'Participatory Defense' Needed to Reduce Incarceration, Authors Say

An opinion piece published in The Tennessean highlights how the relationship between public defenders and the community is helping to reduce incarceration in Tennessee. “Participatory defense is about helping community members partner with public defenders to ensure the accused is understood as more than just a case file and bolstering the defense team, in order to prevent and reduce incarceration,” said co-authors Raj Jayadev, of SV De-Bug, and Dawn Deaner, the Metropolitan Public Defender for Nashville-Davidson County.