Pleading the Sixth: The Tennessee Supreme Court released a press statement announcing its unanimous support for comprehensive indigent defense reforms, including the creation of a statewide indigent defense commission and a state appellate defender office, and the first increase in…
Tag: Tennessee
Tennessee Supreme Court Task Force recommends complete overhaul of right to counsel services
Pleading the Sixth: Recognizing that the State of Tennessee needs a better way of providing right to counsel services, in September 2015 former Chief Justice Sharon Lee created an Indigent Representation Task Force and challenged them to “build a better mousetrap.”…
DOJ recommendations for Shelby County, TN place financial burden on the county; Task Force would place responsibility on the state
Pleading the Sixth: For nearly five years, the U.S. Department of Justice has been trying to improve the representation of children in delinquency proceedings in Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee. As the DOJ seeks to put more indigent defense funding responsibilities on…
Tennessee undermines own values in providing counsel to the poor
Pleading the Sixth: Tennessee has a grand tradition of holding almost every government function directly accountable to the electorate. However, a major structural flaw in how the state’s indigent defense budget is requested, defended and allocated between the state’s elected…
Redefining the right to counsel in Tennessee
The voice of the people is negated on indigent defense in Tennessee. The 6AC points to a new way forward in resolving long-standing structural deficiencies in the state’s district defender conference model. Read more on this topic: Pleading the Sixth: Tennessee undermines…
DOJ announces an agreement with Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis) to reform juvenile justice system
Pleading the Sixth: On December 18, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an agreement with Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis) to usher in major reforms of the county’s juvenile court system and the method for representing children in delinquency proceedings.…
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