An interesting program in Mahoning County designed to teach young people about the criminal justice system.

A new teen court makes youthful offenders accountable to their peers and offers participants a hands-on learning experience on the justice system.

The program, designed for first-time juvenile misdemeanor and status offenders, was launched last month at the Mahoning County Juvenile Court in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.

Ten other Ohio counties have teen courts.

It serves as a peer-sentencing court for cases such as shoplifting, disorderly conduct, harassment, truancy and fighting.

ACLU of Ohio Executive Director addresses a recent decision by the Montgomery County Sheriff to double bunk inmates at the county jail.

During this time of increased budget consciousness, I can understand Sheriff Larry Sims’ request to allow double-bunking at the county jail (“Sheriff seeks state OK to double-bunk inmates,” Feb. 18). While government officials should make the system as efficient as possible, we must be certain the safety of guards and inmates is not sacrificed to save a few dollars.

Double-bunking may pose serious health and safety risks. Overcrowding can result in increased violence among inmates or toward guards. Also, these facilities often become breeding grounds for contagious diseases that could wreak havoc on inmates’ health, as well as the medical budget for the jail.

Lost in the discussion has been the fact that Warren County’s overcrowding problem is not unique in Ohio. Many facilities have far exceeded their capacity because of the state’s outdated “tough on crime” policies that lock up low-level offenders without providing rehabilitation. Lawmakers were poised to pass needed reforms as part of the state budget, but dropped the language at the last minute.

We must ensure prisons and jails don’t become dangerous for prisoners and guards. But if we intend to make lasting changes to our overcrowded system, lawmakers must reform our broken criminal justice system.

Christine Link

Cleveland

Ms. Link is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

New litigation will examine the treatment of the mentally ill in Ohio prisons. Advocates contend they are not given the support they need and are more likely to reoffend.

Mentally ill prisoners in Ohio are more likely to get into trouble and end up back in prison after they are released because state officials turn them loose without the follow-up care they need, a federal lawsuit claimed Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, asked a judge to order the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Ohio Department of Mental Health to provide the care necessary to help keep mentally ill offenders from returning to prison.

Advocates for prisoners and the mentally ill said they are suing to help not only the released prisoners, but also the taxpayers who must pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep them locked up when they commit new crimes and are sent back to prison.

The Ohio Surpeme Court rightfully granted a motion to block a gag order imposed by a Henry County judge that would have prevented local media from reporting on a criminal trial.

A Henry County judge cannot enforce his order preventing journalists from promptly reporting on an involuntary manslaughter trial - at least for now.

[…]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio applauded the decision. The organization said there was a good chance it may seek to intervene in the case as it proceeds.

“We’re all about civil liberties and constitutional rights, and we recognize that the press and the public have free speech rights under the First Amendment, but we also believe the defendants have rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth amendments to receive a fair trial,” staff counsel Carrie Davis said.

“The reason it’s important to have this freedom of the press in the courtroom is all about transparency,” she said. “It’s the public’s right to know what’s happening in their government, including the courts.”

Ms. Davis said challenging the judge’s unusual gag order is important, not just for journalists, but for members of the public who may attend court proceedings and blog about what they observe.

“If it was allowed to stand, it creates this horrible precedent that anytime anyone even raises a concern about a trial or whatever proceeding, they would prohibit the press or the public for that matter from reporting on it,” she said. “It really affects a lot of us.”

A wonderful editorial from the ABJ regarding the importance of moving quickly on needed criminal justice reform.

Changes in criminal sentencing laws could ease dangerous overcrowding in prisons, save the state millions during difficult economic times and steer nonviolent offenders into treatment and training, reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses. What’s Ohio going to do? Study the matter.

Unfortunately, the study announced last week continues a pattern of delay. Criminal sentencing reform was stripped from the governor’s budget proposal early last year by House Democrats. Senate Republicans advanced a stand-alone bill. It stalled. During recent negotiations on a budget fix, Senate Republicans attempted to revive the idea.

Now, the nonpartisan, national Council of State Governments’ Justice Center will take a look. Policy recommendations are expected this summer.

ACLU of Ohio Education Director Shakyra Diaz speaks out about the need for criminal justice reform in light of staggering overcrowding in Ohio jails and prisons.

During this time of increased budget consciousness, I can understand Sheriff Bob Reid’s decision to house more prisoners in the county jail (”Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid halts practice of paying to put inmates in nearby jails,” Jan. 17.) While government officials should make the system as efficient as possible, we must be vigilant that the safety of guards and inmates is not sacrificed in the effort to save a few dollars.

Overcrowded prisons often create unfavorable climates that may result in increased violence among inmates or toward guards. In addition, these facilities often become breeding grounds for contagious diseases that could wreak havoc on inmates’ health as well as the medical budget for the jail.

Lost in the discussion has been the fact that Cuyahoga County’s overcrowding problem is not unique across the state. Many facilities have far exceeded their capacity because of Ohio’s outdated “tough on crime” policies that lock up low-level offenders for short periods without providing any rehabilitation. State lawmakers were poised to pass needed reforms as part of the state budget, but dropped the language at the last minute, citing a need for yet another study.

Of course, we must continue to monitor our local prisons and jails to ensure they do not become dangerous for prisoners and guards. However, if we intend to make lasting changes to our overflowing prison system, lawmakers must reform our bloated criminal justice system.

Shakyra Diaz, Cleveland

Diaz is education director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

While Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid’s decision to house inmates at his jail rather than at another is understandable, the county must guarantee that the safety and health of inmates and guards is not compromised.

Cuyahoga County taxpayers have paid nearly $60 million since 2000 to house prisoners outside the often-overcrowded County Jail.

Neighboring cities and counties have always accepted inmates with open arms because the sheriff paid so well. Sheriff Bob Reid says he will stop the practice Feb. 1, in part because increased efficiency has reduced the number of inmates in the County Jail.

But the county’s move to save money could hurt cities with jails that have grown accustomed to getting paid for housing prisoners. Some might even have to close their jails, Reid said.

A judge in rural Henry County recently ruled that newspapers could not report on a trial for fear it would taint the jury pool for a person who was going to be tried for a similar charge in the same case. Local media outlets are claiming this violates their rights to a free press.

A judge’s order in Henry County needs to be watched closely by anyone who values an open society and free press. If it is not overturned by a higher court, it will set a dangerous precedent that likely will be pursued by others in Ohio.

Common Pleas Court Judge Keith P. Muehlfeld has issued an order prohibiting the media from reporting on the trial of Jayme Schwenkmeyer, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. The charges involve the death of her young daughter, 13-month-old Kamryn Gerken, who somehow ingested a fatal dose of oxycodone. The prescription painkiller has become a popular and addictive drug among drug abusers.

The toddler was found dead at an apartment in Napoleon occupied by Schwenkmeyer and her former boyfriend, David E. Knepley. He faces similar charges.

The two trials have been scheduled a week apart. Judge Muehlfeld wants to make sure the public does not read or hear about the mother’s trial because the court will need to seat an impartial jury for the ex-boyfriend the very next week.

An in depth look at how the War on Drugs has created a bloated prison system in Kentucky, much like it has in Ohio.

Kentucky’s 35-year war on drugs has produced “brutally harsh sentences,” flooded the prison system with non-violent and small-time offenders and helped push the state budget to the “outer edge of fiscal distress,” the author of the state’s penal code says.

An array of penalties and enhancements for drug offenses have crowded the state’s prisons with offenders who pose little risk to others and who are forced to serve lengthy terms that used to be reserved for “society’s worst actors,” University of Kentucky professor Robert Lawson said in a new report on Kentucky’s skyrocketing prison population.

Lawson’s 60-page study, which has been distributed to some legislative leaders, could provide fuel for changing a patchwork of drug punishments that he says have “failed miserably” to distinguish between minor offenders and major traffickers.

A wonderful victory from the Ohio Supreme Court for criminal justice rights and fair trials over the holiday break.

A better criminal justice system is coming to Ohio.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently approved new rules governing pretrial procedures that will help ensure those convicted of crimes are truly guilty, according to Thomas Moyer, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

The amendment to Rule 16 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure will require greater sharing of evidence between prosecutors and defense attorneys before trial.

The PD issues a call for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason to make good on his promise of reform to the criminal justice system after troubling racial disparities in sentencing were uncovered.

Minorities call it the “Just Us” system.

And it is. And it has been that way for far too long in Cuyahoga County.

In 2002, the Rev. Marvin McMickle — after completing a four-month term as a Cuyahoga County grand jury foreman — complained that the criminal justice system “had an apartheid feel to it.”

Last year, a two-part series in The Plain Dealer documented that white defendants were much more likely to have felony drug charges reduced to misdemeanors, or to receive treatment in lieu of conviction, than black defendants charged with the same crime.

The findings, based on a six-month review of hundreds of the lowest-level felony drug cases resolved between 2004 and 2007, cried out for immediate action to end the system of injustice.

Unfortunately, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason dragged his feet — his promised study only now materializing 14 months later with proposals for a team of Cleveland State University and University of Cincinnati researchers to study inequities at every stage of the process.

The ABJ is saying what the ACLU has been saying for a long time: we must take action now to reform our criminal justice system.

Changes in sentencing laws to ease overcrowding in Ohio prisons were stripped from the governor’s budget proposal early this year by House Democrats. The idea then stalled in the Senate after Republicans advanced a stand-alone bill. Fearful of being called ‘’soft on crime,” legislators chose to ignore rising prison populations, strained facilities and increased costs. Fortunately, the state’s continuing budget crisis has prompted another look.

In the Senate, majority Republicans have proposed including the sentencing changes in the latest budget fix, the state facing an $851 million deficit. In the House, Speaker Armond Budish is balking at that, but pledging the support of his Democratic caucus for separate legislation. Rep. Tyrone Yates, a Cincinnati Democrat, has introduced a sentencing reform bill similar to the version introduced by Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican.

Yates senses the political moment may be right for bipartisan action, Republicans and Democrats ready to ”jump off the cliff at the same time,” as he put it. If so, it would be a step in the right direction, not only saving taxpayers money but also reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses by increasing opportunities for treatment and education.

Scene follows up on disparities in drug prosecutions in Cuyahoga County and what is being done to curb unequal enforcement.

Local black leaders say the perception persists: At each turn, the criminal justice system crashes down harder on blacks than it does whites. Drug arrests occur at a greater rate on the city’s predominantly black East Side; Ohio prisons maintain a disproportionately black population; even the lines to get into the downtown Cleveland justice center seem overwhelmingly black, one leader says.

Efforts to understand and address apparent disparities in the system have come in waves, with varying degrees of success. Last year, academic and media reports about racial inequities in Cuyahoga County prosecutions brought the latest round of outrage and the latest calls for reform (”Disparate Times,” Scene, July 30, 2008). At the center of the reheated debate was county prosecutor Bill Mason, who vehemently defended his office after a October ‘08 Plain Dealer series highlighted favorable sentences and treatment programs for white defendants in low-level drug cases — the same types of cases that typically end in jail sentences and felony records for black defendants.

Mason put himself at the helm of the reform effort — one that is currently in a holding pattern. More than a year has passed since Mason and other county and city officials met with leaders in the black community to discuss inequities in drug-case sentencing, with no reports of progress.

A possible shift is occuring in how officials address criminal justice issues.

In the next several months, the Supreme Court will decide at least a half-dozen cases about the rights of people accused of crimes involving drugs, sex and corruption. Civil liberties groups and associations of defense lawyers have lined up on the side of the accused.

But so have conservative, libertarian and business groups. Their briefs and public statements are signs of an emerging consensus on the right that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained.

The development represents a sharp break with tough-on-crime policies associated with the Republican Party since the Nixon administration.

The ACLU of Ohio and several other advocates appeared before the Ohio Supreme Court to challenge the Adam Walsh Act, which retroactively reclassified many low level offenders. The ACLU argued this violates due process and also diverts needed resources away from targetting sex offenders who are more likely to reoffend.

Thousands of registered sex offenders would be subject to less-stringent reporting requirements if defense lawyers succeed in challenging parts of a 2007 state law intended to crack down on sexual criminals.

The attorneys told the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday that the get-tough law was applied illegally to more than 26,000 sex offenders who were sentenced before it took effect.

In addition, the lawyers said, the measure penalizes people who commit sex offenses before they turn 18 by requiring them to continue to register as sex offenders well into adulthood.

The state’s highest court heard four cases yesterday challenging Senate Bill 10, which created a new system for classifying sex offenders based more on the severity of the crime than the likelihood of committing future offenses.

More than half of the offenders were placed in the most-serious category — sexual predators — who are required to register every 90 days for life.

Jeffrey M. Gamso, a Toledo lawyer who argued one of the cases, said the law had more to do with securing federal funding under the Adam Walsh Act than protecting Ohioans.

