MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Legal advocacy groups in Tennessee have asked Shelby County Court officials to change their bail and pretrial detention practices, or face a lawsuit about their constitutionality.

Andrea Woods, staff attorney for the Criminal Law Reform Project at the ACLU, explained under Shelby County's current system, people who cannot afford to pay their bail can be jailed indefinitely, even if they are not a flight or safety risk.

"The person may not even learn what their bail amount is unless they ask," Woods observed. "The legal processes don't address their bond, don't provide them the opportunity to seek release; and it can be days or weeks before they have a lawyer who can try to get them out, if they can't afford their bail."

The ACLU of Tennessee, along with the Wharton Firm and Memphis nonprofit Just City have asked the court in writing to ensure a person's financial circumstances are examined prior to any bail hearing, among other reforms.

Groups like Tennessee Voices for Victims argue loosening bail polices could pose a safety threat to communities. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich had said she is willing to discuss the issue.

Josh Spickler, executive director of the group Just City, pointed out Shelby County's is not the only Tennessee court to come under scrutiny for its bail practices. He noted last year, a federal judge ruled Hamblen County's cash bail practices violated constitutional rights.

"The reasons that we keep people in a jail are really only twofold," Spickler noted. "Are they a risk of not returning to court, and are they a risk to the safety of the community? When you put money into that equation, it can quickly result in what we have here in Shelby County, which is a jail full of poor people."

Spickler stressed other types of releases, such as unsecured bonds, still hold people accountable. However, he acknowledged the system can fail victims. He cited a recent case in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in which a person with a history of violent crime had been released on a relatively low bail amount when he killed six people and injured dozens of others at a Christmas parade.

"But I think the key takeaway there is that this is an outlier," Spickler cautioned. "It is a very rare event. We do have some data about people who are accused of crimes while out on bail, and those are tiny."

According to the Vera Institute, in 2019, Shelby County spent nearly $139 million, more than 30% of the county's budget, on its two jail facilities.

A package to improve public safety is moving ahead in the California state Legislature - with a floor vote in the State Assembly on the first bill expected this week.

Assembly Bill 2215 puts into statute that police officers have the discretion to send people arrested for low-level offenses directly to supportive services.

Anthony DiMartino - government affairs director with the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice - said sometimes public safety is best served when people avoid arrest and instead get therapy, addiction support or help getting a job.

"We're also hoping to raise awareness that this is something officers can do, and then also encourage partnerships more with officers to look at what's in their community," said DiMartino, "as alternatives to jail booking."

A second bill would increase transparency and accountability on money sent to the counties as part of the Public Safety Realignment.

A third bill would require police officers, prosecuting attorneys and investigators to identify themselves any time they're interviewing a family member of someone killed or severely injured by police.

DiMartino said they also support AB 2499, which would ensure that survivors of violent crime and their family members can take unpaid time off work to address safety concerns and heal.

"We're hoping to broaden the scope a bit," said DiMartino, "and make it more clear that family members of victims are able to also tap into unpaid leave to support their family member that has been a victim."

A fifth bill would make it easier for justice-involved people and crime victims to speak freely during restorative justice programs - by making the communications inadmissible in other legal proceedings.

Missouri went through with its first execution of the year, as Brian Dorsey was put to death last night, just after 6 p.m. CT.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop Dorsey's execution. He was convicted of murdering his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben nearly 20 years ago.

The advocacy group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty launched several recent campaigns on Dorsey's behalf to spare his life.

Jenni Gerhauser, a cousin to both Dorsey and Sarah Bonnie, expressed belief in his redemption.

"Brian is more than the worst moment of his life," Gerhauser stressed. "There is so much more to him."

Gerhauser fondly remembered him as fun and charming from their visits during holidays. Dorsey's current lawyers said he was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed the Bonnies in 2006 and his attorneys at the time had been offered money, preventing them from fighting the death penalty with his guilty plea deal.

Gov. Mike Parson confirmed Monday the state would move forward with Dorsey's death sentence, rejecting a separate request for clemency. More than 70 current and former corrections officers had urged the governor to commute Dorsey's sentence, arguing he had been rehabilitated.

Claudia Boyce, also a cousin in the family, said it should not be a decision for the state to make.

"You know, that's supposed to be God's decision, not ours," Boyce contended.

Dorsey received a lethal injection Tuesday evening. Lethal injection became an option for people on Missouri's death row in 1987, alongside lethal gas.


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Amid overcrowding and unsafe conditions in West Virginia jails, state lawmakers introduced bills that would allow judges to take a 'second look' at an individual's original sentence.

If a court determines they no longer pose a threat to the community, the person could be released, placed on supervision, or receive a shortened sentence.

Sara Whitaker - criminal legal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy - said West Virginia is one of the few states that has seen its prison population balloon over the past decade, despite declining crime.

She noted that as of last month, more than 500 people in the state were in jail awaiting transfer to a prison.

"As a result, eight out of 10 of the regional jails in the state were beyond capacity," said Whitaker, "with hundreds of people assigned to sleeping on the floor."

The bills failed to advance this session, but Whitaker said advocates are hopeful lawmakers will consider them next year.

The state's jails remain among the deadliest in the country, with at least 91 people losing their lives while incarcerated in the past few years.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, jail bills cost counties $45 million in 2022.

Nationwide, long sentences have led to growth in the number of older people behind bars.

Whitaker pointed out that 'Second Look' legislation could help the state avoid turning its prisons into nursing homes, and said the number of elderly people in prison has tripled in the past two decades.

"In 2019, West Virginia had to open a dementia unit in one of its prisons," said Whitaker. "There are hospice units across multiple prisons. And experts predict that this is just only going to get worse."

Whitaker added that 'Second Look' policies also offer a way to correct past racial injustice in the criminal legal system.

Black people incarcerated in West Virginia are four times more likely than white people to be serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and five times as likely to be serving a life-without-parole sentence.




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