Sanctuary Night held in contempt of court for violating agreement with Columbus
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein filed a nuisance lawsuit against Sanctuary Night, located at 1195 Sullivant Ave. in Franklinton, on April 30, alleging it attracted criminal activity, open drug use and prostitution.
On May 7, the city and the nonprofit came to a court-approved agreement where Sanctuary Night would prohibit drug and alcohol use on its premises, cut down on loitering, install Columbus Division of Police recommended security upgrades, ban camping and refrain from serving food to clients who identify as male, among other changes.
According to court filings, a city environmental specialist attempted to enter Sanctuary Night on May 15 to conduct an inspection required by the agreement but was not allowed inside until after the nonprofit's staff evacuated its clients.
Sanctuary Night's property manager told the inspector that entering would violate the HIPAA rights of clients currently in the building and asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement. The inspector refused to sign the agreement and conducted an exterior inspection while the nonprofit's employees tried to reach someone in upper management.
The inspector was eventually allowed in once all the clients, except for one using the shower, had left.
Stopping the inspector from entering while the nonprofit was occupied and operational prevented him from ensuring it complied with the city's May 7 agreement, according to court filings.
As a result, Judge Stephanie Mingo moved to hold Sanctuary Night in contempt on Thursday, according to Pete Shipley, the communications director for City Attorney Zach Klein's office.
Shipley said that the city will continue to monitor the nonprofit's compliance with the agreement and take appropriate action if it does not live up to the terms.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said the city was a proud partner and supporter of Sanctuary Night but that everybody who operates in the community needed to be a good neighbor.
"They're gonna be held accountable if they're not a good neighbor. But they provide critically important services," he said at a May 22 press conference.
The next hearing in the case is set for July 24, according to court records.
Sanctuary Night could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
Breaking and Trending News Reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com and at @NathanRHart on X and at nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus nonprofit Sanctuary Night held in contempt
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
7 days ago
- Fox News
Luigi Mangione defense shared same records they claimed constituted privacy violation: prosecutors
He is accused of killing the CEO of a major U.S. health insurer in order to terrorize the industry, according to prosecutors — but now details of his own personal insurance plan have become a flashpoint in the case against him. Luigi Mangione, a 27-year-old alumnus of the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania, took his business to Aetna, which may have inadvertently given too much information to New York prosecutors in response to a subpoena following the alleged assassination of 51-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione allegedly shot the father of two from behind outside a shareholder conference in New York City last fall. Manhattan prosecutors in a court filing Friday denied that they violated a federal law protecting private healthcare information when they subpoenaed information from his health insurance provider. Mangione's defense last month accused the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, led by Alvin Bragg, of flagrantly violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, with a "false and fraudulent" subpoena and asked for prosecutors to face sanctions and for the judge to toss the case. Prosecutors denied all allegations that "something secretive or nefarious" was afoot and countered that they made a "lawful" request for basic information. Read the latest court filing: They asked for his account number and the time period he received coverage, but unexpectedly received extra materials that they turned over to the court, according to the latest filing. "The to punish the People for the administrative mistakes of others, claiming that the People have perpetrated a 'lie and a fraud' against defendant—an inflammatory and dubious accusation without any basis," prosecutors wrote in a letter to the judge. In fact, prosecutors argued, it wasn't just Aetna that inadvertently sent additional information to Bragg's office. The defense did too when one of the former Ivy Leaguer's lawyers sent a copy of the same healthcare information to prosecutors in an email. Bragg's office also notified Aetna, which re-submitted its subpoena response without the additional, unrequested details. When asked about the legal back-and-forth, Aetna provided a brief statement: "Aetna received a subpoena for certain medical records, and we provided them," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Prosecutors said they initially learned of his Aetna coverage from a search warrant served on his Apple iCloud account. The filing does not make clear why they were seeking information from the insurer, but the requested details could be used to establish a timeline or build out the apparent motive. Investigators recovered writings from Mangione where he blasted the healthcare industry and allegedly referenced both UnitedHealthcare and the 2024 shareholder conference that was supposed to begin hours after the murder of Thompson. He also allegedly wrote messages on bullet casings found at the scene. Mangione allegedly stalked Thompson and shot him in the back outside the hotel where the conference was taking place. Surveillance video from the hotel shows a masked man sneak behind Thompson and fire multiple shots. At least one eyewitness ran off the opposite direction of the suspect. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in connection with the slaying, including murder and terrorism charges in New York and murder through use of a firearm in federal court. He is being held without bail at a federal jail in Brooklyn. He is also facing prosecution in Pennsylvania, where police arrested him, allegedly in possession of a "ghost gun" and 3D-printed silencer. He could face life imprisonment at the state level or the federal death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. His next appearance in the New York Supreme Criminal Court in Manhattan is scheduled for Sept. 16.
Business Insider
08-08-2025
- Business Insider
Luigi Mangione's 120-page healthcare history was accidentally shared by Aetna and his own lawyers, prosecutor says
Luigi Mangione's confidential, 120-page medical history was accidentally emailed to his New York prosecutors not once, but twice — first by Aetna and then by his own defense lawyers, according to a new court filing. Prosecutors took "appropriate measures" both times, forwarding the confidential health records to the judge and deleting their own copy, the lead assistant district attorney, Joel Seidemann, wrote in revealing what he described as a double-snafu on Friday. "Mistakes do occur," Seidemann wrote in his three-page filing — meaning on the part of defense lawyers and Aetna, but not himself. "Aetna erroneously sent us materials," he wrote. "Like Aetna, the defense then erred, compounding Aetna's mistake," by attaching the very same confidential health records to an email they sent him. "Once again, we complied with our ethical obligations by asking counsel if she intended to send us the file," Seidemann wrote. "When she indicated that she did not and asked that we delete it, we complied with her request and did not take advantage of her error." Aetna, meanwhile, defended its own role in the records relay, saying through a spokesman that they got a subpoena, and they answered it. "Our response is the same as before," wrote Phil Blando, executive director for communications for Aetna's parent company, CVS Health."Aetna received a subpoena for certain medical records, and we provided them appropriately." It's the latest round of finger-pointing in a month-long battle between state-level prosecutors and defense attorneys over the confidential medical records of Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland native accused in the December shooting murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The records included "different diagnoses as well as specific medical complaints made by Mr. Mangione," his lawyers complained in their own filing last month. Both prosecutors and the defense agree that Seidemann's May 14 subpoena asked Aetna for very limited data, just Mangione's health insurance account number and the period of time he was covered. Past that small patch of common ground, the sides diverge widely. The defense, led by attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, wrote last month that Seidemann should never have asked directly for Mangione's health insurance account number, arguing that it is protected under HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. "The requested information does not appear to be protected by HIPAA, since it did not relate to a condition, treatment, or payment for health care," Seidemann countered in Friday's filing. The sides also differ on what happened once Aetna attached Mangione's entire health history, in four files, to its June 12, supboeana-response email to Seidemann. Seidemann wrote in Friday's filing, that his subpoena "was lawful and properly drafted," and that, as required, it directed Aetna to return the materials to the judge. The defense accuses Seidemann of sitting on the sensitive records for 12 days before forwarding them to the judge, and they want to know how the health insurers ended up sending the records directly to the prosecutor. They've asked the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro, to order "a full evidentiary hearing" to determine possible penalties, including kicking Seidemann off the case. They've asked that the hearing include sworn testimony and the surrender of correspondence between prosecutors and Aetna. The judge had not issued a decision on calling such a hearing by Friday afternoon. A defense spokesperson declined to comment on Friday's filing. Mangione is also charged with murder in a federal indictment that seeks the death penalty. In another, more behind-the-scenes battle, prosecutors in both venues, state and federal, have said they intend to bring Mangione to trial first. The order of trials has not been worked out. State court has an advantage, in that Mangione's case is proceeding more quickly there, given the lack of complicated capital-punishment issues. The feds, too, have an advantage, in that Mangione is in federal custody, and they have physical control of where he goes. Judges in both venues have said they hope to bring him to trial in 2026.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecutors deny violating Luigi Mangione's health privacy rights
Prosecutors in the state case against Luigi Mangione denied on Friday violating the medical privacy rights of the accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer, as his attorneys alleged, arguing they sought nothing more than "entirely unremarkable" information from his health insurer. The defense accused prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of violating Mangione's rights protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act when they subpoenaed Aetna for information and "partially reviewed confidential, private, protected documents." The defense sought to suppress the information. MORE: Luigi Mangione attorneys seek dismissal of state murder case The district attorney's office said in a filing on Friday that there was nothing "secretive or nefarious" about a subpoena that sought "entirely unremarkable" information like Mangione's account number and time period of coverage. In response, Aetna turned over more information than prosecutors requested, prosecutors said. "Given these circumstances, defendant's real complaint is not about the subpoena itself, but about Aetna's response to the subpoena, which included documents that the People had not requested," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said. "The People issued a valid subpoena to Aetna for an appropriately limited set of relevant information. Through no fault of the People, Aetna seemingly provided materials outside the scope of the subpoena. The People then properly identified the error and notified the Court and the defense and deleted our copy of said materials." The defense compounded Aetna's mistake by sending prosecutors an email attaching the entire Aetna file that prosecutors had already deleted, Seidemann said. "The defense nonetheless seeks to punish the People for the administrative mistakes of others, claiming that the People have perpetrated a 'lie and a fraud' against defendant -- an inflammatory and dubious accusation without any basis," Seidemann said. MORE: Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to federal charges in CEO killing Prosecutors urged the judge to grant no relief to Mangione and instead set a date for trial. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges alleging he murdered United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Midtown hotel where the executive was about to attend an investor conference last year. Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges that could result in the death penalty.
