Public Defender Seeks Release of 'Vulnerable and Low-Risk' Inmates From Nashville Jails

In an emergency motion filed Friday afternoon, Metro Public Defender Martesha Johnson asks Nashville judges to grant the immediate release of various categories of inmates from the city's jails, a move she argues is needed in order to prevent "serious medical emergencies and needless death."

Local criminal justice officials have been working to mitigate the impact of a potential outbreak of COVID-19 in Nashville's jails in a number of ways, including granting early release in dozens of cases and reducing the number of physical arrests each day. But Johnson's new motion asks the court to go a step further and release large categories of inmates all at once. She had previously asked judges to release vulnerable defendants without bail. 

The new motion identifies the following categories:

• People with heightened risk factors as identified by the Centers for Disease Control, such as age or underlying medical conditions
• People in jail for nonviolent misdemeanors
• People held on nonviolent felonies that can be put on probation
• People awaiting trial for nonviolent crimes who cannot afford bail
• People in jail for probation or parole violations
• People who are within 60 days of their release date

"It is perhaps an unprecedented request for relief in Nashville, but has been utilized in jurisdictions across the country," Johnson writes. Later she adds: "We fear that failure to act in a similar manner here in Nashville, which has the highest COVID-19 count in the state, will likely result in serious medical emergencies and needless death to those in our jails." 

The Davidson County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Wednesday that an employee had tested positive for the illness. The sheriff's office said that employee did not have direct contact with the inmate population, but Sheriff Daron Hall has said he fully expects the virus to show up inside Nashville's jails. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ordered local judges to reduce their jail populations. 

The highly contagious coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the jail at Rikers Island in New York City, among other detention centers around the country.