First Baptist pastor: Davenport's retirement 'an ideology leaving the role'

Nancy DeGennaro, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
·2 min read

Rev. James McCarroll, pastor of First Baptist-East Castle in Murfreesboro, was one of the first community leaders to speak out against Murfreesboro and Rutherford County’s history of illegally arresting and jailing children.

Nearly six years after the arrests of children at Hobgood Elementary and other schools brought national attention to this issue, Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport was one of the last elected officials still in office after being linked directly to this culture.

Days after Davenport announced she would retire in August, McCarroll sat down with The Daily News Journal to discuss her legacy.

"On one hand, I'm happy she gets to spend time with her family," McCarroll said of Davenport.

"It's more than just a woman leaving a role because of what happened. This is an ideology leaving the role and so it becomes a symbol and a sign that something is happening in the community. ... It’s a community saying, 'We now are going to hold you accountable for the decisions you make in our lives and the lives of our children.'"

Flashback to 2020: Rev. James McCarroll, pastor of First Baptist Church on East Castle Street in Murfreesboro, delivers a powerful message during the 24th annual Unity Luncheon at MTSU in the Student Union Ballroom.
Flashback to 2020: Rev. James McCarroll, pastor of First Baptist Church on East Castle Street in Murfreesboro, delivers a powerful message during the 24th annual Unity Luncheon at MTSU in the Student Union Ballroom.

Arresting children: How did we get here?

In April 2016, McCarroll hosted a community forum following the arrests of 10 children — as young as nine years old. The Murfreesboro Police Department linked the minors to a fight near Hobgood Elementary. Many of the children arrested were not at the scene.

The incident exposed a bigger issue.

Read more: 5 things to know about Rutherford County's troubled history of arresting and jailing kids

For decades, the local police, with support from others on multiple levels of city and county leadership, fostered a juvenile justice system which arrested thousands of children for misdemeanors and made-up charges. Tennessee law, meanwhile, prohibits the pretrial incarceration of minors unless they are charged with a violent felony, weapons offense or probation violation.

The Rev. James McCarroll, pastor at First Baptist Church, East Castle in Murfreesboro, prayers over the newly dedicated homes in Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity's Legacy Pointe subdivision on July 15, 2021.
The Rev. James McCarroll, pastor at First Baptist Church, East Castle in Murfreesboro, prayers over the newly dedicated homes in Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity's Legacy Pointe subdivision on July 15, 2021.

Reach reporter Nancy DeGennaro at degennaro@dnj.com. Keep up with restaurant news by joining Good Eats in the 'Boro (and beyond) on Facebook and follow Murfreesboro Eats on TikTok.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Murfreesboro pastor discusses judge Donna Scott Davenport's retirement