Premium

Where do wrongful death lawsuits against the jail stand?

By , Daily Memphian Updated: July 31, 2025 4:00 AM CT | Published: July 31, 2025 4:00 AM CT

As conditions at the Shelby County Jail continue to come under scrutiny, a number of notable — and in some cases long-standing — lawsuits are pending against Shelby County government and jail leadership.

One local defense attorney recently told The Daily Memphian he’s never seen conditions at the jail, also known as 201 Poplar, quite as bad as they currently are. In addition to a host of deferred maintenance issues, booking and processing just to get fully admitted into the jail took an average of three days in June, leaving would-be inmates in limbo.

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

Subscriber Only Shelby County Jail Blake Ballin Gershun Freeman Marcus Donald Deion Byrd Ramon McGhee

Are you enjoying your subscription?  

Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community. 

You can help us reach more Memphians. 

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.  

When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.  

Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today. 

Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community. 

Aarron Fleming

Aarron Fleming

Aarron Fleming covers public safety for The Daily Memphian, focusing on crime and the local court system. He earned his bachelor’s in journalism and strategic media from the University of Memphis.

Public Safety on demand

Sign up to receive Public Safety stories as they’re published.

Enter your e-mail address

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here