178: How Does the Tennessee Youth Legal System Allow Judges to Make up Crimes and Illegally Jail Kids w/Christina Kleiser and Meribah Knight

Today, Hunter is joined by two fierce advocates for youth justice in the state of Tennessee. Chris Kleiser, a Knox County Public Defender, and Meribah Knight, a Senior Reporter for Special Projects with Nashville Public Radio, bring us a story of how one rouge judge illegally policed and caged young people in Rutherford County Tennessee. Many of you may have read the shocking reporting last year about Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Over more than two decades, she abused her position of power on the bench, and today's episode is designed to figure out what structural things in the Tennessee criminal legal system allow this to happen.     Guests: Christina Kleiser, Assistant Public Defender and Youth Lead, Knox County, Tennessee Meribah Knight, Senior Reporter for Special Projects, Nashville Public Radio     Resources: Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn't Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge https://www.propublica.org/article/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-that-doesnt-exist Judge Davenport Plans to Retire https://www.propublica.org/article/new-bill-seeks-to-remove-tennessee-judge-who-illegally-jailed-children Check out the In Defense of Children Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/5RrAfBAibvkm117xBx8GmW https://www.instagram.com/indefenseofchildrenpodcast/ Follow Meribah Knight on Twitter https://twitter.com/meribah?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Read Meribah's Work https://www.meribahknight.com/ Serial's Podcast with Meribah https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/podcasts/serial-kids-rutherford-county.html https://open.spotify.com/show/4SwSDvOGcbc4cPA52nS4ww https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kids-of-rutherford-county/id1707247008 Knox County Public Defender https://www.pdknox.org/     Contact Hunter Parnell:                                 [email protected]  Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter                                                                 @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com  Subscribe to the Patron www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast  Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN