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Updated 08.17.10 Young people’s legal rights are more vulnerable to being trampled, due to their limited life experience and knowledge of the law. Juvenile justice systems were created to protect their rights and focus on education and rehabilitation rather than only punishment.
Sadly, in recent years, we have drifted away from that purpose. Many of our youth fall victim to the “School to Prison Pipeline,” due to policies and practices in public schools that funnel children out of schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these young people never receive adequate counsel to help them make decisions that impact their future. More and more young people are thrust into the adult criminal justice system where they are subject to harsher punishments with life-long consequences.
What's happening in Ohio
Reform Cannot Wait
On August 17, 2010, the ACLU of Ohio released a report entitled “Reform Cannot Wait: A Comprehensive Examination of the Cost of Incarceration in Ohio from 1991-2010.” The report reveals that our adult criminal and juvenile justice systems are riddled with inefficient policies that increase cost, reduce safety, and contribute to racial disparities.
State Senator Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) joined the ACLU of Ohio at a press conference announcing the release of the “Reform Cannot Wait” report.
Read the ACLU of Ohio’s letter to the Budget Planning and Management Commission urging them to include criminal justice reform as part of their budget reform recommendations.
Changing the system
In response to the problems in the juvenile justice system, advocates have been working with legislators on a reform bill. In June 2009,
H.B. 235 was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives. This proposed legislation focuses on eliminating mandatory sentence enhancements and restoring discretion to Ohio juvenile court judges to treat children on a case-by-case basis by:
- Eliminating the mandatory transfer of youth to adult court (called "bindover")
- Eliminating mandatory
Serious Youth Offender (SYO) disposition (which blends juvenile and adult sentences)
- Raising the eligibility for SYO from age 10 to age 14
- Limiting eligibility for bindover and SYO to only felony offenses of violence
- Allowing a juvenile court to grant judicial release to children in custody of the Ohio Department of Youth Services after the expiration of their minimum term
For more information on
H.B. 235, watch our webcast,
Missing the Mark: Reforming the Juvenile Justice System.
Juvenile justice system failing Ohio's children
In 2005, the ACLU of Ohio and national office, together with the Children’s Law Center and Ohio Public Defender, began investigating the extraordinarily high rates at which Ohio youth waived their right to counsel in delinquency proceedings.
A resulting 2009 report card finds that the Ohio juvenile justice system is failing the state's children by permitting
them to be routinely shackled, mandating that children accused of certain crimes be charged as adults, and not ensuring that all youth accused of crimes get lawyers.
Ensuring access to counsel in Ohio
In 1967's In Re Gault, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children under 18 have the right to counsel to assist with charges against them. More than forty years later, the ACLU is still working to defend the legal rights of youth in Ohio. We petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court to make it more difficult for juveniles to waive their right to an attorney, launched a public education campaign to inform young people of their legal rights, and
continue to monitor the state to make sure that incarcerated youth have access to the courts.
Technology: Defending young people’s rights online and with cell phones
Our laws have not kept pace with the rapid growth of technology. No where is this more evident than the criminalization of young people’s speech. The ACLU of Ohio believes young people are free to express themselves online and through cell phones, and we work to ensure that teens are not subject to illegal searches or unjust punishments for their expression.
- Cell phone searches
The ACLU of Ohio was deeply concerned about
reports of school officials seizing students’ cell phones and
searching through messages and call histories. Read an ACLU
letter
to the Ohio School Board Association urging schools to cease
searching students’ phones.
- Criminalization of online speech Students' Internet activity has come under increasing scrutiny. Many school districts are actively monitoring social networking sites and online message boards for student activity. The ACLU of Ohio recently sent letters to Ohio superintendents offering
clarity on the constitutionality of discipline for students' online
speech.
ACLU letter to superintendents
Free Speech on the Net, a webcast on the parameters of free speech when using social networking sites
Teens and Technology: What parents, teachers and students need to know
- "Sexting" Teens around the state have been threatened with prosecution for "sexting," the act of sending explicit photos via cell phone. The ACLU of Ohio has urged prosecutors not to charge juveniles with sex crimes for sending photos of themselves or receiving photos,
but rather to require education about the risks of "sexting".
April 2, 2009 press release
ACLU letter to prosecutors
ACLU letter to the General Assembly
Tips to Prevent Sexting, a guide for parents and teens
Let's Talk about SEXting! webcast with C. Antoinette Clarke outlining the legal implications of sexting
Ending corporal punishment in Ohio
With the passage of the state budget in July, 2009, Ohio became the 30th state nationwide to ban corporal punishment in school. While many school districts throughout the state had already banned the outdated punishment, many rural schools and some cities such as Canton still used it. The ACLU worked in coalition to advocate for this change spearheaded by Nadine Block, Director of the Center for Effective Discipline.
ACLU of Ohio Litigation
Elkins, et. al. v. Bucyrus City School District et. al.
In April 2008, nine Bucyrus Middle School students were subjected to an
illegal strip search by the school in an attempt to find cigarettes. In September 2008, the ACLU of Ohio filed suit challenging
the searches. Read the
press
release and
legal docket,
and how the ACLU prevailed in this case.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NATIONALLY
Youth PROMISES Act
Congress is considering a bill called the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (“Youth PROMISE”) Act. This bipartisan legislation seeks to address youth violence by providing resources to communities to pursue comprehensive, evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to decrease juvenile delinquency and criminal gang activity. Read the ACLU’s letters to Congress urging support of the Youth PROMISE Act:
Sexting
The ACLU of Pennsylvania won a recent lawsuit prohibiting a local prosecutor who wanted to criminally charge several young women who sent nude and semi-nude photos electronically. Read the decision
here.
Get Active!
Urge your U.S.
representative
and
senators to support the Youth PROMISE Act.
Urge your state
representative and senator to support legislation to reform Ohio’s juvenile justice system. Call, write, or visit them.
Here are some tips on how to do it effectively.
Urge your state
representative and senator
to end corporal punishment in Ohio.
Urge your state
representative and senator
to reform Ohio law regarding "sexting."
Write a letter to the editor
on a juvenile justice issue that concerns you.
Check out the Students Get Active
to find out what young people can do to protect their rights.
Resources
The Ohio Public Defender's guide to sealing and expunging juvenile court records
Voices for Ohio’s Children – Juvenile Justice Initiative
The National Juvenile Defender Center offers a
new tool
for juvenile defense attorneys
The Cost of Confinement: Why Good Juvenile Justice Policies Make Good Fiscal Sense, The Justice Policy Institute
ACLU of Ohio publications about young people’s rights
School-to-prison-pipeline resources
Technology resources
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