TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Oct 8, 2021

In a lengthy report on the Rutherford County juvenile justice system, Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica say that the county has “a staggering history of jailing children” and employs an illegal filtering system for determining which children go to jail. The report detailed that the statewide average for juvenile cases resulting in jail time is 5%, while it is 48% in Rutherford County. The reporting also found an “ugly and unsettling culture” surrounding the juvenile justice system. After reviewing countless documents and interviewing those who would talk to them, the reporters concluded that “officials flouted the law by wrongfully arresting and jailing children." The new reporting follows news this summer that the county agreed to pay up to $11 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its policies for arresting and detaining children.