A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit to move forward that seeks the release of medically at-risk, pre-trial inmates from the Shelby County Jail, commonly known as 201 Poplar. The suit argues that holding detainees who are more vulnerable to becoming sick or dying from COVID-19 violates their constitutional rights.
The Sheriff’s Office, which runs the facility, sought to dismiss the case, arguing that detainees have other ways to seek release, and that it didn’t meet other legal requirements necessary to challenge conditions of incarceration.
The court disagreed. While there has been no final determination in the case, the Sheriff’s Office must now compile a list of inmates most vulnerable to the virus for the judge’s review. Risk factors include those those over age 65 and those with chronic lung or heart conditions.
The case only applies to people awaiting trial at 201 Poplar, or about 80 percent of the jail's population. The lawsuit estimates that hundreds of inmates are medically vulnerable.
Josh Spickler's criminal justice reform nonprofit, Just City, is one of the groups behind the lawsuit. He hailed the judge’s decision as step in the right direction.
“Because COVID is so insidious [and] because COVID is so infectious, there’s no way that the jail can constitutionally keep medically vulnerable people safe in its jail,” he says.
The court will now further determine the merits of the lawsuit, deciding if any detainees—and under which conditions—might be released.
The Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the pending litigation.