A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Michael Cohen to home confinement, agreeing with his lawyers that he was sent to prison by mistake after making critical public statements to President Donald Trump.
Cohen should be released before 2 pm Friday, the judge said.
Cohen’s attorneys said during a telephone hearing that prison officials violated his constitutional right to freedom of expression on July 9 by ending his home confinement and returning him to the federal penitentiary in Otisville, New York, after The former repairman and confidant of Trump said a book about his work experiences in close collaboration with the president will be published in the fall.
In a statement, Cohen’s lawyer Danya Perry called the order “a victory for the First Amendment” and added: “We appreciate the judge’s decision confirming that the government cannot prevent Cohen from publishing a book critical of the president. as a condition of your release home. “
“This principle transcends politics and we are pleased that the rule of law prevails,” said Perry.
Cohen began serving a three-year prison sentence last year for financial crimes and lying to Congress. But when the pandemic hit, he was released in May as part of a national program that allows federal inmates to be transferred to other jails or confined to their homes. He said that due to his condition, aged 53 and with a history of high blood pressure and respiratory problems, continued imprisonment in Otisville, where the infection was rampant, would endanger his health.
“I have never seen such a clause in 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people,” said US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “How can I take any other inference that is not retaliation?”
A week after tweeting that he was finishing a revealing book about Trump, a probation officer told Cohen that he would have to accept a total ban on public speaking, including publishing a book, as a condition of continuing at home. confinement, according to court documents. He was asked to sign a form that included this provision: “It does not engage in any form with the media, including print, television, film, books or any other form of media / news. Ban on all platforms of social media”.
The form said he intended to “avoid glamor or bring publicity to his state as a sentenced inmate serving a custodial sentence in the community.”
“I have never seen such a clause in 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people,” said United States District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “How can I take any other inference that is not retaliation?”
Cohen’s lawyers said that when asked if that provision could be changed, they were told that officers would have to discuss it with their superiors. But soon after, Cohen was put in handcuffs and shackles and sent back to Otisville.
“Michael Cohen rejected the conditions of his home confinement and, as a result, was returned to a BOP facility,” prison officials said in a public statement. But his lawyers said he never refused to sign anything.
Sending him back to prison was an effort by the Trump administration to censor criticism of the president, Cohen’s lawyers told the judge. They cited previous court rulings that held that prisoners retain the First Amendment right to write and publish articles critical of government officials.
But the Justice Department said Cohen was sent back because he refused to sign the document and questioned several of its provisions, including the requirement to obtain prior approval for any job and the ban on contacting other convicted criminals.
Officials with whom he spoke about the conditions of his release had no idea that he was writing a book, government attorneys said, and that issue “played no role” in the decision to send him back to Otisville, where he is free from keep writing. , they said.
As for Cohen’s concern about his health and the risks of contracting COVID-19, government attorneys said “he was reportedly seen dining at Manhattan restaurants on more than one occasion” during his time out of prison. That fact, they said, was “relevant to assessing the severity” of their health concerns.
The government also said that because federal law gives the Bureau of Prisons exclusive authority to dictate whether a prisoner is confined, the courts cannot interfere with or review those decisions.
In a statement filed in court, Cohen said his book will describe his experiences working as an attorney for Trump before and after the presidential election, including “graphic and unflattering details” about Trump’s behavior.
“For example, the manuscript describes the president’s anti-Semitic comments and virulently racist comments against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, neither of whom he considered to be real or worthy leaders by virtue of their race.” He said.
In his previous tweet, Cohen said the book would be out in late September.
