Nasir Thomas noticed the way the two candidates for Cuyahoga County prosecutor — Michael O’Malley and Matthew Ahn — referred to children as they presented their cases for election at a debate.
“O’Malley, while he was saying some decent points, he didn’t present it well,” Thomas said.
“Like, he was saying ‘juveniles’ instead of children … ‘individuals,’ stuff like that.”
Thomas is a 17-year-old junior at Campus International High School. Although he can’t vote until 2025, Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Civics 2.0 program keeps him informed on political issues.
Students from 15 Cleveland high schools, all part of the Civics 2.0 program, questioned the two candidates for prosecutor at Collinwood High School Wednesday morning.
Their questions were wide-ranging. Students asked about bindovers, charging decisions, racial disparities and reducing and preventing violence, among other topics.
How do they decide who gets bound over?
A bindover is a process where children between 14 and 17 are transferred to adult court. Students asked how the prosecutor decides who gets bound over.
O’Malley asked the audience to raise their hands if they know someone who’s been a victim of violent crime. About half of the students raised their hands. He then explained how bindovers work.
When the prosecutor’s office files a motion for a discretionary bindover, “what that motion does is it tells the court we have to do a deep dive into this individual,” O’Malley said.
The court then prepares a report, and it’s up to the court to decide whether a child can be “rehabilitated in the juvenile court system” or should be bound over, he said.
Ahn, a former federal public defender and law professor, said the prosecutor’s office should base its decisions on what’s best for its client — the people of Cuyahoga County. He pointed to data that shows a child who is tried as an adult is 34% more likely to re-offend once released compared to a child who is kept in juvenile court for the same charge.
“If we are really going to file a motion for a discretionary bindover … we need to believe that there is no other alternative in juvenile court to ensure that the community is healed, is uplifted.”
How do they prevent reentry into the system?
One student asked, “What would the county prosecutor’s office do to rehabilitate the youth to prevent reentry to the justice system?”
Ahn said he wants to avoid charging children as often as possible. He wants to use diversion programs, which provide rehabilitation and keep children out of the juvenile legal system. He also wants to support “folks who are doing the kind of work that is actually healing our children, healing our communities as much as possible.”
“We want to get in front of this problem,” Ahn said.
O’Malley pointed out that Ahn has never had a case in juvenile court or represented anyone in common pleas court.
“So what you’re hearing is hypotheticals,” O’Malley said. “What you get with me is somebody who has actually done work in the courtrooms and actually led the development of the first-ever juvenile intervention center in Cuyahoga County.”
Of the about 3,000 cases per year that go to the juvenile court, 1,000 cases are diverted, he said. The diversion programs help people get mental health counseling and other assistance.
How will they address racial disparities?
Benjamin Sommerer, an 18-year-old senior at Campus International High School, asked how each candidate would address racial disparities in the legal system.
Ahn said he’s committed to transparency in the prosecutor’s office. He said the reason we know about racial disparities in the county is because the state provides data, not the county prosecutor’s office. If he’s prosecutor, Ahn said, his office will examine data and use best practices to fix the issues.
O’Malley used this time to respond to earlier comments Ahn had made.
Ahn had said crime has been rising since O’Malley took office. O’Malley said crime has been rising across the country in recent years. Easier access to guns is one reason for this, he said.
“I know everybody in this audience knows it,” O’Malley said. “You all know somebody who carries a gun. … How do we stop this where everybody’s carrying a gun?”
As Sommerer walked back to his seat in the auditorium, he said quietly, “Bro didn’t answer the question.”
Khalil Anderson, an 18-year-old senior at East Tech High School, said he looks forward to voting this year and he found the debate educational.
“It was a good event to expose people to why you’re voting and what are you voting for,” Anderson said.
