Thread by @meribah

For over a decade, Rutherford County, Tenn. was arresting and jailing kids for even the most minor offenses.

A boy accused of stealing a football jersey–jailed
A girl accused of pulling someone’s hair–jailed
A girl trying to use a blank check at a school book fair–jailed

🧵1/11

I spoke to more than two dozen of these kids–many now adults.

“I didn’t want to go to school.”
“I just ran away.”
“I spray painted a penis on a wall!”

They all ended up in jail. Forced to shower in front of a guard. Given a jumpsuit. And sent to a cell, alone.

2/11

It happened so often, to so many kids, that getting sent to juvenile detention there was almost a rite of passage. In many cases, it was also…illegal.

3/11

@bykenarmstrong and myself chronicled some of this story in our 2021 article with @ProPublica.
But there was so much more to tell. So, with Ken’s help, I kept going.
4/11propublica.org/article/black-…

@bykenarmstrong @propublica Now, two years later, the first two episodes of my new @serial podcast “The Kids of Rutherford County”, is in the world. It’s a collab with @ProPublica and @WPLN.



It’s the story of how a system that routinely violated children’s rights came to be.
5/11open.spotify.com/show/4SwSDvOGc…

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN How it came to be normalized. Accepted. Lauded, even. It's also the story of two lawyers who did see the problem in Rutherford County. They just needed other people to see it, too.
6/11

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN The world at large first caught a glimpse of this system in April 2016, when 11 Black elementary school children were arrested in Rutherford County. The reason? They didn’t stop a fight between some other kids.
7/11

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN It turned out that those arrests were the beginning of exposing what was happening in this county. Where an all-powerful judge and the jailer she appointed were playing by their own rules.
8/11

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN Listen now to “The Kids of Rutherford County”. Which tells the whole story of this system, the adults in charge, the kids caught in the middle, and the people–two scrappy juvenile defense lawyers–who tried to fight back. From @Serial in collaboration with @ProPublica @WPLN
9/11

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN I want to thank the people and families who spoke to me for this project. What they went through, and retelling it to me, was difficult to say the least. I am beyond grateful. A reporter is nothing without the sources willing to speak up and tell their story.
10/11

@bykenarmstrong @propublica @serial @WPLN And if you want to read more about what I learned on my journey reporting on the juvenile justice system in TN, please read this personal essay for @ProPublica and @WPLN

10/11propublica.org/article/the-ki…

@bykenarmstrong @propublica Sorry for the broken link folks! This one should work:
propublica.org/article/black-…