UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. HERMAN SYLVESTER WILLIAMS (2025)

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

Last night at 7:59 PM, the case against the Defendant was dismissed upon request by the Government, and the Court ordered that the Defendant be released. Since then, the Court has been informed that a warrant on a Superior Court supervised release violation, predicated on the now-dismissed case, continues to hold the Defendant in custody. No later than noon today, either the relevant authorities should withdraw that hold based on the underlying case having been dismissed, or else appear at noon in-person in Courtroom 4 to explain why the hold has not been removed and the Defendant has not been released.

“In our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.” U.S. v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 755 (1987). Salerno dictates the limited nature of detention of those charged with a crime, but who are presumed innocent. The instant facts are more egregious: Mr. Williams is not just presumed innocent—his case has been outright dismissed. Mr. Williams’ continued detention is constitutionally infirm and anathema to a free society and fundamental fairness. The release of individuals must be met with commensurate, if not greater urgency than that which goes into arresting individuals in the middle of the night. It has now been over fifteen hours since this Court's order of release based on dismissal of the case, and yet, he remains incarcerated. There is no remedy this Court can fashion for this injustice, and the Court will not tolerate further delay.

HON. ZIA M. FARUQUI UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE