A federal judge has rejected, for now, a request to block the Cleveland Clinic from detaining people who bring gunshot wound victims to its emergency rooms, ruling that the attorneys who filed the request did not properly notify the hospital before asking for emergency court intervention.
U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster on June 4 denied the motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed by Ibrahim Alim. The request can be refiled.
Polster did not rule on whether the Cleveland Clinic’s policy is constitutional. Instead, he found that Alim’s attorneys didn’t meet procedural requirements for obtaining emergency relief because the Clinic was not given a chance to respond. Court records show that no attorneys had yet appeared for the Cleveland Clinic or other defendants.
Polster also pointed out that the attorneys didn’t provide enough information about the policy for the court to assess whether an unlawful policy existed, which would be needed to justify an emergency order.
The request was filed alongside a civil lawsuit challenging the constitutionality and accusing Clinic police officers of violating Alim’s rights when he was detained and searched in May 2025 within 30 seconds of delivering his bleeding friend to the emergency room. The suit also accuses officers of using excessive force and sexually assaulting Alim by inserting a finger into his anus while detaining him. He is seeking $10 million in damages and demanding that the Clinic reform its policy.
Signal Cleveland has reached out Alim’s attorneys, Dan Smith and Alex Bodiford, for comment and will update the story with any new information.
Signal Cleveland reported on the policy last December.
In a statement provided Thursday, the hospital reiterated that the policy is not meant to discourage anyone from seeking care but is in place to ensure a safe environment for patients, visitors and caregivers. The policy at the center of the request and Alim’s lawsuit remain in place.
“We continuously review our policies to align with local and national best practices, fostering safety, respect, and trust within our community,” wrote Angela Smith, the Clinic’s senior director of Corporate Communications.
Smith said the Clinic had nothing to add in response to the judge’s order.