“Is the sheriff really keeping tabs on all those people?” Gamso asked in an interview. “We know that some people will re-offend, and we want to be able to target those people.

“You want to find the needle in the haystack, and what this does is build a bigger haystack.”

Very encouraging news from Summit County on proactive measures they have taken to reduce their prison population and break the cycle of incarceration in their community.

When Summit County opened its new jail nearly 20 years ago, there was an immediate problem: overcrowding.

Within five years, an addition was built.

Even then, the gym had to be filled with cots and converted into a makeshift cell to house an increasing number of inmates.

A facility designed to handle 670 saw its population balloon to near 800 sometimes.

Tensions ran high. Supplies ran out. Confrontations were frequent. Political and public criticism over the dangerous housing and working conditions was heavy.

This week the Ohio Supreme Court heard a case challenging whether police have a right to search through a person’s cell phone without a court order.

Police may be able to take cell phones from people they arrest, but that doesn’t give them the right to scroll through call logs in search of incriminating information without a warrant, a defense attorney told the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday.

[…]

The case has attracted interest from outside groups. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief on behalf of Smith, while the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association filed a brief in favor of police and prosecutors.

The court is expected to rule in several months.

The City Beat takes a holistic view of the capital punishment system in light of the recent botched execution and other troubling statistics.

Released Monday, the FBI’s annual crime report for last year further underscores the fact that imposing capital punishment on criminals doesn’t act as a deterrent to homicides.

The report, Crime in the United States 2008, reveals that in 13 of the 14 states that didn’t have the death penalty last year, the murder rate was below the national rate of 5.4 homicides per 100,000 people.

In the state that was the sole exception to the trend, Michigan, the homicide rate was equal to the national rate.

The states with the highest murder rates in 2008 were in the Deep South.

[…]

The ACLU wants Strickland to issue a moratorium pending a review of Ohio’s execution procedures.

“If the state is going to take a person’s life, they must ensure that it is done as humanely as possible,” said Carrie Davis, an Ohio ACLU attorney. “With three botched executions in as many years, it’s clear that the state must stop and review the system entirely before another person is put to death.”

The Health Department takes steps to improve the conditions at the Cuyahoga County Jail.

The health department has recommended that the Cuyahoga County Jail take steps to reduce the spread of drug-resistant staph infections among inmates.

The number of confirmed cases at the jail has risen from 63 in 2005 to 173 last year. The jail had reported 66 cases as of Aug. 18 — a pace that would total 106 cases by the end of the year, said Matt Carroll, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health.

While the projected total would be a decline from last year, the department wants to monitor the situation more closely and has asked the jail to provide monthly reports.

The ACLU draws attention to a troubling provision in Ohio Senate Bill 77 that would allow DNA collection of anyone arrested for a felony. While the ACLU opposes this part of the legislation, it supports other aspects such as increased access to DNA testing for convicts, and reforms of interrogation practices

A justice reform bill endorsed by Gov. Ted Strickland and passed by the Senate designed to prevent wrongful convictions also includes a controversial measure to expand the collection of DNA samples to those arrested on felony charges.

Currently, Ohio only takes DNA from people convicted of felonies and violent misdemeanors.

Law enforcement groups support the expansion, saying it gets violent offenders off the street quicker and prevents future crimes.

But others say DNA collection before conviction crosses the line, especially because the bill does not address what happens if a person isn’t convicted.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio opposes the measure, saying it poses a “myriad of civil liberty risks” including violating a person’s constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure, is ripe for abuse and is an invasion of privacy.

“This is certainly troubling,” said ACLU staff lawyer Carrie Davis. “There is no useful purpose of collecting DNA after arrest to avoid wrongful convictions and it poses all kinds of civil risks.

“Collecting DNA from all arrestees is a search and there should be some process, a court order or warrant, for a search,” Davis said.

A troubling situation out of Canton in which a man was silenced in court when the judge instructed the bailiff to place duct tape across the defendant’s mouth because he refused to comply with directions.

Municipal Court Judge Stephen F. Belden had an unconventional tool for silencing an argumentative defendant last week — duct tape.

The unique confrontation played out in Municipal Court on Thursday and quickly became a topic of courthouse gossip. It was also recorded on the courtroom’s audio and video systems.

Belden was holding a preliminary hearing to see if there was sufficient evidence for Harry Brown’s case to be reviewed by a county grand jury.

A great victory for ensuring that the guilty are sentenced, rather than those who may be innocent.

A death row inmate scheduled for execution in September will get a chance to convince a judge that information discovered after his conviction could have exonerated him.

Romell Broom, 53, was sentenced to death in 1985 for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton. Tryna, a ninth-grader at Shaw High School in East Cleveland, had been walking home with friends from a Friday night football game when she was abducted at knife point and forced into his car.

The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that 165 pages of records from the East Cleveland Police Department can be presented to the original trial court as possible grounds for a new trial.

The drug court in Franklin County promises to help rehabilitate offenders and save taxpayers money.

Angela Hatem cradled her newborn son and started slithering toward the darkness of addiction.

Complications from the delivery of her youngest child in 2002 led to infections and 14 surgeries. Doctors, she said, handed her painkillers.

But after they cut her off, she found a street dealer to avoid withdrawal. To support her addiction, she turned to crime.

In 2007, Hatem was sentenced to four years in prison on 12 felony counts for cashing counterfeit checks with stolen account numbers from Franklin County Municipal Court.

The ABJ highlights a new report that discusses the many failings of relying on eyewitness accounts in police investigations.

Ask Clarence Elkins about the power — and unreliability — of eyewitness testimony. He spent eight years in prison, wrongly convicted of the murder of his mother-in-law. His conviction turned largely on the account of his niece. She was wrong. She eventually recanted her testimony. DNA evidence finally led to Elkins regaining his freedom.

Now the Innocence Project, headquartered in New York City and dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions, has released a report offering a broad and revealing assessment of eyewitness misidentification. The research shows that of the 230 people who have been exonerated through DNA testing, 179 of the cases, or 75 percent, involved eyewitnesses erring in the identification. In 38 percent, multiple eyewitnesses misidentified the same innocent person.

By refusing to pass crucial prison reforms, Ohio legislators continue to ignore the staggering overpopulation of our system and risk the safety of many inmates and guards — all while draining taxpayer money.

The director of Ohio’s prison system has warned that lawmakers had to make a choice - either enact sensible sentencing reforms to reduce overcrowding or spend billions on new prisons.

Lawmakers left Columbus for the summer earlier this week without doing either.

“We can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing,” said Terry Collins, director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. “We are operating at 132 percent of capacity. Some people may not get excited about that, but it’s not just about keeping people in prison. … It’s about them coming out and living next to you and me.”

The story of one man who was found innocent after being wrongfully convicted of a rape, may bring needed changes to Ohio’s justice system.

James Vaughan came chillingly close to spending the rest of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Some say his case is a testament to the justice system’s vulnerability to human error and carelessness.

Last year, Vaughan was convicted in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court of raping a 9-year-old girl. He faced a mandatory term of life in prison without parole and had been in jail for a year when he won a new trial based on a social worker’s previously unheard testimony. A jury overturned his conviction last month.

Now, the 30-year-old University School and University of Cincinnati graduate is trying to readjust to life untethered from the criminal justice system.

The Plain-Dealer rightly takes the U.S. Supreme Court to task for its decision in an Alaska case that denied a person’s right to a DNA test, even if there was evidence he or she may be innocent.

By slamming the door on an Alaska prison inmate’s request for an advanced DNA test, the U.S. Supreme Court has committed a grave injustice.

When William Osborne was convicted of raping and almost killing a prostitute in Anchorage in 1993, DNA testing done by the prosecution indicated that he was among 15 percent to 16 percent of African-American men who could have committed the crime — a level of imprecision unlikely to stand up in court these days. Worse yet, Osborne’s lawyer advised him against getting a better DNA test.

The justices didn’t reject Osborne’s request on the merits of his case — even the prosecutor conceded that modern tests would be definitive — but because, they said, it’s not their job.

Legislators are considering ill-advised legislation that would create a database of felons in the state of Ohio.

There may be a new way to identify those who have committed felony crimes in your neighborhood.

State Rep. Matt Huffman has proposed a new bill that would create a database of everyone who’s committed a felony crime against minors. Among those felonies are child assault, child endangering, murder, rape, and kidnapping.

The Lima Republican has been working with Scott Ferris, director of Allen County Children Services, to propose this legislation. Ferris first approached Huffman about this idea last year.

“We want parents to have more tools to protect their children,” Ferris said. “We want to centralize these public records into one location.”