Investigation unveils Tennessee county's troubling history of illegally jailing children

05:27

October 15, 2021

Juvenile detention inmates at New York's Rikers Island jail walk in a single file to the chapel. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

Rutherford County, Tennessee, has been arresting and illegally jailing kids for years.

Judge Donna Scott has overseen a juvenile justice system that routinely jails children far more frequently and for longer periods than other counties in the state.

Nashville Public Radio's Meribah Knight and ProPublica's Ken Armstrong investigated the situation. Knight talks with Scott Tong about the report, "Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn't Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge."

This segment aired on October 15, 2021.

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