    to give due consideration to the appropriate analysis for the
    distinct constitutional question raised in this case.         Indeed, the
    long-established    Mathews    framework    is   well     suited    to   the
    constitutional due process question here, just as it served as an
    appropriate guide for our assessment of the due process claim in
    Hernandez-Lara.13   See, e.g., Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 
    542 U.S. 507
    , 528–
    29 (2004) ("The ordinary mechanism that we use for balancing such
    serious competing interests, and for determining the procedures
    that are necessary to ensure that a citizen is not 'deprived of
    life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,' . . . is
    13In Hernandez-Lara, we held that the Due Process Clause of
    the Fifth Amendment requires that the government bear the burden
    of proving at a bond hearing that a noncitizen detained pursuant
    to 
    8 U.S.C. § 1226
    (a) is a danger or flight risk and thus not
    entitled to release. See 10 F.4th at 23-24. Although this case
    involves a different statutory provision, the due process
    principles we applied in Hernandez-Lara are equally applicable
    here.
    - 31 -
    the test that we articulated in Mathews[.]"); Velasco Lopez v.
    Decker, 
    978 F.3d 842
    , 851 (2d Cir. 2020) (applying the Mathews
    test   to   determine   the   procedural     protections    required   for
    immigration detention pursuant to § 1226(a)); Diouf v. Napolitano,
    
    634 F.3d 1081
    , 1090 (9th Cir. 2011) (applying the Mathews test to
    determine the procedural protections required for immigration
    detention pursuant to § 1231(a)(6)).
    The analysis here should proceed in the same fashion as
    in Hernandez-Lara, with consideration of the three factors as they
    pertain to prolonged detention under § 1226(c).               I therefore
    proceed with that analysis.
    A. Liberty Interest
    In   Hernandez-Lara,    we   summarized   the   first   Mathews
    factor, the private interest at stake, as follows:
    "Freedom from imprisonment -- from government
    custody, detention, or other forms of physical
    restraint -- lies at the heart of the liberty
    that [the Due Process] Clause protects."
    Zadvydas v. Davis, 
    533 U.S. 678
    , 695 (2001)
    (citing Foucha v. Louisiana, 
    504 U.S. 71
    , 80
    (1992)).   The Supreme Court has repeatedly
    affirmed that "[i]n our society liberty is the
    norm, and detention prior to trial or without
    trial is the carefully limited exception."
    United States v. Salerno, 
    481 U.S. 739
    , 755
    (1987); see also Foucha, 
    504 U.S. at 80
     ("We
    have always been careful not to minimize the
    importance and fundamental nature of the
    individual's right to liberty."). For this
    reason, "civil commitment for any purpose
    constitutes a significant deprivation of
    liberty    that    requires     due    process
    - 32 -
    protections." Addington [v. Texas, 441 U.S.
    [418,] 425 [(1979)] (emphasis added).
    10 F.4th at 28.       We stated that there was "no question" that
    immigration detention constituted a "substantial deprivation of
    liberty," and emphasized that a lack of citizenship does not
    preclude an interest in freedom from detention.   Id. ("[T]he fact
    that some detention is permissible does not change the fact that
    a detainee suffers significant liberty deprivations.").     We thus
    concluded that the first Mathews factor "weigh[ed] heavily in
    Hernandez's favor."    Id. at 30.
    Here, importantly, we have the additional factor that
    each of the Reid class members was detained under § 1226(c) without
    a hearing for at least six months.14     Hence, we must take into
    account the costs that accrue with prolonged detention.15     While
    detention of any length implicates a liberty interest, prolonged
    detention inevitably has greater consequences for the individual
    14As noted above, in many cases, the detention was far longer.
    Petitioners report that, among the 113 Reid class members, the
    average length of detention was nearly a full year.      The class
    includes   individuals   who   were   detained   for   1,541   days
    (approximately 4.2 years), 1,291 days (3.5 years), 1,101 days (3
    years), and 1,048 days (2.8 years).
    15 In Hernandez-Lara, we expressly chose not to address the
    petitioner's prolonged detention argument and instead considered
    the "potential length of detention" as a factor in the liberty
    interest analysis. See 10 F.4th at 25 n.2, 30 n.4. This case
    differs in that we address the claims of individuals who have
    already been detained for six months, and the length of their
    detention is central to their due process claim.
