Rutherford County paying up to $11M in juvenile incarceration lawsuit

The Rutherford County government will pay up to $ 11 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing officials of flaunting state laws and the U.S. Constitution by illegally detaining and detaining more than 1,000 children.

The young people’s lawyers and the district government submitted the settlement agreement to the federal court on Wednesday. It was the result of 20 months of court-ordered negotiations.

The lawsuit was aimed at a Rutherford County policy requiring MPs to arrest and detain juveniles for minor offenses. Lawyers for the teenagers said the policy violates Tennessee state law, which limits when teenagers can be arrested and detained in juvenile detention.

Plaintiffs include a youth arrested as a student at Hobgood Elementary in 2016. Several Hobgood Elementary students, ages 6 to 12, were arrested and detained for allegedly failing to finish an off-campus fight. Some of them were handcuffed.

The incident sparked public outrage and drew attention to Rutherford County’s detention policy.

Rutherford County’s so-called “Always Arrest” policy dates back to at least 2003, according to court documents. Senior District Judge Waverly Crenshaw issued an injunction blocking the policy in May 2017, saying it “undoubtedly” caused irreparable harm to the juveniles.

The settlement agreement will permanently block the policy.

Under the terms of the agreement, the county will pay up to $ 7.75 million for children arrested or detained under the policy.

According to court records, around 1,400 young people could be entitled to a settlement under the agreement. Lawyers representing the youth encouraged people who believe they might be eligible to contact [email protected].

Nashville attorney Kyle Mothershead, who was on the legal team representing the juveniles, issued a statement condemning “the illegal regime of mass juvenile detention in Rutherford County.”

Mothershead, who worked on the case with Mark Downton and Frank Brazil, said the settlement would offer the government “reasonable financial accountability” and “a bit of justice” to the youth involved in politics.

The 2016 class action lawsuit is one of many against Rutherford County’s treatment of juveniles in the judicial system.

The county and state paid $ 250,000 in 2019 to resolve a lawsuit over a boy with developmental disabilities who was locked in solitary confinement. A family involved in the Hobgood Elementary arrests accepted a $ 86,500 settlement from Murfreesboro and Rutherford Counties in 2017.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.

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