Things went terribly wrong with the juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee over the last 10 years.
Children as young as 7 years old were arrested, handcuffed, and taken to juvenile hall for “crimes” such as schoolyard skirmishes, truancy, and cursing.
Hundreds of thousands of kids, or 48% of those in the county, were incarcerated at this facility at 10 times the state’s average of 5%. Most of these young people were Black.
A rogue judge by the name of Donna Scott Davenport, who had to take the bar exam 5 times to pass, was chiefly responsible for this reprehensible conduct.
Once the travesty came to light, a class action lawsuit was filed in 2020 against the county on behalf of the children who were traumatized.
Lloyd’s of London, the county’s chief insurer, refused to pay, claiming the authorities knew what they were doing was illegal.
Davenport was forced to retire after the debacle, and now enjoys a nice taxpayer funded pension.
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