Movement Lawyering For Pretrial Justice In Eastern Tennessee

Authors

Kiah Duggins
Allen Shropshire
Avery Fairburn
Tyler Foster

Abstract

Judges in Tennessee regularly jail legally innocent people simply because those people cannot afford to pay money bail. Many of Tennessee’s citizens do not have access to healthcare, transportation, employment, or housing, which increases their chances of being arrested, being unable to afford money bail, and becoming further destabilized by pretrial detention. This socioeconomic context, combined with judges’ violations of federal law, make it difficult for advocates to protect indigent people’s pretrial liberty solely through legal tactics. Community organizers in Tennessee have, therefore, strategically combined grassroots organizing with legal tactics to advocate for automatic pretrial release. These organizers’ work demonstrates that movement lawyering in support of divest-invest strategies is necessary for creating sustainable decarceral change.

Recommended Citation

Duggins, Kiah; Shropshire, Allen; Fairburn, Avery; and Foster, Tyler (2025) "Movement Lawyering For Pretrial Justice In Eastern Tennessee," Vanderbilt Social Justice Reporter: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vsjr/vol1/iss2/2