Rutherford county juvenile court judge

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.

Rutherford County is suing its insurance provider for refusing to cover its settlement in a large class action lawsuit over its unlawful policies for arresting and detaining children. The county was sued over its juvenile court polices, which led to more than a thousand children being illegally arrested and jailed. Rutherford County is suing on three counts, including breach of contract. What this means, for now, is that Rutherford County has used taxpayer money to foot the bill for the settlement, when it expected to be covered by insurance. The story chronicled how the county had illegally arrested and jailed children for years, all under the watch of former Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Shortly after, Davenport announced her retirement.

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. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and Rep. Davenport has been at the center of a national controversy over the way the county handled minor — if not made-up — juvenile charges. Campbell and Johnson were joined by fellow Democrats at a news conference Monday morning including Sen. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville. Davenport is up for reelection this year. She was elected in to the seat, the first and so far, only judge to hold the office. The case is related to other lawsuits that followed the illegal arrests and jailing of children in at Hobgood Elementary and other locations in Murfreesboro following an off-campus fight and bullying incident on neighborhood yards. I would question that title that she has," Gilmore said. Placing children, especially six-year-olds in handcuffs, is never the way to reform juveniles. In , U. District Judge Waverly D.

Toggle limited content width. The case is related to other lawsuits that followed the illegal arrests and jailing of children in at Hobgood Elementary and other locations in Murfreesboro following an off-campus fight and bullying incident on neighborhood yards.

Donna Scott Davenport born Scott is the first judge to have overseen the Rutherford County, Tennessee juvenile justice system, filling the newly created position in She presided over the juvenile court and legal system for the county, appointed magistrates formerly, referees , set protocols, directed police and heard cases involving minors, including parents charged with child neglect. She subsequently received bachelor's, then master's degrees in criminal justice from MTSU , followed by a J. She wrote the Tennessee State bar exam about a year after graduation. After failing the exam four times, Davenport passed in , on her fifth attempt, [1] then began teaching as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at MTSU the following year.

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.

Rutherford county juvenile court judge

Lampley later began practicing law in Murfreesboro, TN with a focus on family law. He served as Disciplinary Counsel for the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee where he was responsible for ethical complaints against licensed attorneys in Tennessee. Lampley completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Lampley is actively involved in his community. He was most recently Past Chair of the Murfreesboro City Schools Foundation and enjoys participating in local philanthropic events. He is an active participant and presenter in the local chapter of the Andrew Jackson American Inns of Court. Search Search. Juvenile Court Judiciary Due to the large caseload in Juvenile Court, one Judge cannot hear every case that is brought before the Court. Accordingly, Tennessee law provides that the Judge may appoint one or more Magistrates to preside over cases. In conducting the proceedings, Magistrates have the same powers as Judges.

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Within Tennessee, Rutherford County stood out for years in terms of the percentage of kids it locked up in cases referred to juvenile court. Show Caption. Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state's best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. Democratic lawmakers also were prepared last January to pass legislation removing her from the bench. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription for all dnj. Readers Reacted. In the case of the Hobgood students, some of whom were arrested at school, the investigation was based on a fuzzy phone video. Announcing her retirement, Davenport said she was proud of her legacy in the court. Lawyer for the class action plaintiffs Kyle Mothershead stated, in February , that Rutherford County had illegally arrested and incarcerated minor children prior to Davenport's appointment as its juvenile court judge in His decision cut juvenile incarcerations from more than 1, a year to about to Mike Sparks is pushing legislation he believes would have stopped the aggressive lockup of children.

The juvenile justice system and jail of Rutherford County, Tennessee became a subject of state-wide, [1] [2] [3] [4] national [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] and international controversy [10] [11] [12] [13] in the s, when a journalistic investigation revealed a pattern of abnormal and illegal incarceration of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children in the county's juvenile jail at a rate ten times the state's average. The post was filled by then-Democrat later Republican elected Judge Donna Scott Davenport , [5] [9] who was scheduled to and did retire at the end of her eight-year term, in August

Tools Tools. What this means, for now, is that Rutherford County has used taxpayer money to foot the bill for the settlement, when it expected to be covered by insurance. Retrieved November 21, Murfreesboro Post. Whoever wins will be stepping into the role with more scrutiny than their predecessor, and more oversight. He wants to establish a family preservation court, which would connect people to support systems like substance abuse programs. The case is related to other lawsuits that followed the illegal arrests and jailing of children in at Hobgood Elementary and other locations in Murfreesboro following an off-campus fight and bullying incident on neighborhood yards. The story chronicled how the county had illegally arrested and jailed children for years, all under the watch of former Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Photo: RutherfordCountyTN. Retrieved October 11, Lampley comes at the position from his experience inside the courtroom. She left the law firm and became a full-time court referee in Children were being arrested for offenses as minor as skipping school or violating curfew.