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Judge: Staffing shortage, lax COVID vaccine program put jail population ‘in deep peril’

Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr.: ‘We’re doing all that we can do’ to hire jail staff

By  and , Daily Memphian Updated: September 02, 2021 4:36 PM CT | Published: September 01, 2021 5:08 PM CT

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.

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Shelby County Jail delta variant COVID Shelby County Subscriber Only

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Matt Stroud

Matt Stroud

Matt Stroud, a former correspondent for Bloomberg News and The Associated Press, is an investigative reporter with The Daily Memphian. He is the author of “Thin Blue Lie: The Failure of High-Tech Policing,” and the creator of the six-part podcast, “Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment.”

Yolanda Jones

Yolanda Jones

Yolanda Jones covers criminal justice issues and general assignment news for The Daily Memphian. She previously was a reporter at The Commercial Appeal.

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