Challenging the Money Bail System in Hamblen County
Torres v. Collins et al.
We filed a major constitutional civil rights case alleging that the Hamblen County money bail system traps poor people in jail because they cannot afford to purchase their release. According to our complaint, the judge and judicial commissioners in Hamblen County routinely impose unaffordable money bail amounts — sometimes in amounts as high as $1 million. In a county where one in five residents lives below the poverty level, these money bail amounts are essentially detention orders.
As a direct consequence of this system, the Hamblen County Jail operated at over 170 percent capacity. The complaint alleged that people locked in cages regularly slept naked on the concrete jail floor because mold and mildew infested cells are overcrowded, and that people were handcuffed to door handles, forced to sleep shoulder-to-shoulder on mattresses in supply closets, and shackled to their own wheelchairs.
The money bail amounts for the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit ranged from $1,500 to $75,000. They are four women charged with misdemeanors and non-violent drug offenses. Between them, they suffer from serious medical conditions for which they are not receiving medication, separation from minor children, and loss of employment, in addition to the prolonged detention in inhumane and unsanitary jail conditions.
This case seeks to hold accountable the actors who are making these unconstitutional decisions and by doing so, begin addressing the jail crisis in the right way — by reducing the Hamblen County jail population and assembly line wealth-based detention.
In early 2025, we won an important victory in federal court reforming many of the practices that we alleged to be unconstitutional.
Media Coverage:
Hamblen county jail inmates faced with poor clothing, unsanitary conditions, new federal lawsuit contends | Knox News | Feb 25, 2020
Partners:
Baker Donelson
Filings:
Opinion and Order Granting Partial Summary Judgment (Sep 21, 2023)
Motion for Summary Judgment (April 29, 2022)
Memo and Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (Nov 30, 2020)
Supplemental Brief in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (July 6, 2020)
Complaint (Feb 16, 2020)
More from the Bail
Sandoval v. Riverside. In May 2025, individuals detained in Riverside County jails filed a class action lawsuit challenging Riverside County’s cash-based jailing of individuals between their arrest and first court hearing, as well as Riverside County’s unnecessary delay of that hearing. Rabbi David Lazar and Reverend Jane Quandt chose to join this lawsuit because they view cash-based jailing as unconscionable. The lawsuit was filed against Riverside County Superior Court, Riverside County, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Chad Bianco.
In partnership with public defenders in Oregon, Civil Rights Corps is challenging Oregon’s longstanding practices of jailing people charged with misdemeanors prior to trial and jailing people charged with other crimes without constitutionally required due process.
Butler v. Prince George's County. In 2022, CRC and partners filed a class action lawsuit challenging Prince George’s County's pretrial detention practices. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that PG County and its officials violate Plaintiffs’ rights under the United States and Maryland Constitutions by detaining people pretrial without meeting the substantive and procedural standards required for pretrial detention.
Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles. CRC and co-counsel brought suit in California Superior Court in November 2022 on behalf of several individuals who had been jailed for five days simply because they could not access enough cash to pay for their freedom.
Hester v. Gentry. In 2018, Civil Rights Corps and partners filed a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of people in Cullman County, Alabama, are routinely jailed before trial due to their inability to pay bail in exchange for their release.
Feltz v. Regalado. In 2018, Civil Rights Corps filed a lawsuit challenging Tulsa County’s unconstitutional wealth-based pretrial detention system. Tulsa County used a secured money bail schedule to determine conditions of release for almost every person arrested in the county.
Briggs v. Montgomery. In 2018, we filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Treatment Assessment Screening Center, Inc. for operating a diversion program that charges hundreds of dollars in fees to people accused of possessing small amounts of marijuana. In 2024, the Court approved a landmark $2.6 million settlement.
Graff v. Aberdeen Enterprizes II, Inc. On November 2, 2017, Civil Rights Corps, the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, and private counsel filed this putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on behalf of individuals facing arrest because of their inability to pay their court fines.
Mays v. Dart. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., many of us protected ourselves by isolating in our homes. For the millions of people trapped in jails and prisons across the country, this was not an option.