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Updated 12.15.11 Juvenile justice systems were
created to protect young people’s 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, the policies
and practices that funnel children out of schools and into the juvenile and criminal
justice systems.
What's happening in Ohio
Protecting Children's Right to
Counsel
The ACLU of Ohio, Office of the Ohio Public Defender, and Children’s
Law Center urge the Ohio Supreme Court to adopt Juvenile Rule 3, a
proposed administrative rule change that will ensure juveniles not
waive their right to counsel without consulting an attorney.
Under current law, children must speak with an adult before they waive
their right to counsel. However, the adult may be a parent or guardian
who does not understand the legal system. Consequently, children often
waive counsel without fully understanding their rights or the potential
outcome of proceeding through the juvenile justice system without an
attorney.
If Juvenile Rule 3 is adopted, it will add necessary protections to
ensure children have unfettered access to an attorney. Children would
only be allowed to waive if:
- They have consulted with an attorney who will advise them of
the rights and consequences of waiving; and,
- The waiver is made knowingly and intelligently after the judge has
given detailed instructions in writing and on the record.
The public comment period closed on November 22, 2011. The Court may amend the proposed rules, and then file them with the Ohio General Assembly. The rules go into effect on July 1, 2012, unless the General Assembly passes a motion of disapproval prior to that date.
For more information,
download the ACLU's one page sheet here.
Read the ACLU of Ohio’s
testimony
in support of Juvenile Rule 3.
Changing the System
The Ohio Legislature passed House
Bill 86, which made needed changes to Ohio juvenile justice and criminal
justice systems. The legislation focuses on restoring discretion to Ohio juvenile
court judges to treat children on a case-by-case basis by:
- 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;
- Establishing a competency standard for
juveniles;
- Reducing the maximum sentence for a
crime with a gun specification for youth who did not provide, use, or dispose
of the firearm; and
- Permitting youth to be transferred back
to juvenile court if they were subject to mandatory transfer to adult court due
to the charged offense, but plead guilty or are convicted of a lesser offense.
Juvenile Justice System Failing Ohio's Children
Ohio’s juvenile justice system is plagued by unfairness and inefficiency, including
youth waiver of counsel, routine shackling of children, disproportionate minority
contact, and mandates that children accused of certain crimes be charged as adults.
The ACLU of Ohio and its partners have released an updated version of "Report Card: Evaluating Juvenile Justice in Ohio"
focusing on these issues.
The Report Card is an outgrowth of a partnership between the ACLU of Ohio, the
National ACLU, the Children’s Law Center and the Ohio Public Defender to
investigate the extraordinarily high rates at which Ohio youth waived their right to
counsel in delinquency proceedings. Ultimately, the Ohio Supreme Court issued new
guidelines through
in Re: Spears to help ensure youth are adequately advised of their rights
before waiving their right to counsel.
The ACLU of Ohio continues to monitor the effect of these new guidelines, and recently
filed a legal brief in support of one youth whose right to counsel was violated in the
case, In Re. M.W. For more information, visit our
legal docket.
Technology: Defending Young People’s Rights
Online and
with Cell Phones
Our laws have not kept pace with the rapid growth of technology. Nowhere 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.
More information about students rights online or with cell phones is available on our
Students Get Active
page.
Resources
Visit our Criminal Justice,
Police Practices, and
Racial Justice, and
Students Get Active issues pages for more
information about youth rights and our justice system.
Check out our Publications
page for more resources on juvenile justice and youth rights.
Defending Clients Who Have Been Searched and Interrogated at School: A Guide for
Juvenile Defenders, The National Juvenile Defender Center, 2009
Guide to
Sealing and Expunging Juvenile Court Records, Office of the Ohio Public Defender
Media and
Technology Resources for Educators, Commonsense Media
School-to-Prison-Pipeline Issue Page, American Civil Liberties Union
The Cost of Confinement: Why Good Juvenile Justice Policies Make Good Fiscal Sense, The Justice Policy Institute, May 2009
Voices for
Ohio’s Children – Juvenile Justice Initiative, Research and
publications on juvenile detention in Ohio
Find juvenile justice articles and press releases via our
News Center.
Browse our webcasts for juvenile justice-related programs:
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