Hundreds of young people in Rutherford County will receive money in a settlement after the juvenile justice system there illegally arrested and jailed them. A federal judge has approved a final settlement of approximately $6 million.
That’s much lower than the original $11 million that was estimated earlier this year, based on the potential for more young people filing claims. Attorneys had thought there could be nearly 2,000 eligible claims.
But they ran into challenges getting people to file them, according to Kyle Mothershead, an attorney for the plaintiffs. They had outdated contact information for many people who had been illegally detained or arrested several years ago. Other potential claimants ignored the complicated settlement information, thinking it might be a scam and not realizing that they were legitimately eligible for thousands of dollars. The statute of limitations also prevented many people who were affected from joining this settlement.
By the deadline, about 500 claims were filed — about a quarter of what attorneys originally hoped.
Still, the payout is significant. The county will pay $1,000 for each illegal arrest and about $4,800 for each illegal incarceration. People who successfully filed claims should receive the money next March or April.
Earlier this year, WPLN News and ProPublica published an investigation on the Rutherford County juvenile justice system and the woman who oversees it, Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Davenport has repeatedly declined to speak to WPLN News.
The class-action lawsuit stemmed in part from a 2016 incident at Hobgood Elementary, in which students were arrested at school based on charges that didn’t exist.
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