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.
My friend's wife works in juvenile court, and she is livid over this story on Facebook. The average rate for sentencing a juvenile to jail/prison is less than 10% nationwide. The fact that this county wasn't flagged for being 5x the national average is astonishing.
The number that stuck out for me was:
Under Davenport, Rutherford County locked up a staggering 48% of children whose cases were referred to juvenile court.
My friend's wife works in juvenile court, and she is livid over this story on Facebook. The average rate for sentencing a juvenile to jail/prison is less than 10% nationwide. The fact that this county wasn't flagged for being 5x the national average is astonishing.