A longtime Tennessee juvenile judge used policies later deemed unconstitutional to falsely arrest and imprison 'thousands' of children as young as seven without due process, according to court documents.
In March 2003, Rutherford County Juvenile Judge Donna Scott Davenport established the 'de facto policy', referred to later in 2013 as the 'filter system', according to court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com.
The detention policy was designed to 'incarcerate children pretrial whenever (a) there was probable cause that the child had committed any delinquent offense, and (b) staff deemed incarceration to be in the child’s “best interests."'
But the meaning of 'best interests' was never defined and was left up to the jail's discretion. The charges were as minute as truancy, and the ages of children arrested and jailed were as young as seven to nine years old.
During a radio appearance in 2012, Davenport said, 'I’ve locked up one 7-year-old in 13 years, and that was a heartbreak. But 8- and 9-year-olds, and older, are very common now,' according to a news report.
Under Davenport’s watch, in 2014, 48 percent of cases resulted in kids being jailed. The statewide average at the time was 5 percent, the report found.
The policy sparked a class action lawsuit filed in 2017, which was amended two years later, then ultimately settled for $11million in June 2020.
Payouts for the settlement were divided into two classes - wrongfully arrested and wrongfully detained. Wrongfully arrested got about $1,000 each and wrongfully detained received about $5,000.
In exchange, the policy was banned and the county 'denies any wrongdoing in any of the lawsuits filed against it.'
Rutherford County Juvenile Judge Donna Scott Davenport (center) has been scrutinized for implementing a detention policy that imprisoned children that a federal judge deemed unconstitutional
Davenport is pictured hearing delivering the 2015 commencement speech at her alma mater Middle Tennessee State University, which announced it cut ties with her on Wednesday
But four months after the settlement, on Friday, WPLN and ProPublica published an in-depth, investigative report that has gained nationwide notoriety.
The report renewed scrutiny on Davenport and the county's juvenile detention system, and spotlighted specific anecdotes of juveniles who were arrested and imprisoned on overzealous - and allegedly made-up - charges.
In one case, children were arrested and thrown in jail on a little-known Tennessee law of 'criminal responsibility for conduct of another' because they didn't break up a fight between a five- and a six-year-old, WPLN and ProPublica reported.
'There has to be something done to everyone who was involved in this,' state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) told WSAV on Wednesday. 'It’s my understanding that they created a law that wasn’t even on the books in order to make that happen.'
'That is horrible abuse of power. We have the Administrative Office of the Courts, I believe they should take action and investigate.'
Davenport has run the juvenile county justice system since its inception in 2000
Davenport, now 69, grew up in Mt. Juliet, a Nashville suburb and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro with a degree in criminal justice.
She's run the juvenile county justice system since its inception in 2000, appointing its magistrates and setting its rules. While other elected officials have shuffled in and out of county office, Davenport has remained and is expected to run again after her eight-year term ends next year.
It's unknown if the settlement and news reports have altered her plans.
The investigative report showed how Davenport believes her calling is to instill moral values and restore family traditions.
'I’m here on a mission. It’s not a job. It’s God’s mission,' she told a local newspaper, according to the news report.
On Wednesday, Middle Tennessee State announced that it cut ties with Davenport, who delivered a commencement speech in 2015.
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