Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.
ProPublica, October 8, 2021: Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.
“…Eleven children in all were arrested over the video, including the 8-year-old taken in by mistake. Media picked up the story. Parents and community leaders condemned the actions of police. ‘Unimaginable, unfathomable,’ a Nashville pastor said. ‘Unconscionable,’ ‘inexcusable,’ ‘insane,’ three state legislators said. But Rutherford County’s juvenile court judge focused instead on the state of youth, telling a local TV station: ‘We are in a crisis with our children in Rutherford County. ... I’ve never seen it this bad.’
Rutherford County established the position of elected juvenile court judge in 2000, and ever since, Donna Scott Davenport has been the job’s only holder. She sometimes calls herself the ‘mother of the county.’”
Additional reading:
ABC Local Memphis, October 11, 2021: Record-high number of Shelby County juveniles currently charged with murder, attempted murder
PubliCola, October 11, 2021: King County Judge Rules Juvenile Sentencing Law Constitutional, Sparking Possible Appeal
Cleveland.com, October 8, 2021: Cuyahoga County to raise pay for Juvenile Detention Center officers after judge warns of ‘crisis’
AP News, September 28, 2021: Ex-juvenile court judge pleads guilty to child porn charges
