A class action lawsuit filed Monday claims 201 Poplar is “overheated, overcrowded, and dangerous” and want leaders to fix the “crumbling” facility.
Several of those detained at the Shelby Count Criminal Justice Center (201 Poplar) claimed in a lawsuit that the condition of the building itself is a hazard to their health.
The suit is carried by five plaintiffs. Four of them are pre-trial detainees, meaning they are in 201 awaiting their trial most likely because they could not afford bail. One plaintiff has been convicted and remains in jail.
The plaintiffs — Thaddeus Norris, Eric Wallace, Ahmad Walton, Vintrell White, and Enoch Zarceno-Turner — are represented by Nashville law firm Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski & Wall. Together, they sued the Shelby County Mayor, Shelby County Sheriff, and the Shelby County Commission.
The 75-page lawsuit details harsh and often times disgusting living conditions inside the jail. The jail is old, moldy, hot, and at places lacks basic security features such as fire alarms, the suit says.Â
Conditions inside 201 Poplar in photographs attached to the class action lawsuit against Shelby County government leaders. (Credit: Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski & Wall.
In one graphic scene from the lawsuit, plaintiff Vintrell White was made to stand barefoot in a holding cell with 7 to 10 people in vomit and feces for several hours, the suit says, after a toilet overflowed. The colostomy bag he wore when he was arrested filled with bowel contents. He only got a new bag after begging for one for four or five days, the suit says.
One plaintiff was made to stand barefoot in a holding cell with 7 to 10 people in vomit and feces for several hours after a toilet overflowed.
lawsuit
The plaintiffs said several mentally ill people who throw urine and feces are put in a black cage on the second floor and sometimes pepper sprayed for their behavior, the suit says.
Others report having gone months, and in some cases years, in custody without having seen the sun or sky or being taken outside for recreation.
By June, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner was on his way out office as he wrote a memo to county leaders telling them “that the facility is crumbling and that they know it,” the lawsuit says. Bonner said maintenance on 201 was constantly postponed and plans for a new jail were constantly delayed. The suit says he told them it “is inexcusable that we are taking risks with fire safety, temperature controls, leaking diesel fuel, sewage, and air flow.”
“After years of failed inspections, chronic neglect, inhumane conditions, and preventable deaths, this reckoning is long overdue,” criminal justice reform advocates Just City said in a statement Tuesday.
“After years of failed inspections, chronic neglect, inhumane conditions, and preventable deaths, this reckoning is long overdue.”
Just City
The lawyers filed seven charges against county leaders, including violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.Â
Those charges are:Â
• excessive heat, humidity, and failed ventilation
• unreasonable risk of injury or death by fire
• prolonged intake detention and overcrowding
• unsanitary conditions: sewage, standing water, mold, and pests
• prolonged confinement without access to natural light and recreation
• unconstitutional conditions in combination
• violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act
The plaintiffs in lawsuit simply want Shelby County to fix these problems. They are not seeking any money. They also want an independent expert to monitor the repairs and ensure that county leaders follow through with repairs.
