Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist...

[GMDino]

"...Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.

Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversees a juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with a staggering history of jailing children. She said kids must face consequences, which rarely seem to apply to her or the other adults in charge."

I'm only sharing the link.  Too long to copy and paste.

In fact I'd gather it is too long for the average attention span, but it is worth the read.

tl;dr?

Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  And racism not only exists* but it is seldom held accountable when it is used by people in power.  Even when they are illegally using their power over children.

Wonder why a generations have grown up not trusting the system?

https://www.propublica.org/article/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-that-doesnt-exist





*Yes, racism can be against anyone by anyone anywhere.  In this example it it is by people in power in this country who are almost exclusively white.  

[Arturo Bandini]

I almost started a topic about that but I lacked words to explain how terrible it is. Horrible people involved in this.

[Dill]

(10-09-2021, 02:02 PM)GMDino Wrote: I'm only sharing the link.  Too long to copy and paste.

In fact I'd gather it is too long for the average attention span, but it is worth the read.

tl;dr?

An incredible story. But you ought to at least post SOME of it as fodder for discussion.

Here is the opening of Chapter 6, which recounts the "consequences"--or not--for adults who misbehave. Judge Davenport, who bears primary responsibility for the "filter system" which jailed children and placed some in solitary, still gets nothing but praise from the state, her lackeys only suspensions.  Nevermind the damage to children and millions her system cost the state.
....................................................................................................................................................................................................
In the immediate aftermath of the arrests at Hobgood Elementary, the Murfreesboro police chief promised an internal investigation. By year’s end, the department had finished its report.

The officer who bailed before the arrests got a one-day suspension. So did the sergeant in charge of school resource officers. Three other supervisors also were disciplined: the sergeant, lieutenant and major who had not stepped in, even as Officer Williams called them from the assistant principal’s office, raising the alert. Each received a reprimand.

As for Templeton, who had initiated the arrests, the department made one finding: Her work had been “unsatisfactory.” She received a three-day suspension — her 10th suspension in 15 years — then kept working.

She retired in 2019 and, according to her LinkedIn profile, is now a life coach and member of Mary Kay, a multilevel marketing company that sells cosmetics.

Nashville police also participated in this investigation, to produce an external report with recommendations. Together, the two police departments delved into one of the case’s biggest missteps: the use of a charge that doesn’t exist.

The district attorney for Rutherford County confirmed to the police investigators that there’s no such crime as “criminal responsibility.” “You should never, ever see a charge that says defendant so-and-so is charged with criminal responsibility for the act of another. Period,” he said.

The investigators interviewed 13 police officers, four school officials, two prosecutors and a pastor. But two people refused to be interviewed: Amy Anderson and Sherry Hamlett, the two judicial commissioners.

They “failed to cooperate,” a Nashville sergeant wrote. “This is unfortunate. ... Important information could have been obtained.” In his recommendations, the sergeant wrote that it’s “worth considering” whether police should give more weight to advice from prosecutors than judicial commissioners. Hamlett was reappointed as a judicial commissioner in 2017, Anderson in 2019. Their personnel files include no mention of this case.


All 11 children arrested over the fight captured on video sued in federal court. Defendants included the city of Murfreesboro, Rutherford County and various police officers.

At least six of the 11 children had been handcuffed. The four who were locked up spent twice as many days in jail, collectively, as Templeton did on suspension.

Starting in 2017, all 11 children received settlements, for a combined $397,500. For at least five children, some money was earmarked for counseling.Rutherford County also faced the class action accusing it of illegally arresting and jailing children.


In January 2017, Davenport arrived at a law firm to be questioned by the lawyers for E.J. and so many other children. Kyle Mothershead, a specialist in civil rights cases, deposed her. He knew about Davenport’s strict dress code — and he made sure to flout it. He wore blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, untucked. He later told us he was thinking, “I am going to ***** spit in her eye and come in all casual and take her off her little throne.”

Mothershead asked Davenport if she ever kept tabs on the number of kids detained.
“That’s not my job is to know statistics,” Davenport said.

Mothershead asked if she’d ever consulted with Duke about the filter system.
Not that she could recall, Davenport said, adding, “I don’t micromanage her.”
Mothershead asked about Davenport’s orders to law enforcement to take children to the detention center upon arrest.
“Because that’s our process,” Davenport said.
“OK. But I just want to make sure that we’re clear,” Mothershead said. “So — so that — that’s your process because you personally have ordered that process into existence?”
“From the orders, apparently so. Yes.”

In May 2017, a federal judge ordered the county to stop using its filter system, saying it “departs drastically” from ordinary standards. By being subjected to “illegal detention,” he wrote, “children in Rutherford County are suffering irreparable harm every day.”

This year, in June, Rutherford County settled the class action, agreeing to pay up to $11 million. Individual payouts figure to be around $1,000 for each claim of wrongful arrest and about $5,000 for each claim of unlawful detention. The county, as part of the settlement, “denies any wrongdoing in any of the lawsuits filed against it.”

With the end of the filter system, Rutherford County now jails fewer of its kids than before.

But that doesn’t mean its jail is ramping down. Quite the opposite. The jail keeps adding staff. Mark Downton, one of E.J.’s attorneys, says the county has “shifted gears.” Forced to stop jailing so many of its own children, Rutherford County ramped up its pitch to other places, to jail theirs.

The county has created a marketing video titled “What Can the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center Do For You?” Over saxophone music and b-roll of children in black-and-white striped uniforms, Davenport narrates. She touts the center’s size (43,094 square feet), employees (“great”), access to interstates (I-24, I-65, I-40) and number of cells, which she refers to as “single occupancy rooms.” “Let us be your partner for the safe custody and well-being of the detained youth of your community,” Davenport says.

Thirty-nine counties now contract with Rutherford, according to a report published this year. So does the U.S. Marshals Service.

[NATI BENGALS]

Gee whiz guys. I wonder which political party this wonderful judge represents?

IDK. Can't dig too deep. I watched the promotional video for the 43000 square foot state of the art child prison, and I'm ready to hang people.

[BigPapaKain]

Oh this is gonna be either a REALLY enlightening discussion or a very quiet one.

[GMDino]

(10-09-2021, 11:04 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Oh this is gonna be either a REALLY enlightening discussion or a very quiet one.

When people agree they tend to not post unless they want to attack the poster so I expect a quiet one...lol.