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“It just never really dawned on me that we were watchdogs over Richard. It never really was explained to me that way.” 

—Chris Coffey, Knox County lawyer and former board member of the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center 

For half a century, through scandals, investigations, failed state inspections and even the illegal use of seclusion to punish children, Richard L. Bean remained in his perch of power as the superintendent of the juvenile detention center that bears his name, wrote Paige Pflegler, a WPLN/Nashville Public Radio reporter. In late May, Bean announced he would be stepping down, but last week Pflegler and ProPublica research reporter Mariam Elba revealed that for decades, Bean’s closest friends and allies held positions as board members of the detention center. Bean did not respond to requests for comment.

A 2023 investigation by ProPublica and WPLN/Nashville Public Radio found that Bean’s center had repeatedly violated laws against the seclusion of children as punishment, according to public records. There, kids had been locked alone in cells more often than in other Tennessee facilities, sometimes as punishment and sometimes for an indeterminate length of time. The state had known about it for years yet fell short of enforcing steps to correct the practice.

In March, legal teams including the American Civil Liberties Union filed a case representing hundreds of fired federal employees. It contends the Trump administration violated the First Amendment rights of employees by targeting them for holding views perceived as contrary to the administration’s agenda. What has received less attention is the suit’s claim that the administration also violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It claims the purge that followed Trump’s executive order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government disproportionately affected those who aren’t white men.

ProPublica reporter J. David McSwane interviewed three career civil servants, all Black women who are represented in the case. Each woman describes her experience of sudden career termination and tells McSwane what she stands to lose —  but not without a fight. 

A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment.