TheVoiceOfJoyce In a country obsessed with cruelty, is it any wonder Tennessee’s juvenile jails allow other kids to abuse cellmates. Jails under Jason Crews are hotbeds of neglect and abuse and the State failed to pass a prison overbite Law? Why? The NashVillager has no answers and only describes what’s happening. It’s a sad day for Justice and humanity when the People aren’t represented and heard.

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Friday, August 14, 2026Good morning! Paige Pfleger

I first heard the name Jason Crews in 2024.  

I was at the capitol to cover a bill that would have added independent oversight to Tennessee’s juvenile justice system. It was introduced after my reporting about Knox County’s Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center. 

As I watched the hearing, the bill was gutted. A lawmaker told me that Crews’ lobbying was a factor. 

“I can’t think of a reason for not wanting oversight unless there’s something to hide,” one advocate said. 

Crews now runs all of the state’s highest-security juvenile prisons.  

Despite his role in the juvenile justice system, the public has rarely seen inside his facilities — until now. 

WHAT TO KNOW

Jason Crews at Mountain View Academy in East Tennessee. Photo Credit: Stacy Kranitz for ProPublica 

A surveillance video we obtained shows a teen boy, Thomas Jarvis, being dragged across the floor of Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center by other kids. Guards watch as the kids force him into a cell. One guard gives the other boys a thumbs up.

Crews was the executive director of the private company that ran Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center at that time. The facility did not report the incident to the state. Nor did they tell Thomas’ family, who did not know it had happened until we showed up at their door in northern Alabama.

What happened to Thomas appears to be part of a pattern we uncovered at Crews’ facilities.

We spoke to dozens of former staffers and youth. Staff say they felt pressure to hide abuse from the state and to handle medical emergencies without calling 911. The expectation for secrecy, they say, came from the top.

Crews declined to answer questions about Thomas. His company denied the allegations uncovered in our story. They say they never discouraged staff from reporting serious incidents to the state, and that former employees were “untrustworthy.”

We later found that the violence we saw in the video was not the first time Thomas had been hurt in Crews’ custody.

Read the full investigation.

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On today’s episode of the NashVillagerpodcast 
with host Nina Cardona 🎙️ 

Where is the line between necessary punishment and cruelty? Tennessee’s execution methods have been through several iterations. The next person scheduled for death would rather return to a historic method of capital punishment.

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MORE TO KNOW

  • The state executed Anthony Darrell Hines Thursday morning.WPLN’s Catherine Sweeney reports it was the first execution since the state botched its attempted execution of Tony Carruthers in May. According to the Associated Press, this was the first time in over a decade that three states carried out executions on the same day.
     
  • Tennessee is aiming to build a global market for its soybeans. The state’s Department of Agriculture recently joined both the U.S. Soybean Export Council and the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council. WKRN reports that could give farmers access to developing export markets, connect them with international buyers and promote the state’s soybean products.
  • Mill Ridge Park is getting a significant upgrade. The South Nashville spot has been granted $4 million though the National Park Service for improvements to the park’s “farm.” The funds will go toward creating new spaces for outdoor recreation, nature education, environmental stewardship, and preservation of the neighborhood’s history. The dollars will also help renovate the park’s barn into a nature center that can host classes, farmer’s markets and special events.  

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