There are 82 article(s) tagged Shelby County Jail:
The enhanced security comes after an Oct. 26 stabbing that led to the death of Deion Byrd while he was in a holding area behind a criminal courtroom. New Youth Justice and Education Center to provide a ‘different path’Related story:
According to a certified forensic litigation expert on jail issues, “there are all kinds of methods of hiding things on a person’s body and in a person’s clothing.”
The new instances uncovered in public records bring to 46 the number of substantiated instances of excessive force involving officers at 201 Poplar.
The suit’s amended complaint also alleges that some of the officers allegedly involved and indicted for their role in Freeman’s death are still working there, even as an ongoing criminal case plays out against them.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the stabbing “of a jail inmate by another” at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center at 201 Poplar Ave.
A detainee at the Shelby County Jail was found dead Wednesday, Oct. 4, according to information provided by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
On the same day as an apparent suicide at the Shelby County Jail, the sheriff’s office talked about a program that would use peer-guided healing ciricles within the facility and the need for mental health facilities.
After 41 deaths at 201 Poplar, since the start of 2019, Shelby County government is in the process of renewing its contract with Wellpath, the largest health care provider for jails and prisons in the country.
A 70-year-old jail inmate died Aug. 22 while in custody at the jail. His body was sent out for an autopsy, TBI said.
“In the past couple years, the Jail has seen troublesome population increases and has left key positions vacant ... the family of Gershun Freeman has called for a DOJ investigation into his homicide.”
Gershun Freeman’s family and their representatives are sharing new details about Freeman’s October death while in custody at the Shelby County Jail. Meanwhile, attorneys, activists and family members are calling for further action into Freeman’s case.
Preliminary information indicates a detainee at Shelby County Jail is in critical condition after an altercation with his cellmate.
Due to an ongoing investigation, the name of the inmate and the exact circumstances of the death are unknown, a spokesperson said.
“I believe it was happening long before this, it’s still happening and it appears it is going to happen into the future because nobody appears to be willing to take responsibility,” said attorney Sue Palmer, speaking of the alleged harassment.
On “Behind The Headlines,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner talked about battling the COVID pandemic at the county jail and a call to resume federal oversight of Juvenile Court, including the detention center he runs.
The county is paying an average of $34,000 per month to a Jackson, Tennessee, law firm to represent Sheriff Floyd Bonner in a federal lawsuit.
In an order denying the county’s request to end a consent decree to monitor pandemic conditions in the jail, federal judge Sheryl H. Lipman wrote that the county has resorted to “box checking” rather than living up to its responsibility to keep people safe inside the jail.
Shelby County “lost” potentially thousands of people in the county court system during the launch of a digital management software system by Tyler Technologies in 2016.
Attorneys representing the inmates, including lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union and Memphis’ Just City, claim conditions at the jail are ill-equipped to deal with safety regarding COVID-19.
The federal class action lawsuit was filed in 2016, a month after a new computer system was installed by the county to track the movement of pre-trial detainees through the criminal justice system.
More than 200 inmates at two Shelby County corrections facilities were offered COVID-19 vaccines that were about to expire.
County officials and attorneys for Shelby County Jail detainees have agreed to guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the jail.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday, Dec. 23, it has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit alleging failure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the Shelby County Jail.
On “Behind The Headlines,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. also said he sees an “appetite” for reform among law enforcement in general but has some hesitation about trying to codify reform measures he’s taken to apply to future sheriffs.
Attorneys representing medically vulnerable detainees at the Shelby County Jail have filed a motion to amend their original class-action lawsuit against Sheriff Bonner and the Shelby County Jail.