    - 33 -
    than short-term detention.        See Zadvydas, 
    533 U.S. at 701
     (stating
    that, "as the period of . . . confinement grows," the government
    must provide stronger justifications for detention); Gerstein v.
    Pugh, 
    420 U.S. 103
    , 114 (1975) ("The consequences of prolonged
    detention may be more serious than the interference occasioned by
    arrest.     Pretrial confinement may imperil the suspect's job,
    interrupt    his   source    of     income,     and     impair    his    family
    relationships."); Hernandez-Lara, 10 F.4th at 29 (noting that
    "prolonged detention" may create a weightier liberty interest);
    Diop v. ICE/Homeland Sec., 
    656 F.3d 221
    , 234 (3d Cir. 2011) ("[T]he
    constitutional case for continued detention without inquiry into
    its   necessity    becomes   more    and     more     suspect    as   detention
    continues[.]");    Diouf,    
    634 F.3d at
      1091–92    ("When     detention
    crosses the six-month threshold and release or removal is not
    imminent, the private interests at stake are profound."). Extended
    detention can cause unique harms "that differ in degree and kind
    from those suffered by short-term detainees."             Br. of Amici Curiae
    35 Scholars, at 4-22 (describing harms specific to prolonged
    detention, including physical harm caused by insufficient medical
    care, psychological harm to detainees and their families, and
    economic harms stemming from loss of employment).
    Giving significance to detentions that reach six months'
    duration is not a novel idea.           In Zadvydas, the Supreme Court
    recognized the six-month mark as a constitutional tipping point.
    - 34 -
    See 
    533 U.S. at 701
    .         When detention reaches that length, the due
    process calculus shifts.              See 
    id.
               Six months has also been
    identified as consequential outside the immigration context.                            In
    multiple     cases,    the   Supreme       Court     has    endorsed      a    jury-trial
    requirement for crimes punishable with incarceration of more than
    six months.        See Muniz v. Hoffman, 
    422 U.S. 454
    , 477 (1975);
    Baldwin v. New York, 
    399 U.S. 66
    , 73-74 (1970); Duncan v. State of
    La., 
    391 U.S. 145
    , 161 (1968); Cheff v. Schnackenberg, 
    384 U.S. 373
    , 379–380 (1966) (plurality opinion).                   As the Supreme Court has
    put it, "It is not difficult to grasp the proposition that six
    months in jail is a serious matter for any individual."                            Muniz,
    
    422 U.S. at 477
    .      And,    as    we   recognized      in    Hernandez-Lara,
    immigration        "detention"        can       be        indistinguishable          from
    "imprisonment"; the petitioner there "was incarcerated alongside
    criminal inmates . . . for over ten months."                    10 F.4th at 28.
    Accordingly,     we    should        be     readily    concluding      that
    detention in excess of six months creates a heightened liberty
    interest     and   should    be     afforded       more    weight    in   the     Mathews
    balancing formula than the liberty interest in freedom from any
    detention -- a distinction whose importance is reflected in the
    Supreme Court's focus in Demore on the brevity of the detention it
    considered there.         See 
    538 U.S. at 513, 523, 526
    , 529 n.12, 531.
    Thus,   the    first      Mathews    factor     weighs      strongly      in    favor   of
    petitioners -- even more so than in our Hernandez-Lara analysis.
    - 35 -
    B. Risk of Erroneous Deprivation and Probable Value of Safeguards
    In Hernandez-Lara, we concluded that the misallocation
    of the burden of proof at a bond hearing -- requiring the detainee
    to prove that she is not a flight risk or a danger to the community,
    rather than requiring the government to prove that she is --
    created a high risk of erroneous deprivation of liberty.         10 F.4th
    at 30-32.     Section 1226(c) makes no provision for a bond hearing
    at all.     In that respect, the risk of erroneously detaining a
    person who is not a danger or flight risk looms larger than in
    Hernandez-Lara.
    However, mandatory detention under § 1226(c) is premised
    on   Congress's      findings   that    so-called    "criminal   aliens"
    categorically present a higher risk of flight and danger to the
    community. See Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 518-20
    .       In Demore, the Supreme
    Court recognized that this presumption has a solid evidentiary
    foundation.    See 
    id. at 528
     ("The evidence Congress had before it
    certainly supports the approach it selected[.]").        Thus, the risk
    of error is offset to some degree by the fact that § 1226(c)
    detainees, as a class, may be more likely to present a flight risk
    or a danger to the community than other noncitizen detainees.
