In Tennessee, The Justice Project (TJP) works to reform the state’s criminal justice system, with a particular focus on increasing fairness and accuracy in the administration of capital punishment. In pursuit of its mission, TJP educates the public, media, and policymakers in Tennessee about the problems facing the state’s criminal justice system and seeks necessary reforms.
The Justice Project pursues its agenda for reform as part of a coalition that includes The Spangenberg Project, a data and research organization based out of George Mason University; the American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project, which works to ensure adequate representation for capital defendants; and the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, which examines issues relating to the delivery of criminal defense services to indigent persons accused of crimes.
The Justice Project’s Primary Objectives in Tennessee
The Justice Project utilizes four core strategies to advance criminal justice reform in Tennessee. Through aggressive and strategic public education, coalition building, coordination, and advocacy, TJP is focused on the following objectives in the state of Tennessee:
Improve the Structure and Performance of the Indigent Defense System
The overwhelming majority of criminal defendants in Tennessee are indigent and must rely on the state to provide legal counsel. Public defenders in Tennessee are burdened with some of the highest caseloads in the country and are paid starting salaries that are roughly half the salaries of new lawyers in private practice.
Not surprisingly, the quality of legal representation provided to indigent defendants by state-appointed counsel is demonstrably inferior to that provided to those who can afford to hire and pay for their own lawyer. We run the risk of executing defendants, not because they are the worst offenders, but because they have the worst lawyers.
Increase Resources Avaliable for Indigent Defense
The fairness and accuracy of the Tennessee criminal justice system is jeopardized by a significant and unfair imbalance of financial and other resources between the prosecution and indigent defense functions. This resource imbalance creates an uneven playing field that ultimately leads to greater financial and human costs and reduced public confidence in the criminal justice system.
When even the most capable and hard-working attorneys lack adequate resources to do their jobs, there is an increased risk that innocent people will be incarcerated, guilty people may escape prosecution, and other defendants will receive excessive or unfair sentences. To ensure a properly functioning criminal justice system, funding for indigent defense attorneys must be raised to a level that corresponds appropriately to the resources of the prosecution.
Improve the Quality of Evidence in Criminal Cases
Research into exonerations of innocent people has yielded much information on the primary causes of wrongful convictions and has identified a number of common, preventable errors. To promote solutions to the problem of wrongful convictions, The Justice Project has developed a national agenda for reform designed to eliminate common, preventable errors that undermine the fairness and accuracy of our criminal justice system.
- Expanding discovery in criminal cases;
- Implementing electronic recording of custodial interrogations;
- Expanding post-conviction DNA testing;
- Improving forensic evidence testing procedures;
- Improving eyewitness identification procedures;
- Improving standards for the admissibility of in-custody informant testimony; and
- Ensuring prosecutorial accountability.
