All children have the fundamental right to thrive in Ohio. It is essential that Ohio enacts legislation to protect youths’ safety and well-being, while also holding them accountable and providing rehabilitative and restorative resources to advance public safety. Children are not adults. Ohio’s mandatory bindover system hurts Ohio youth at the expense of public safety, dehumanizing youth and creating avoidable lifelong trauma increasing the potential for future re-offense and recidivism.
I strongly support eliminating mandatory bindover of youth in Ohio by amending HB 500 into SB 288 and HB 699. Amending HB 500 into SB 288 and HB 699 gives Ohio youth the opportunity to access rehabilitative and restorative justice resources in the juvenile justice system, moving Ohio towards a more equitable and fair justice system.