The Kids of Rutherford Co.

[n_huffhines]

New season of Serial focuses on criminal justice in Rutherford County, TN, and how absolutely backwards its treatment of minority children is. Not just teens. Children. First episode has police officers arresting 10 year old girls at school for a crime that doesn't exist. Even if it did, several were not guilty. Even if they were, they're fkn 10. Enjoy.

 

[n_huffhines]

"I never won a case arguing from the constitution." - public defender specializing in child cases in response to another PD who couldn't win using a local statute that explicitly says you can't detain children for crime X.

 

[Vol737]

I don't know how much training they receive going through the academy, but every cop should be required to take XX hours of constitutional law courses annually as continuing education, specifically tailored to their job. I have no idea if that is already part of their continuing education or not, but doesn't seem like they receive enough training wrt the Constitution. And it shouldn't come from other officers, it should be taught by professors of constitutional law.

 

[n_huffhines]

I don't know how much training they receive going through the academy, but every cop should be required to take XX hours of constitutional law courses annually as continuing education, specifically tailored to their job. I have no idea if that is already part of their continuing education or not, but doesn't seem like they receive enough training wrt the Constitution. And it shouldn't come from other officers, it should be taught by professors of constitutional law.

Episode 3 they uncover a written directive from a local judge that the cops were under mandate to arrest kids for even the pettiest crimes, like 5th grade truancy, and they were just "following orders."

 

[Vol737]

Episode 3 they uncover a written directive from a local judge that the cops were under mandate to arrest kids for even the pettiest crimes, like 5th grade truancy, and they were just "following orders."

Idk if that’s within the purview of a judge’s authority without pulling up the Constitution or TN State Constitution Sure doesn’t seem like it would be. Maybe the judge needs more CE on the Constitution.

 

[n_huffhines]

Idk if that’s within the purview of a judge’s authority without pulling up the Constitution or TN State Constitution Sure doesn’t seem like it would be. Maybe the judge needs more CE on the Constitution.

Yeah, getting further into it, this is mostly about a rogue judge and prosecutors and police who are either indifferent or happy to fall in line. She fancies herself as the mother of the county and she thinks she's fixing these children's futures by putting them in solitary confinement. She thinks discipline is the answer to every question with never a thought that it can be a detrimental answer. She sounds like the nicest lady in the world. Makes me miss TN to hear her talk. Why wouldn't you think the world of her if you weren't personally affected by her rulings?

Rutherford Co. has a child incarceration rate 10x that of the rest of TN. I'm half expecting to find out she has some sort of incentive to enrich the detention center.

 

[EasternVol]

Yeah, getting further into it, this is mostly about a rogue judge and prosecutors and police who are either indifferent or happy to fall in line. She fancies herself as the mother of the county and she thinks she's fixing these children's futures by putting them in solitary confinement. She thinks discipline is the answer to every question with never a thought that it can be a detrimental answer. She sounds like the nicest lady in the world. Makes me miss TN to hear her talk. Why wouldn't you think the world of her if you weren't personally affected by her rulings?

Rutherford Co. has a child incarceration rate 10x that of the rest of TN. I'm half expecting to find out she has some sort of incentive to enrich the detention center.

Was this the case where she and her buds were making money from prosecuting kids or was that somewhere else in Tennessee recently?

 

[Vol since 77]

Glad she retired but she didn't have a choice. They were about to send her packing before she "retired" in 2022.

 

[n_huffhines]

Was this the case where she and her buds were making money from prosecuting kids or was that somewhere else in Tennessee recently?

They didn't find that she was making money. Just a do-gooder run wild, which can be as dangerous as anything in politics, IMO. She thought a lot of discipline was all that was missing from these kids lives.

 

[whodeycin85]

They didn't find that she was making money. Just a do-gooder run wild, which can be as dangerous as anything in politics, IMO. She thought a lot of discipline was all that was missing from these kids lives.

She may not have been that far off...kids always need discipline but from the parents..not a do gooder

 

[n_huffhines]

She may not have been that far off...kids always need discipline but from the parents..not a do gooder

While this is true in general, the podcast covers many, many cases where no discipline at all was necessary. The main case they open with put kids who were doing the right thing on trial.

And disciplinary types often don't stop to think that their measures can be counterproductive. I responded to discipline well, and it worked for me with my parents. My closest sister did not. They tried to treat us the same. My sister was a mess living in our house and thrived when she got away.

 

[KB5252]

Yeah, getting further into it, this is mostly about a rogue judge and prosecutors and police who are either indifferent or happy to fall in line. She fancies herself as the mother of the county and she thinks she's fixing these children's futures by putting them in solitary confinement. She thinks discipline is the answer to every question with never a thought that it can be a detrimental answer. She sounds like the nicest lady in the world. Makes me miss TN to hear her talk. Why wouldn't you think the world of her if you weren't personally affected by her rulings?

Rutherford Co. has a child incarceration rate 10x that of the rest of TN. I'm half expecting to find out she has some sort of incentive to enrich the detention center.

I heard about this woman years ago. She's under more scrutiny now.... Didn't know she was even still a judge..... Not sure how she could be.