The New York Times and Serial Productions, in collaboration with ProPublica and WPLN Nashville Public Radio, are launching a new podcast series titled The Kids of Rutherford County. Hosted by Meribah Knight, a Peabody Award-winning reporter, the four-part narrative delves into a decade-long practice of arresting and illegally jailing minors in Rutherford County, TN.
The series is based on a joint investigative effort that revealed systemic issues in the county’s juvenile justice system. It will spotlight the key adults who perpetuated this cycle and feature two individuals who transitioned from being juvenile delinquents to lawyers seeking justice.
The series takes off from an incident in April 2016, when 11 Black children, some as young as eight, were arrested for not intervening in a fight. This led to the exposure of a flawed system that had, for over a decade, illegally arrested and jailed possibly thousands of children. The investigation points to the role of a powerful judge and a county that normalized these high arrest numbers, without intervention from the state.
Knight aims to uncover how the juvenile court’s rules around confidentiality enabled this unlawful system to thrive and questions whether the people responsible will face any repercussions.
The first two episodes of The Kids of Rutherford County will debut on Thursday, October 26, with the remaining parts to follow on subsequent Thursdays.
