Latest / Brian Thomas / Magistrate Susan Luken for Juvenile Court

Transcript

Magistrate Susan Luken for Juvenile Court · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: It's 8.06 on a Wednesday, and a very happy one
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  Speaker 1: to you. Brian Thomas, happy to welcome back to the
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  Speaker 1: 55 KRC Morning Show. Find her online. You want to,
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  Speaker 1: and you want to get out and vote November for
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  Speaker 1: a multitude of reasons, most of which may be, and
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  Speaker 1: if you're in Hamilton County, the, well, the sorry state
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  Speaker 1: we find ourselves in, so far as at least the
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  Speaker 1: juvenile court is concerned, you have a better option than
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  Speaker 1: Carrie Bloom, currently head of the juvenile court, weak on crime,
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  Speaker 1: looking for juvenile court. Welcome back to the 55 KRC
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  Speaker 1: Morning Show. Susan Lucan, it's a pleasure having you on.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, it's great to be back on the show. Thanks
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  Speaker 2: for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Now, as a Hamilton County Probate Court magistrate, how does
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  Speaker 1: that better... Getting that out of the way. Apologies for
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  Speaker 1: that nonsense last time. I inadvertently referred to her as
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  Speaker 1: a judge, and we just kept talking about the realities
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  Speaker 1: of the juvenile court system because we need to get
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  Speaker 1: her in the juvenile court bench. Anyway, we're not going
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  Speaker 1: to make that mistake this time. So magistrate-looking. And I've
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  Speaker 1: heard great things about you, which I know about your
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  Speaker 1: experience as a magistrate, which is not quite a judge,
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  Speaker 1: but you do make legal decisions. And quite often they're
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  Speaker 1: just adopted by the judge. But in the probate court,
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  Speaker 1: how does that help you in your role as the
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  Speaker 1: next juvenile court judge?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. So as you're sort of alluding to, it's
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  Speaker 2: been an interesting few weeks since I was last on
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  Speaker 2: the show on August 6th. And we'll just get that elephant,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we'll address the elephant in the room. As
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  Speaker 2: you know, a complaint was filed with the Board of
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  Speaker 2: Professional Conduct with the Supreme Court of Ohio. And based
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  Speaker 2: on my appearance on that show, on the August 6th show,
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  Speaker 2: and I just want to let your listeners know that
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  Speaker 2: I've never had a complaint filed against me, either as
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  Speaker 2: an attorney, as a magistrate, and you know I'm a
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  Speaker 2: first-time candidate. So this was a brand-new experience for me
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  Speaker 2: for sure. And I'm very happy and thankful that the
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  Speaker 2: hearing panel arrived at the truth and unanimously dismissed the complaint.
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  Speaker 2: And they assign costs to the other side. So I'm
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  Speaker 2: deeply grateful to my legal team for all their work
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  Speaker 2: and for you offering to do an affidavit. And I
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  Speaker 2: really appreciate just– there was a tremendous outpouring of support
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  Speaker 2: after that that I received from colleagues and family and
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  Speaker 2: friends and really from the community. So, yeah, so just
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  Speaker 2: for the record, I just want your listeners to understand
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  Speaker 2: that this whole case, that this whole matter was over
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  Speaker 2: a misspoken word, just simply a mistake, which seems crazy. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I've been on your show now, I think, four times,
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  Speaker 2: and we've been over this over and over again. And
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  Speaker 2: just so your listeners know and understand, and I want
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  Speaker 2: to tell them, I would never intentionally misrepresent my qualifications,
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  Speaker 2: and we've talked about it before. I currently serve as
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  Speaker 2: a magistrate in probate court. I previously have formerly served
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  Speaker 2: as a magistrate twice in juvenile court. One term began
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  Speaker 2: in August 2011, and the other term began in August
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  Speaker 2: of 2021. And there are some differences between magistrates and
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  Speaker 2: judges here. But magistrates and judges both hear cases. We
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  Speaker 2: decide cases. We sit on the bench. And when you
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  Speaker 2: refer to me as a judge or your honor, that
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  Speaker 2: happens all the time. And attorneys do that all the
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  Speaker 2: time and even litigants do that all the time because
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  Speaker 2: that's what we do. We hear and we decide cases.
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  Speaker 2: And in juvenile court, the magistrates actually hear most of
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  Speaker 2: the cases. They hear a lot of the cases. And then,
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  Speaker 2: you know, some of the cases then go up to
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  Speaker 2: the judge for the disposition, which is in juvenile court,
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  Speaker 2: that's the sentencing, right? And so the judge then decides
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  Speaker 2: what the sentencing may be. They may decide if a
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  Speaker 2: youth then goes on to DYS.
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  Speaker 1: So, you know, and the other.
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  Speaker 2: Part of my qualifications, too, is I've also been a
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  Speaker 2: court administrator for over 13 years. And I think that
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  Speaker 2: that's also really important. We've talked about this, too, for
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court because juvenile court runs a detention center and
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  Speaker 2: It runs a clerk's office. And Hillcrest is supposed to
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  Speaker 2: reopen now in January after it's been shut down for
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  Speaker 2: over three and a half years, which I think is unconscionable.
