Rutherford county juvenile court judge

Tennessee lawmakers want to oust the Rutherford County judge tied to the area's decades-long history of illegally arresting and jailing children.

A bill seeks to regulate the arrests of juveniles after former Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport, in green judicial robes, came under fire in for the detention of more than a thousand children. Photo: RutherfordCountyTN. Mike Sparks is pushing legislation he believes would have stopped the aggressive lockup of children. Sparks, a Smyrna Republican, is preparing legislation prohibiting interviews or interrogations of children without the presence of legal counsel, parent, guardian or custodian. In addition, children would be told of their constitutional rights to legal representation when taken into custody, and a video recording of any interviews would be made. Whether such legislation would have prevented the lawsuit is difficult to predict because the policy that led to arrests had been in effect since

Rutherford county juvenile court judge

For two decades, Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversaw the illegal arrests and detentions of more than a thousand children in her Rutherford County courtroom. Her actions eventually caught up with her — the county settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit, and an investigation by WPLN News and ProPublica brought to light what had been happening for years, unchecked. Lawmakers called for her ousting, the governor asked for a review and Middle Tennessee State University cut ties with the judge. There were nationwide calls for reform. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge. As pressure mounted Davenport announced her retirement as juvenile court judge one afternoon in January, leaving the community to pick a new judge to fill her seat. In a recent WGNS radio forum , he was asked how he would rebuild trust. He wants to establish a family preservation court, which would connect people to support systems like substance abuse programs. Lampley comes at the position from his experience inside the courtroom. Crismon, on the other hand, vows to be out and accessible to the community. Judicial candidate Andrae Crismon, middle, talks with voters during the Juneteenth celebration in Murfreesboro. He says Davenport operated behind closed doors.

State law allows citations and court summons to be issued without an arrest.

We ran a clean campaign. We worked hard, but ultimately fell short numerically of our goals. The final results on Election night will be official after the Rutherford County Election Commission meets at 5 p. Lampley has served as an assistant district attorney. He will replace retiring Judge Donna Scott Davenport , who has served since winning the seat in She announced in January she'd finish her eight-year term by the end of August rather than seek re-election.

After lawmakers said they were looking to unseat her , Rutherford County's juvenile court judge announced Tuesday she would retire from the bench at the end of her term. Judge Donna Scott Davenport was the first female judge to serve in Rutherford County and the first independent juvenile court judge by private act. I wish my successor the best and hope that this job provides them the same fulfillment it has provided me over the years. NewsChannel 5 learned that for years, Davenport gave jailers the discretion to keep kids locked up who they perceived as a threat. Children were forced to wait in detention until their day in court and sometimes it meant staying days behind bars before being formally charged with a crime. The most recent data given to NewsChannel 5 has shown that at its height, jailers locked up kids nearly 10 times more than the state average. Attorneys for the kids, who in some cases are now adults, said kids were improperly put behind bars more than 1, times.

Rutherford county juvenile court judge

However, locals, including the county's African American residents, have suffered from unlawful law enforcement tactics for more than two decades, according to multiple lawsuits and years of reporting by the Daily News Journal. The class-action lawsuit was sparked by the illegal arrest of 10 children on April 15, — including four students at Hobgood Elementary — by the Murfreesboro Police Department. The arrests were based on a cellphone video of an off-campus incident of children on March 20, The nearly two-minute video was posted on YouTube showing a group of children following another child while yelling. The video shows two small children punching an unfazed, larger child who walks away, while the smaller children continue to take swings at his back. The fight occurs on several residential yards and a street.

Elliott stone

One concrete change is that a newly appointed board will take over supervision of the juvenile detention facility. She subsequently received bachelor's, then master's degrees in criminal justice from MTSU , followed by a J. Retrieved July 20, About 1, were eligible for a claim in the class-action case based on the statute of limitations. Paige Pfleger. That responsibility was taken away from the judge after what happened. He was locked up illegally by Davenport when he was 15, denied his medication, and after release tried to kill himself. The following year, the county violated federal law times by keeping kids incarcerated for longer than legally allowed. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer. But it might have lessened the impact. Warning signs: Rutherford County officials rejected study showing they jailed too many children.

Eleven children were charged with a crime that doesn't exist, the attorney said.

Her current term expires in September She later modified the directive to add lesser violations, such as truancy. He will replace retiring Judge Donna Scott Davenport , who has served since winning the seat in A yard sign supports Rutherford County juvenile judge candidate Travis Lampley. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge. Warning signs: Rutherford County officials rejected study showing they jailed too many children. By: Sam Stockard - January 18, am. It was filed Friday. Meribah Knight. District Judge Waverly D.