By MIKE SCHNEIDER
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys fighting for the legal rights of detainees at an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades have their first hearing in court on Thursday since a federal judge ordered operations at “Alligator Alcatraz” to wind down in a separate case.
Among the issues needing to be sorted out in federal court in Fort Myers, Florida, was how the ruling in the separate environmental case was going to impact the lawsuit, which claims detainees have been denied the right to meet with their attorneys privately in violation of the First Amendment.
In the environmental lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October, with detainee