Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health records to ACLU

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health…?

Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 54% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 15% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 14. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.

Is Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health… left or right?

Neither side dominates it. Of the 13 rated outlets on this story, 54% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 15% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.

Is the coverage of Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health… biased?

Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health records to ACLU is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.

Which side is not reporting Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health…?

When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.

Which outlets covered Judge orders Plymouth County Sheriff to release ICE detainee health…?

14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.

Why did the ACLU sue the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office?

The ACLU sued after the sheriff’s office denied a public records request for anonymized health records of immigrant detainees. The ACLU argued the records were subject to state transparency laws and sought them to assess medical care in the facility, which holds detainees under contract with ICE.

What was the sheriff’s argument for withholding the records?

The sheriff’s office argued that federal law preempted Massachusetts’ public records law, as the records were created under a contract with ICE. The judge rejected this, ruling that the state retains authority over health and safety records in its facilities.

How much does ICE pay the sheriff’s office per detainee?

ICE pays the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office $215 per day per occupied bed for detainees held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility. The facility sets aside 250 beds for immigrant detainees under its contract with ICE.

What happens next in the case?

The judgment will be finalised within 30 days unless either the sheriff’s office or the ACLU requests a hearing. The sheriff’s office has stated it will comply with the order to release the anonymized records.