The Court Decisions page of the Ohio Constitution: Law and History guide has been updated with the final cases of 2016 that interpreted constitutional issues.
On December 22, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court examined the constitutionality of state statutes requiring the mandatory transfer of juvenile offenders to adult courts, and ultimately ruled the statutes unconstitutional.
In State v. Aalim, the majority opinion, authored by Justice Lanzinger, held that mandatory transfer of a juvenile to adult court without providing for the protection of an amenability hearing by the juvenile court judge violates the juvenile offender’s right to due process under Article I, Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution. Ohio laws providing for discretionary transfer of juveniles, aged 14 or older, to common pleas courts remain constitutional, but the mandatory transfer provisions in R.C.2152.10(A)(2)(b) and R.C. 2152.12(A)(1)(b) were ruled unconstitutional. The majority opinion stated that the Ohio Supreme Court has recognized that in some matters, the Ohio Constitution offers greater protections than the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Ohio’s juvenile system was created by the state legislature to focus on individual assessment in determining the best interests of the child. Therefore, an amenability hearing by a juvenile court judge must be held before transfer to meet a higher standard of fundamental fairness required for due process for juveniles.
Justice Kennedy concurred in part and dissented in part. She agreed that discretionary-transfer statutes are constitutional, but disagreed that Ohio’s due process clause requires an amenability hearing before transferring a juvenile offender to adult court. Kennedy wrote that the majority went against the Court’s precedent by interpreting Ohio’s due process clause differently than the comparable federal clause. Kennedy also noted that Ohio’s mandatory-transfer procedure included steps that met standards of fundamental fairness, and amenability hearings should not be required. Kennedy wrote that the fundamental fairness requirements discussed by the majority are not statutorily required, and the transfer issue is a policy decision that should have been left to the legislature.
Justice French also dissented and wrote that the majority failed to offer compelling reasons to grant juvenile offenders greater protections under the Ohio Constitution compared to the U.S. Constitution. She found that the pre-transfer hearing available to juveniles who qualified for mandatory transfer was adequate due process protection. French also stated that the transfer of juveniles is a policy decision meant for the legislature.
