New bill seeks to remove Tennessee judge who illegally jailed children

A new bill in the Tennessee state legislature seeks to remove Rutherford County’s juvenile court judge. That’s after reporting from Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica detailed how the county’s justice system was illegally arresting and jailing children.

Since 2000, Judge Donna Scott Davenport has overseen the juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, where the county jailed kids in 48% of the cases referred to juvenile court, compared with the statewide average of 5%. Now, State Sen. Heidi Campbell and State Rep. Gloria Johnson have said they are proposing legislation that could result in Davenport’s ouster. A bill starting the process was filed in the Tennessee State Senate Friday.

In Tennessee, state lawmakers have placed narrow limits on when children can be locked up prior to a delinquency hearing. But from 2008 to 2017, Rutherford County’s juvenile jail instituted its own system, called a “filter system,” under which any child deemed a “TRUE threat” could be detained. The jail’s written procedures never defined what a “TRUE threat” was. Davenport appointed the jail’s director, who also reports to her. In 2017, a federal judge ordered the county to stop using the filter system.

“While judges are given judicial discretion to interpret laws, they are not allowed to make up their own laws,” Campbell said, during a Monday press conference.

State Rep. Vincent Dixie said at the press conference: “This is a slap in the face to us as legislators, because she made a policy into a law. And if you can do that, if anybody can do that, then why are we even in office?”

State Sen. Brenda Gilmore, former chair of the Tennessee Black Caucus, highlighted the racial disparities among incarcerated children in Rutherford County during the press conference. Reporting from Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica found that Black children are jailed at a disproportionately higher rate, and that the disparity is getting worse.

Several Democratic lawmakers, including Gilmore, said they’re concerned that the problem is systemic.

“The people who are in charge have failed the children, and they’re still in charge,” Gilmore said.

Johnson said Davenport exercised an “appalling abuse of power.” She added, “How can we keep a judge in place who sees herself as carrying out God’s mission, rather than carrying out the laws of this state?”

The attempted ouster is considered an extreme measure.

Under Tennessee’s constitution, a judge can be removed only upon a two-thirds vote of both legislative chambers. A state report and news clips turned up two instances of that happening in the last half-century; one of those judges was convicted of sexual assault and the other was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice.

If the legislation passes, a joint legislative committee would be formed and empowered to subpoena witnesses, Campbell said. It would file a report to the Tennessee House and Senate, which then would vote separately on whether to remove the judge.

Since county officials established Rutherford's juvenile court judgeship in 2000, Davenport has been the only person voters elected to the position. During her last re-election bid, in 2014, she ran as a Republican.

Multiple Democratic lawmakers said Davenport’s removal isn’t a partisan issue. Campbell pointed to how Tennessee’s Republican governor has called for a review of Davenport. Eleven members of Congress, all Democrats, have also asked the U.S. Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation of the county’s juvenile justice system.

In Tennessee, a Republican representative introduced a measure to remove a judge who had ordered increased access to absentee ballots during the August primary elections. The effort to oust her failed, but the judge has since announced she will not seek re-election.

Davenport, who said she plans to run for re-election 2022, will face challengers.

Nashville Public Radio reached out to Davenport for comment and has not received a response. She previously has declined to respond to questions from the news organizations.