As Dallas jails continue to be an epicenter for the spread of novel coronavirus causing COVID-19, a class-action lawsuit was filed today against Sheriff Marian Brown as the supervisor of the Dallas County Jail.

“We are risking thousands of lives by not implementing basic health protocols inside the Dallas County Jail,” said Adriana Piñon, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas.

The lawsuit stated that Brown has obligations under the Texas Constitution and common law to maintain the jail in a clean and sanitary manner and to take immediate action to abate a public health nuisance.

“The Texas Constitution requires the sheriff to protect people in the Dallas County jail from COVID-19,” said Elizabeth Rossi, senior attorney at Civil Rights Corps.

This lawsuit is a means to require the sheriff to take the basic, minimal step of ensuring that medically vulnerable people in the jail can keep six feet apart from each other.