The Tennessee Justice Project works to increase fairness and reliability in the Tennessee indigent criminal justice system, with a particular focus on the administration of the death penalty. In pursuit of our mission, The Tennessee Justice Project educates the public, media, and policymakers in Tennessee about the problems facing the state’s criminal justice system and seeks necessary reforms.

• Public Education through the Media

The Tennessee Justice Project works to create a climate for reform of the Tennessee indigent criminal justice system and administration of the death penalty by educating the public about deficiencies in the state’s criminal justice system, supporting related litigation and reform efforts, and highlighting cases involving potential wrongful convictions and unfair death sentences. We reach out to the state and national media; we establish and develop contacts for issue-specific and case-specific reporting in print publications, television and radio, and electronic media; and we alert the media to newsworthy events.


• Coalition Building within the Criminal Justice Community

The Tennessee Justice Project brings together Tennessee policymakers, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officials, victims’ families, and advocacy organizations throughout the state regarding reform of the Tennessee indigent criminal justice system and administration of the death penalty, and we advance these different voices in our reform efforts. We engage in coalition building among individual and organizational entities, relying on existing partnerships and forming new ones, and finding areas of common ground and consensus on which diverse policymakers and opinion leaders can agree.


• Coordinating Education and Reform Efforts

The Tennessee Justice Project identifies and helps motivate people interested in reforming the Tennessee indigent criminal justice system and administration of the death penalty in order to expand its base of reform supporters, preparing them to aid in educational and reform efforts throughout the state.


• Advocacy with the Legislative, Judicial and Executive Government

The Tennessee Justice Project works with Tennessee legislators, judges, the governor, and other policymakers to effect changes in the Tennessee indigent criminal justice system and administration of the death penalty. We promote legislative reform by collaborating with the General Assembly, lobbyists, and other interested individuals and organizations that can help advance the reform agenda. We advocate for reform with the judiciary. We develop relationships with key figures in the executive branch of government with whom we advocate for reform.

The Tennessee Justice Project
810 Broadway, Suite 402
Nashville, TN 37203
p: (615) 255-7372
fax: (615) 255-6199
geldridge@tnjusticeproject.org