In a noble act of solidarity, the Memphis based group, Just City, dedicated itself to providing $50,000 to assist with the bail payments for those facing minor charges. This initiative was announced on Friday as a tribute to the late Rockez McDaniel, aged 33, who lost his life in the Shelby County jail while he was awaiting his court hearing.
McDaniel encountered the law due to misdemeanor allegations, involving evasion of arrest and escape. It all stemmed from an instance that saw police responding to a mental health crisis call involving him. Court records suggest that McDaniel pushed one of the responding officers in an attempt to free himself, which led to him being tased.
Subsequent to this encounter, McDaniel made another attempt to abscond while he was being given some unidentified medical treatment at Regional One Hospital. After he had been medically assessed and cleared at the hospital, he was escorted to the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, more commonly known as 201 Poplar.
In the incarceration center, McDaniel spent a week with no official arraignment or legal representation assigned to him. Although his bail was set to a moderate sum of $1,000, he couldn’t afford the amount and hence remained imprisoned until he died. This information was reported by representatives from Just City.
The death of McDaniel, which took place on July 28, was reportedly due to a medical condition he had while being detained. The official statement from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office indicated that he experienced a “medical emergency.” An investigation surrounding the factors contributing to his death is being undertaken by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) which has also announced that an autopsy is in progress.
In the aftermath of McDaniel’s tragic demise, Just City, along with a coalition of local organizations, announced the Rockez McDaniel Bailout as an emergency measure. This intervention is aimed at individuals who have been imprisoned in jail for approximately a week without considerable advancement in their case proceedings. The initiative engaged a staggering sum of $50,000, sourced from the Memphis Community Bail Fund maintained by Just City.
It is worth mentioning that Just City has a standard practice of supporting bail amounts up to $4,000 per individual. This is a general ceiling for minor charges and the organization undertakes a comprehensive internal review of the charges and history before deciding on bail payments.
In addition to administering the emergency bailout, Just City along with its partner organizations has put forward three demands to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. These demands emphasize the need for improved procedural and supervisory measures in the jail system.
The listed demands include the establishment of a training plan dedicated to resources and staff at the jail’s admission and release sections. The aim here is to decrease the booking time to 36 hours by September 1, and further bring it down to 25 hours by the end of 2025.
The second demand calls for the development of a strategy enabling staff to routinely monitor the daily prisoner population for those who failed to get court appearances or appointed legal aid within 48 hours. The ultimate objective is to ensure all prisoners are taken to court within 72 hours from booking.
Their third and final demand is to devise a plan to quickly address individuals with diagnosed mental conditions by diverting them to appropriate resources within 24 hours of their arrival. The ultimate goal here is to avoid the incarceration of individuals struggling with mental health episodes by the start of next year.
Despite these public assertions, there has been no official response to these demands or to the tragedy from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. McDaniel’s initial court date was scheduled for the 21st of July, just a day following his arrest. However, the related legal proceedings — a mandatory bail hearing review along with the arraignment — did not occur as scheduled.
The court date, initially scheduled for July 21, got postponed to July 22, then to July 28, and ultimately to July 29. Sadly, by the rescheduled date, McDaniel had passed away. The Sheriff’s Office had released a statement on July 24, citing the need for funding for a new detention center facility, four days prior to McDaniel’s passing.
Although the facility employs a dedicated mental health team inclusive of a full-time director, part-time psychiatrists, and other mental health specialists, it remains uncertain if McDaniel was able to access any such resources or treatments while he was in custody.
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