    Still,     Congress's      categorical    presumption     of
    dangerousness and flight risk for "criminal aliens" inevitably
    will affect many individuals to whom the presumption should not
    apply. Section 1226(c) sweeps broadly, encompassing not only those
    - 36 -
    who have committed violent felonies, but also those who have
    committed    nonviolent      crimes      and    simple      drug      offenses.        The
    difference   between   a     §    1226(a)       discretionary         detainee    and    a
    § 1226(c)    mandatorily         detained       "criminal        alien"    may    be    a
    conviction or two for shoplifting or marijuana possession.16                      While
    Congress's    presumption        of    flight       risk   and    dangerousness        for
    § 1226(c) detainees is important in the due process analysis, the
    only method for identifying those who are not properly detained
    based on that presumption is through individualized assessments.
    See Lora v. Shanahan, 
    804 F.3d 601
    , 605 (2d Cir. 2015), cert.
    granted, judgment vacated, 
    138 S. Ct. 1260
     (2018) ("[T]his group
    includes    non-citizens      who,      for     a    variety     of    individualized
    reasons, are not dangerous, have strong family and community ties,
    are   not   flight   risks       and   may     have    meritorious        defenses      to
    deportation at such time as they are able to present them.").
    The detainees in this case are illustrative.                    The record
    indicates that 50 of the 104 Reid class members who eventually
    received bond hearings were released from immigration detention
    16See, e.g., Vallejo v. Decker, No. 18-CV-5649 (JMF), 
    2018 WL 3738947
    , at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 7, 2018) (noncitizen subject to
    § 1226(c) because of one shoplifting conviction and one receipt of
    stolen property conviction); Vazquez v. Green, Civil Action No.
    16-3451 (JMV), 
    2016 WL 6542833
    , at *4 (D.N.J. Nov. 3, 2016)
    (noncitizen subject to § 1226(c) because of two marijuana
    possession convictions).
    - 37 -
    because they were found not to pose a danger or a flight risk.17
    In other words, the data shows that nearly half of the individuals
    in this class were detained erroneously.               Whether or not that
    percentage is typical, it is some indication that a significant
    number    of    individuals     may     be   unnecessarily     --    and,   hence,
    improperly -- detained for extended periods of time.                  Hence, the
    risk of the erroneous deprivation of liberty inherent in mandatory
    detention is substantial, and the probable value of the procedural
    safeguard of a bond hearing is high.
    The majority does leave open an avenue for a noncitizen
    detained under § 1226(c) to receive a bond hearing by seeking a
    writ of habeas corpus in federal court on the ground that, in her
    individual circumstances, detention is unreasonable.                 For multiple
    reasons,       however,   a   federal    habeas   claim   is    an    inadequate
    substitute for an automatic bond hearing at six months.                      Most
    importantly, habeas litigation is simply not a viable option for
    most detainees.      As we observed in Hernandez-Lara, detainees "very
    often cannot obtain counsel," "will likely experience difficulty
    in gathering evidence on their own behalf," and "often lack full
    proficiency in English."        10 F.4th at 30.      In addition, as we have
    17Bond hearings were held for some class members pursuant to
    the district court's decision in this case. See Reid v. Donelan,
    
    22 F. Supp. 3d 84
    , 93 (D. Mass. 2014).      The district court's
    judgment with respect to the hearing requirement was subsequently
    vacated by this court. See Reid, 819 F.3d at 502-03.
    - 38 -
    previously       recognized,    habeas    litigation     is   particularly
    "complicated and time-consuming, especially for aliens who may not
    be represented by counsel."        Reid, 819 F.3d at 498.          Hence, for
    most detainees, the possibility of habeas relief -- a procedure
    outside the normal course of immigration proceedings -- is simply
    illusory. See Doe v. Gallinot, 
    657 F.2d 1017
    , 1023 (9th Cir. 1981)
    (stating that "[t]he bare existence of optional habeas corpus
    review    does   not,   of   itself,   alleviate   due   process    concerns"
    regarding involuntary civil commitment).
    Moreover, for those detainees who have the wherewithal
    to file a habeas petition, the process will likely be so slow that
    their detentions will become significantly more prolonged as they
    await resolution in federal court.            Even when a detainee is
    successful in the habeas process, the timeframe between filing a
    petition and receiving a bond hearing is likely to be at least
    several months.18       See Lora, 804 F.3d at 615 (noting "the random
    outcomes resulting from individual habeas litigation in which some
    detainees are represented by counsel and some are not, and some
    18See Br. of Amici Curiae Boston College Immigration Clinic,
    et al., at 26 (citing a 2016 study of successful First Circuit
    habeas challenges to mandatory detention, which found that the
    litigation took over seven months on average);      Br. of Amicus
    Curiae American Immigration Lawyers Association, at 16 (collecting
    cases of successful habeas challenges to § 1226(c) detention and
    noting that it took between four and eleven months for each case
    to resolve).
    - 39 -
    habeas petitions are adjudicated in months and others are not
    adjudicated for years").
    In short, there is currently no effective way for most
    individuals      detained        under     § 1226(c)       to    challenge      their
    unnecessary -- and therefore improper -- prolonged detentions.
    C. Government Interest
    The third Mathews factor considers "the [g]overnment's
    interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and
    administrative        burdens     that     the      additional     or    substitute
    procedural requirement would entail."                  Mathews, 
    424 U.S. at 335
    .
    As the Supreme Court has recognized, "[t]here is always a public
    interest in prompt execution of removal orders."                   Nken v. Holder,
    
    556 U.S. 418
    ,   436    (2009).        Undoubtedly,      keeping      noncitizens
    detained     during     their      removal        proceedings      guarantees      the
    government will be able to find them and promptly effectuate
    removal when it is ordered.               The need to detain the class of
    individuals      subject    to    § 1226(c)       is   supported    by   Congress's
    finding that individuals with criminal histories pose a heightened
    risk of flight or danger to the community.                  See Demore, 
    538 U.S. at 518-22
    .    Thus, mandatory detention pending deportation, without
    considering its duration, serves the government's interest.                        See
    
    id. at 528
       ("[D]etention       necessarily        serves   the     purpose   of
    preventing deportable criminal aliens from fleeing prior to or
    - 40 -
    during their removal proceedings, thus increasing the chance that,
    if ordered removed, the aliens will be successfully removed.").
    However, as we pointed out in Hernandez-Lara, framing
    the government interest in this way is somewhat misleading.             The
    question is not whether the government has the power to detain
    noncitizens who may cause harm or flee while they await removal,
    but whether the Due Process Clause conditions the exercise of that
    power.    In Hernandez-Lara, the issue was "who should bear the
    burden of proving noncitizens pose a danger or a flight risk."           10
    F.4th at 32.     Here, the issue is whether "criminal aliens" in
    prolonged detention under § 1226(c) should receive a bond hearing
    after six months to determine whether the ongoing restraint on
    their liberty in fact serves the asserted government interest.
    See Rodriguez v. Robbins, 
    804 F.3d 1060
    , 1077 (9th Cir. 2015)
    ("Bond    hearings   do   not   restrict    the   government's   legitimate
    authority   to   detain   inadmissible      or    deportable   non-citizens;
    rather, they merely require the government to 'justify denial of
    bond[.]'" (quoting Singh v. Holder, 
    638 F.3d 1196
    , 1203 (9th Cir.
    2011))), rev'd sub nom. Jennings, 
    138 S. Ct. at 836
    .19             The only
    individuals released should be those who are not a danger or a
    19As indicated above, see supra note 5, the Supreme Court's
    reversal of Rodriguez v. Robbins on statutory interpretation
    grounds does not undermine this observation within its analysis.
    - 41 -
    flight risk -- that is, individuals the government has no reason
    to detain.
    Further, as we discussed in Hernandez-Lara, unnecessary
    immigration detention in fact harms the public interest.                  We
    described the "substantial societal costs" as follows:
    [N]oncitizens     subject    to    immigration
    detention include spouses, children, and
    parents of U.S. citizens, caretakers of
    children and elderly relatives, and leaders in
    religious, cultural, and social groups. The
    needless detention of those individuals thus
    "separates families and removes from the
    community breadwinners, caregivers, parents,
    siblings and employees."    Those ruptures in
    the fabric of communal life impact society in
    intangible   ways   that  are   difficult   to
    calculate in dollars and cents. Even so, as
    twenty states report in an amicus brief to
    this court, the financial costs imposed by
    such widespread communal disruption are
    severe: "[States'] revenues drop because of
    reduced   economic   contributions   and   tax
    payments by detained immigrants, and their
    expenses rise because of increased social
    welfare payments in response to the harms
    caused by unnecessary detention."
