Budget
$72,000.00
Description
CJI is leading a local campaign in Nashville, Tennessee to reduce the disparate and long-term negative impacts of unpaid court debts on people who cannot afford to pay them. With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, CJI is working with local court officials to encourage policy reforms that eliminate or reduce court fines and fees on economically disadvantaged people, and to increase the frequency with which judges address fine and fee waivers for indigent persons at the time of criminal case dispositions. CJI is also working with other organizations, including Think Tennessee and Sycamore Institute to encourage statewide reforms to court debt issues.
Category
Crime & Legal - Related  -  
Beneficiaries
Economically disadvantaged people
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County

Budget
$150,000.00
Description
CJI's primary service program is providing client-centered, holistic legal representation to people who have been arrested and who qualify for court-appointed counsel. We offer our services to people who want us to represent them, instead of accepting appointments sent to us by judges. This model mirrors the way people who can afford to hire a lawyer obtain counsel, and it encourages appointed lawyers to provide high quality representation--so more people identify them as appointed counsel of their choice. It also acknowledges that people who need appointed lawyers are capable of knowing what they need and want from a lawyer, and of recognizing when they aren't getting that from a lawyer chosen by the judge hearing their case.
Beneficiaries
Economically disadvantaged people
Adults
K-12 (5-19 years)
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

Budget
$80,000.00
Description
Court-appointed counsel system reform

Bail reform

Sentencing/Parole reform

Sex Offender Registry reform


Beneficiaries
Economically disadvantaged people
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Unemployed, Underemployed, Dislocated
Program Areas Served
Tennessee

Budget
$80,000.00
Description
All Around Justice (AAJ) is our holistic legal service program. CJI clients facing criminal prosecution can access social service supports and legal representation for civil matters related to their criminal case. Additionally, CJI assists people in overcoming barriers created by prior involvement in the criminal legal system. Our innovative approach recognizes that a person's involvement in the criminal legal system is often a symptom of other problems or injustices in their life that have gone unaddressed, such as mental illness or trauma. Poverty can exacerbate and perpetuate those issues, as can incarceration and a criminal conviction. Additionally, an arrest can trigger civil legal issues that, without a lawyer's intervention, can have permanent and devastating consequences in a person's life. All Around Justice ensures people have access to the resources they need to get the best outcome possible in their case and for their future.
Program Successes
CJI prevented the school expulsion of a student accused of a minor drug offense by demonstrating that he was wrongly charged. CJI was also able to have the criminal charge withdrawn, enabling the student to graduate from high school without the burden of a criminal record. In another case, police sought to seize property found on a client at his arrest. By representing him at the asset forfeiture hearing, CJI not only recovered his property, but also developed evidence that was useful in favorably resolving his criminal case.
Category
Crime & Legal - Related  - Legal Services 
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee