Fewer juveniles being bound over to adult court
The number of juvenile offenders being prosecuted in Ohio’s adult courts has dropped by more than half in the past six years.
Some of the decline can be attributed to an overall decrease in juvenile crime. But those who handle the cases and study the issue say there also has been a change in philosophy about how to deal with youthful offenders.
“There has been so much scientific research on brain development, showing that the brain does not fully develop until people are 22, 23,” said Dana S. Preisse, in her 19th year as a Franklin County Juvenile Court judge.
“I don’t remember that being an issue 20 years ago. I
think the focus is more, ‘How do we deal with the root cause so that these kids don’t become career criminals?’ I think that’s everybody’s goal. We want to protect the community, but at the same time, if there’s still a chance to help that kid, we’re going to try to do that.”
In Ohio, the number of juveniles whose cases were transferred to adult court — commonly known as a “bindover” — fell from 362 in fiscal year 2009 to 158 in fiscal year 2014, a decline of 56 percent, according to records kept by the state Department of Youth Services.
During the same period, the number of juveniles who were found to have committed felonies dropped by 34 percent, from 7,103 to 4,674.
Figures for the 2015 fiscal year, which ended June 30, haven’t been issued, but the preliminary statistics show that 154 juveniles were bound over to adult court, continuing the downward trend, said Youth Services spokeswoman Kim Jump.
Franklin County has experienced a similar trend, with 44 bindovers in fiscal year 2009 and 21 in 2014, a decline of 52 percent.
The decline in bindovers is part of a larger trend that also has seen a steep decline in the number of juveniles committed to the state’s youth prisons.
A drop in violent juvenile crime is probably the biggest factor, said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, but he acknowledged that changing attitudes have had an effect.
“There are nationwide studies about keeping more juveniles in juvenile court for rehabilitation rather than sending them to adult court, a view that sending kids to adult court isn’t the solution to the problem per se, and that has trickled down,” he said. “So, we try to realistically assess ... and project what the evidence may be and the probability of getting the bindover.”
Prosecutors in Ohio can request a bindover for anyone 14 or older who is accused of committing a felony. But in some cases, juvenile-court judges are required by state law to transfer defendants to adult court.
The mandatory bindovers apply to those who, at age 16 or 17, are charged with murder or attempted murder or certain other crimes, such as aggravated robbery or rape, when a gun is involved. If the juvenilecourt judge finds probable cause (a reasonable belief) that the defendant committed the offense, the juvenile must be sent to adult court.
All other bindovers are discretionary, with the judge deciding whether the accused is “amenable to treatment” in the juvenile system, where the offender can be held only until age 21.
Preisse agrees that some juvenile offenders “are such a threat to society