TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Judge Norris: ‘I Do Not Harbor Any Bias Toward MPD’

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Oct 21, 2025
News Type: Legal News

In a court filing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris provided an explanation for his recusal from the criminal case involving the former Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers who beat Tyré Nichols. “… I did not recuse because of any personal bias against anyone or anything. I recused because of the apparent bias of others against the Court,” Norris wrote. “It had become clear to me that certain individuals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office were personally adverse to me. They instructed the U.S. Marshals not to investigate the attempted murder of my law clerk. They instructed the FBI not to return my calls.” He continued: “I do not harbor any bias toward MPD. It has never been my theory or belief that the Martin (et al vs. U.S.) defendants or any other MPD officers have gang affiliations.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Norris last year said he believed MPD had been “infiltrated to the top with gang members” and at least one of the defendants in the Nichols case was in a gang. Norris’ explanation came in a separate federal case monitoring MPD’s compliance with a 1978 consent decree that limits how it can use information on residents exercising First Amendment rights. Two of the parties in that case had asked Norris to recuse himself, which he declined to do. The Daily Memphian reports on the story.

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