Ardena Garth is the first African American woman public defender in Tennessee’s Hamilton County. The State of Tennessee created the office of public defenders 18 years ago. It was originally an appointed position by the Governor. Ardena was the only applicant with both defense and prosecutorial experience. Of the 27 initially appointed public defenders, only two were black women. When the office became an elected one in order to assure local accountability, she ran for office and won. Tennessee’s first elected black female public defender has been re-elected several times.

When asked how she came to her position in a southern state that still has modest African American political representation, Ardena talked about her family and her education. A native Chattanoogan, she went to high school in neighboring Ooltewah when it was little more than a mud pasture. Her father had been the librarian at the black high school for Hamilton County and was assigned to Ooltewah when the county and city schools were combined and integrated. Ardena went with him and was the first black valedictorian in Ooltewah.

Even as a law student at the University of Kansas, Ardena kept in touch with her Tennessee roots. She worked for criminal defense attorney, Jerry Summers during summer breaks. He helped open doors for her when she returned to Tennessee after getting her law degree. Ardena was proactive in her career by volunteering to serve on state advisory committees.

When I asked Ardena about her advice for young people with an interest in a political-oriented career, she points to her early start in making contacts. She credits much of her success to her early choices of mentors and willingness to serve on state advisory committees even as a college sophomore. The people she met and got to know as a young woman were invaluable in her eventual appointment by the TN Governor.

“You can’t sit at home waiting for something” advises Ardena. She notes that you are never too young to start making contacts and volunteering, and meeting potential constituents. Many career paths, like public defender in her case, may only exist in the future. Yet, the process of preparing for a successful career remains the same. “Develop your integrity and contacts that can support you regardless of your career choices . . . Make sure you have open lines of communication so you know what’s going on.”

When you talk to Ardena about her work, you quickly see her passion for being a public defender. She values the opportunity to look at the facts in a case closely. If people are going to lose their life or liberty, you want to make sure that everyone is treated equally. While many of these cases are deeply emotional, that should not stop us from making sure that her clients have “the protections our forefathers died for.”

When asked about the emotional toll her work must take, she replied that she prefers dealing with abuse cases as a defender than as a prosecutor because the victims can’t or won’t participate. They are too young or too pressured by a family that didn’t want to change. As a defender, the final decision is not hers. Regardless of the verdict of a jury, district attorney or judge, she has done her job to the best of her ability. Her role is to present full picture for those who can’t afford a lawyer, including where there are instances of mental illness. She hopes to prevent injustices that arise from a rush to justice as in the Duke rape case.

TRENDS

Ardena talked about her cases over the past 18 years and commented on the lack of mental health facilities available to institutionalize as needed. Now we basically send them to jail, punish them with little or no help beyond monitoring medications. Long term problems simply fester under these circumstances.

Kids are still being bad kids but our jails make gangs worse. It used to be that gang leaders did not go to jail and if members were jailed, the gang disbanded. Now they run the gangs from jail, learn criminal behaviors and form criminal contacts. They get little re-entry skills and leave jail much more dangerous. We need as a society to focus on public education and commit the resources to address the root causes of gang violence. There needs to be ways to deal with smart kids who have few choices and don’t want to go to college. We need to deal with drug abuse and drug recovery. And with the Internet able to track every youthful transgression, we give young criminals few second chances.

Ardena concluded with more advice for young people. “Absorb and read everything you can; newspapers, magazines comics even if you’re not passionate about the topics. Be Aware! Write! Don’t be afraid of the blank page. Be self motivated about filling up the pages. Find out about yourself. Be open for whatever opportunity because you don’t know where it will lead and I’m a perfect example.”

Her “big picture” approach to the future was evident in her advice. “Get a global view and understand that we are not the center of the universe. If we choose to be isolationist we will miss out on being part of the history of the world.” Ardena keeps in mind that young people face a challenging future and urges them to learn a language and to travel. She hopes that some will consider making a difference by running for office as she did.