Sept. 17: Juvenile Court Advisory Subcommittee, Cuyahoga County Council
Covered by Documenters Kellie Morris (notes) and Linda Reeves (notes)
Ohio attorneys need special training to defend kids in court
Officials tasked with reviewing the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court last week spent time discussing which private attorneys are qualified to represent kids in court.
During public comment, Juvenile Court Magistrate Mark Stanton challenged recent media coverage about the attorneys judges pick to defend kids in court. Since 2020, more than 1,200 kids accused of serious crimes received court-appointed attorneys not qualified for the work, according to an investigation by The Marshall Project – Cleveland.
Qualified means a lawyer is abiding by the rules of the Superintendent of the Ohio Supreme Court, Stanton told subcommittee members. He said the court removes any unqualified attorneys from its list of options when selecting attorneys to represent kids. Attorneys who do not meet the state’s qualifications are not eligible to be reimbursed by the state for their work. Instead, the county is responsible for paying them.
Attorneys are required to complete six hours of specialized training to be qualified for Juvenile Court, said Stanton, who retired from the county Public Defender’s office in 2020 and now works for Juvenile Court Administrative Judge Thomas O’Malley. Attorneys also must complete six hours of criminal law and procedure training every two years and, for some cases, meet trial experience requirements.
Judges are taking steps to make sure that attorneys are assigned fairly, Stanton said. He added that some cases need to be assigned to attorneys with experience and compassion for kids given the severity of the case.
In Ohio, courts can transfer kids’ cases into adult court, a process also known as “youth bindover.” Cuyahoga County transfers more children’s cases to adult court than any other county in the state. In the past decade, 94% of the children whose cases were transferred in Cuyahoga County were Black, according to state records.
Read Signal Cleveland’s explainer on the bindover process.
The Juvenile Advisory Subcommittee’s next steps and priorities
Chair Ronald Adrine, a retired Cleveland Municipal Court judge, led a conversation about how the subcommittee could be more useful to the Cuyahoga County Council Public Safety and Justice Affairs Committee. The subcommittee is tasked with reviewing the Juvenile Court and presenting recommendations to council by the end of the year. The report is expected to include budget suggestions and overall best practices.
Here are some of the topics they discussed:
- People who commit crimes after exiting incarceration, also called recidivism
- Learning from Catalyze Justice about successful national models tackling issues such as youth gun violence
- Community outreach to hear from more voices, such as service providers, kids and families involved in Juvenile Court
Adrine asked that the next subcommittee meeting be at the Juvenile Court with all its judges. Meeting notices will be provided on Cuyahoga County Council’s online calendar.
Watch the full meeting on Cuyahoga County’s YouTube Channel.
Read the notes from Documenter Kellie Morris:
Read the notes from Documenter Linda Reeves:
