1-22-2015: Juvenile Court

This afternoon, I met with Lori Olender, the Chief of the Juvenile Division of the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office. This means that she works at Juvenile Court. The Lucas County Juvenile Court has jurisdiction over all juveniles (individuals under the age of 18) who live in Lucas County, and I mean "who live in Lucas County." For example, if a juvenile who lives in Lucas County gets a traffic ticket in Los Angeles, they would contest it at the Lucas County Juvenile Court. There are many differences between how juveniles are treated and how adults are. She explained them to me, along with how the juvenile court works.

Ms. Olender explained that unlike the adult legal system, the goal of the juvenile court is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. It is not meant to intimidate juveniles, rather, the court serves to prevent juveniles from becoming repeat offenders. Studies have shown that juvenile offenders who are not rehabilitated tend to be in and out of the legal system throughout their lives, and this isn't good for the public, the court, or the offender. Because the goal of the system is rehabilitation, the prosecutor will most commonly recommend a juvenile to attend programs, halfway houses, or counseling, as opposed to locking them up in a detention facility. Although there is a detention facility on the third floor of the building that can house up to 100 juveniles, it only has thirty right now.

Programs that Ms. Olender explained are designed to help juveniles make better decisions. For example, if a juvenile is charged with assault because he or she gets into fights pertaining to disputes, Ms. Olender might refer the juvenile to anger management classes and counseling. Although there are many programs for all types of juvenile offenders, there is a limit to what the prosecution can do. If a defendant is given more than enough changes to make better decisions in programs, the prosecution may need to recommend a sentence of time to serve in the detention facility upstairs.

Other differences in juvenile court are how proceedings work. At an arraignment, a defendant will "admit" (to the charges) or "deny" (the charges). There is no "no contest plea" at juvenile court. This is due to the belief that if defendants admit to what they have done, it will be easier for them to receive help and for the court to rehabilitate them. Also, most cases go before a magistrate, and are closed to the public.

I then headed to a pre-trial hearing with prosecutor Drew Wood for a defendant charged with criminal trespass. Although the prosecutor has told the defendant that she should, the defendant still refused to admit to the charges. This led to Mr. Wood asking the magistrate for the trial date.

The juvenile system is very different than other courts, but it has to be different. Juveniles make mistakes, and when they do, they need to learn from them; they're kids. Unlike the adult system, the juvenile court is very supportive and the prosecutors "go easy" (compared to sentences that adults receive) on the defendants, and everyone tries to help the juveniles make better decisions. Because at the end of the day, the goal of the juvenile system is rehabilitation.