30: How Tennessee Fails to Protect Children Accused of Crimes w/Mark Stephens
In this episode, I speak with Mark Stephens, the former chief public defender of Knoxville Tennessee.
Tennessee public defense has been stuck in neutral, if not reverse for a long time. In fact, almost everything was established in the 90's and hasn't changed much since.
Rutherford county incarcerated approximately 48% of children referred to juvenile court in 2014, and the statewide average for juvenile incarceration is 5%. Today, we talk about two alarming reports that have been released discussing the representation of juvenile offenders in the state.
In Tennessee, public defenders are…
The skinny
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