    10 F.4th at 33 (citation omitted).20        We also considered the direct
    fiscal    cost   of   detention.    Holding    a   person   in   immigration
    detention costs the government about $134 per person per day.            Id.
    20The label "criminal alien" may obscure the fact that many
    noncitizens subject to § 1226(c) are valued community members.
    See Saysana v. Gillen, 
    590 F.3d 7
    , 17 (1st Cir. 2009)
    (acknowledging that some noncitizens detained pursuant to
    § 1226(c) may have "longstanding community ties"). They may be
    parents, spouses, caregivers, or community leaders, and may also
    work, contribute to the economy, and pay taxes.    And, as noted
    - 42 -
    These same countervailing government interests apply
    with even more force in the context of prolonged detention.           Based
    on the $134 figure, at six months, the government will have spent
    about $24,120 on a noncitizen's detention.          See also Hernandez v.
    Sessions, 
    872 F.3d 976
    , 996 (9th Cir. 2017) (describing the cost
    of immigration detention as "staggering" and considering these
    costs as part of "the general public's interest in the efficient
    allocation of the government's fiscal resources").           Both research
    and   commonsense   suggest   that    families    and   communities   suffer
    greater    harms   from   prolonged   detention    than   from   short-term
    detention.21   Bond hearings after six months would thus serve the
    public interest by providing a mechanism for the release of
    individuals who do not need to be detained, while continuing the
    detention of those who do pose a flight risk or danger to the
    community.
    above, a person may be subject to § 1226(c) for relatively minor
    offenses.    Certainly, there is a strong public interest in
    prolonged detention of noncitizens who have committed violent
    felonies. But individuals with violent histories will surely not
    be granted bond by IJs.
    21For example, "[c]hildren of prolonged detainees are more
    likely to exhibit adverse changes in sleeping habits and behavior,
    including increased anger and withdrawal, as compared with
    children who are reunited with parents within a month of
    apprehension." Br. of Amici Curiae 35 Scholars, at 20-21. The
    prolonged absence of a caregiver also may lead to children being
    placed in foster care, or families turning to public benefits
    programs, at the expense of the state. See id. at 21.
    - 43 -
    Providing a bond hearing for every noncitizen detained
    for six months or longer would of course impose an administrative
    burden   on    the   government.     Immigration   courts   already     are
    challenged by heavy caseloads resulting from the asylum process
    and other immigration matters, and increased availability of bond
    hearings would add to their burden.         On the other hand, because
    bond hearings are routine in immigration courts, mandating bond
    hearings after six months for § 1226(c) detainees would not require
    new procedures and, thus, should not unduly increase the burden of
    administration.        Moreover,   the   alternative   suggested   by    my
    colleagues -- habeas proceedings in federal court -- also comes
    with a cost to the government.
    Unquestionably, the government has a strong interest in
    detaining a subclass of deportable noncitizens it has found to
    pose unique risks, and a categorical requirement for bond hearings
    after six months would produce some unavoidable administrative
    costs.   However, the steep fiscal and societal costs of prolonged,
    improper detention of the many individuals who pose no risk must
    also be factored into our assessment of the government's interest.
    See Hernandez-Lara, 10 F.4th at 32 n.5 (noting that the government
    has not suggested that it "could detain a noncitizen who has shown
    he is not a danger or flight risk" because, "fundamentally, any
    detention must 'bear[] [a] reasonable relation to [its] purpose'"
    (alterations in original) (quoting Zadvydas, 
    533 U.S. at 690
    )).
    - 44 -
    Thus, given the competing considerations, the third Mathews factor
    -- the government interest in detaining noncitizens under § 1226(c)
    without an automatic bond hearing after six months -- does not
    affect the balance one way or the other.
