The cases of Clark McMillan and Lawrence McKinney — two men who spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit — have exposed a major blind spot in the Tennessee criminal justice system that lawmakers need to correct….
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Shock: Sumner County Jail Let Inmate Die
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a Sumner County jail inmate who died earlier this month. The investigation comes after a new state law requires an outside agency to review the deaths of inmates. Keith Baskerville,…
Read MoreBeleagured Nashville DA Funk In Trouble Again
Nashville DA Glenn Funk now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit over his office’s handling of a high-profile domestic violence case. In that lawsuit made public Friday, developer David Chase accuses Funk and assistant DA Katy Miller of threatening Chase…
Read MoreThe Troubling Data About Incarceration Rates in TN
Two reports released in the past week provide a startling rationale for the use of the term “mass incarceration” and yet more data suggesting that the phenomenon is not felt equally in our society. The first, from The Sentencing Project,…
Read MoreTDOC Commissioner Resigns Amidst Widespread Allegations of Incompetency
Last week, Gov. Bill Haslam’s office announced that the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction would leave his post at the end of June to join Florida-based private prison company GEO Group. After five years leading the state’s 14…
Read MoreNashville Judge Reprimanded After Poor Courtroom Performance
A Nashville judge says a “cavalier attitude” and another judge’s limited work schedule left one man languishing in jail for weeks longer than necessary. Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn on Wednesday ordered the man, Richard Atchley, released from jail pending…
Read MoreSome Nashville Inmates Make the Best of Jail Time
There’s a unique line of handbags made in Nashville where the creators literally put their heart and soul into every design. The inmates at the Davidson County jail mark time in feet and inches. The strips of paper they cut…
Read MoreNashville Police to Help, Rather Than Jail, Drug Addicts
Nashville Police don’t want to see possible charges come in the way of a person seeking help for heroin addiction. “Since November 1st of 2015, Nash County as a whole has responded to about 65 overdose calls, now it’s hard…
Read MoreTBI Investigates Reports of Torture at Rutherford County Jail
The TBI is investigating a claim that a Rutherford County Deputy sprayed a restrained inmate with pepper spray. The case is currently being fought in federal court. According to a court complaint, Demario Harris said his “constitutional rights were violated”…
Read MoreJail Refuses Medical Care so Inmate Escapes to Get Surgery
A Trousdale County prisoner claims he was so desperate and in so much pain that his only choice was to escape from jail. Don Robin White Jr. said he escaped from jail to get surgery. White has previous drug and…
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