    D.   Balancing the Factors
    Our    assessment        of     the    first   factor        in    the   Mathews
    framework    reveals       that     the     hardship       for    detainees          --   and,
    consequently, the burden on their liberty interest -- dramatically
    increases with the passage of time, while the government's interest
    in categorical detention remains unchanged.                       Also apparent is the
    substantial       risk    that    many      individuals          will    be    erroneously
    deprived of their liberty -- the second factor -- unless bond
    hearings    are     held     to     test    the     government's         presumption       of
    dangerousness or likelihood of flight.                   The first two factors thus
    weigh heavily toward the detainees' right to a bond hearing.                              The
    third factor -- the government's interest -- does not favor either
    side.      Hence,        applying     the    Mathews       framework          unequivocally
    demonstrates that noncitizens subject to § 1226(c) detention for
    six months -- a duration long understood to elevate the need for
    procedural protections -- are entitled to a bond hearing as a
    matter of constitutional due process.
    That    conclusion        does        not   minimize        the   government's
    strong interest in the mandatory detention of certain noncitizens
    with criminal convictions.            The government's interest can be met,
    - 45 -
    however, without placing an unjustified burden on the liberty of
    noncitizens detained under § 1226(c) who present no risk of danger
    or flight. In Demore, it mattered that the possibility of improper
    detention was only for a "brief period."         See, e.g., 
    538 U.S. at 513
    .   As described above, the individuals detained and society as
    a whole experience greater losses from prolonged detention, and we
    therefore must assign greater weight to the need for procedural
    protections than when detentions are brief.
    To be sure, "Congress may make rules as to aliens that
    would be unacceptable if applied to citizens."                
    Id. at 522
    .
    Nonetheless, the Supreme Court "has consistently held that due
    process   'applies   to    all   "persons"   within   the   United   States,
    including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful,
    temporary, or permanent.'" Hernandez-Lara, 10 F.4th at 43 (quoting
    Zadvydas, 
    533 U.S. at 693
    ).       Hence, despite Congress's substantial
    authority to regulate noncitizens, we cannot defer to legislative
    judgments    that    disregard     the   constitutional     restraints    on
    government actions burdening individual rights -- with the right
    to liberty arguably foremost among them.          See 
    id.
     ("[O]urs is a
    system in which even the most sensitive and critical exercises of
    power by the political branches can be constrained by the rights
    of the individual.        In few instances are those constraints more
    necessary than when the government seeks to lock up individuals
    behind bars."); id. at 42-43 (stating that it is the judiciary's
    - 46 -
    duty to "'say what the law is,' even in immigration and detention
    cases, and even where doing so requires setting aside Congressional
    enactments,   executive    actions,      or   state   statutes"   (citation
    omitted) (quoting Marbury v. Madison, 
    5 U.S. 137
    , 177 (1803)).
    For   the   reasons    I     have   identified,    individualized
    adjudication via the habeas process will not adequately remove the
    impermissible   burden    on   the    right   to   liberty   experienced   by
    § 1226(c) detainees.      That option is simply not available, as a
    practical matter, to many -- if not most -- of those individuals.
    By contrast, a clear and categorical rule will be effective in
    protecting the right to liberty without undue                burden   on the
    government, and the six-month trigger for a bond hearing is the
    timeframe most consistent with precedent. See id. at 44-45 (noting
    that the Supreme Court has often announced categorical due process
    rules, and "[i]n none of these cases did the Court limit its
    holding to the specific individual before it or indicate that the
    requirements of due process would fluctuate based on the strength
    of any particular individual's case on the merits").
    I regret that my colleagues have avoided the important
    issue in this case based on speculation about what the Supreme
    Court will say about a question that it has not yet confronted.
    Indeed, as I have explained, to the extent Demore conveys a message
    about prolonged detentions, it is that the interests at stake
    differ from those implicated by short-term detentions.            See supra;
    - 47 -
    see generally Salerno, 
    481 U.S. at 755
     ("In our society liberty is
    the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the
    carefully limited exception."); Addington, 441 U.S. at 425 ("This
    Court repeatedly has recognized that civil commitment for any
    purpose constitutes a significant deprivation of liberty that
    requires due process protection.").
    Maintaining the status quo leaves untold numbers of
    noncitizens who pose no danger to the public or risk of flight to
    languish for months -- or even years -- with no meaningful ability
    to demonstrate their entitlement to release from detention.               The
    Constitution does not allow the government to subject any person
    within our borders -- citizen or noncitizen -- to detention in
    excess of six months without a bond hearing.             The Supreme Court
    has never said otherwise.         We can and should take this opportunity
    to   hold   that   six   months    is   the   constitutional   endpoint   for
    unexamined detention.      Accordingly, I must dissent.
    - 48 -