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  Speaker 2: And again, that's a whole other issue. But, you know, Brian,
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  Speaker 2: while I think qualifications are really important and I think
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  Speaker 2: I'm really well qualified to serve as a juvenile court judge,
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  Speaker 2: the thing about this race is it's really about the issues.
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  Speaker 2: And this whole case has been a distraction from the issues.
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  Speaker 2: And the issue here is that Carrie boom as a
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court judge, her record on juvenile court justice is
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  Speaker 2: really been a problem. And that's really been, I think
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  Speaker 2: for a lot of people who are looking at this race,
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  Speaker 2: who live in Hamilton county, that's what the central issue is.
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  Speaker 2: And I truly believe that this race is the most
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  Speaker 2: important judicial race in 2026. And the reason for that
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  Speaker 2: is because I believe that Carrie bloom is the administrative judge.
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  Speaker 2: And juvenile court has done more to jeopardize public safety
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  Speaker 2: and to erode confidence in the judicial system than probably
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  Speaker 2: any other judge on the bench right now.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I get the impression that she has, as the
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  Speaker 1: administrative judge of the juvenile court, a tremendous amount of
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  Speaker 1: power over policy, how the various judges that are dealing
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  Speaker 1: with juveniles treat the juveniles in their courtroom, and this
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  Speaker 1: Obviously soft on crime policy. I learned the other day
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  Speaker 1: that she only allows juveniles to keep, like, of a
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  Speaker 1: gun spec. If a juvenile is pulled over or caught
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  Speaker 1: with a gun, that charge, having a firearm, which is
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  Speaker 1: unlawful for them under the circumstances, but only will have
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  Speaker 1: that charge dismissed and not prosecuted for having a gun,
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  Speaker 1: but unless they actually fired the gun and the bullet
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  Speaker 1: actually hit someone. So if you don't have felonious assault
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  Speaker 1: or murder, then the kid never gets in front of
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  Speaker 1: a judge on the gun charge. And what do we
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  Speaker 1: hear time and time again from our elected officials and
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  Speaker 1: everybody else? Guns are the problem. We need to get
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  Speaker 1: rid of guns, guns, guns, guns, guns. Well, one of
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  Speaker 1: the ways you approach gun crime is you, well, treat
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  Speaker 1: kids with guns in a harsh manner.
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  Speaker 2: Right. No, I've heard that, too. You know, and when
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  Speaker 2: I was in juvenile court, any case where there was
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  Speaker 2: a gun involved at all went on the judge's docket.
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  Speaker 2: And so those cases were handled and treated the way
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  Speaker 2: that they should be as a serious matter. And you're
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  Speaker 2: absolutely right. And one of the questions that actually came
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  Speaker 2: up in cross-examination during the hearing was about whether or
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  Speaker 2: not an administrative judge has any authority over another judge.
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  Speaker 2: They don't have authority over the other judge, but you're
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  Speaker 2: absolutely right that they set the policy for the magistrates.
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  Speaker 2: They set other policies about things like whether or not
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  Speaker 2: juveniles are shackled. That's another issue that I've heard about
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  Speaker 2: lately about how they're treated when they're coming into court.
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  Speaker 2: They also make decisions about whether or not Hillcrest gets
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  Speaker 2: shut down. They make budgetary decisions, and the juvenile court
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  Speaker 2: budget has grown just tremendously, and that's really another subject
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  Speaker 2: for another time in spite of the fact that Hillcrest
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  Speaker 2: has been shut down. And again, this is another topic
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  Speaker 2: that we've talked about, too. When we're talking about the
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  Speaker 2: most vulnerable children, the children in these abuse and neglect cases,
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing some delays in those cases, too. And so
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  Speaker 2: there are just so many other issues that are going on, too.
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  Speaker 2: And the administrative judge has a really important leadership role
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  Speaker 2: in so many different ways. And it just has such
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  Speaker 2: a broad impact on so many different areas. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: that budget in juvenile court, I believe it is almost
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  Speaker 2: $ 40 million. And that has a huge impact on taxpayers
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  Speaker 2: in Hamilton County, too. So there's so many different implications
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  Speaker 2: beyond just public safety and the juvenile delinquency problem in
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  Speaker 2: Hamilton County.
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  Speaker 1: Magistrate Susan Lukin, online, lukinforjuvenilecourt.com. There's a donate button there.
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  Speaker 1: There's a get involved button there. And I encourage my listeners,
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  Speaker 1: get a yard sign and donate to the extent they can.
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  Speaker 1: Financial contributions are important. And, of course, door knocking and
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  Speaker 1: getting involved in campaigns really helps out a lot. You
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  Speaker 1: mentioned Magistrate Luke and Hillcrest being shut down. You mentioned
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  Speaker 1: Hillcrest three times in your comments. Can you fill in
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  Speaker 1: the blanks and maybe explain to the listeners who are
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  Speaker 1: maybe not quite familiar with why Hillcrest is shut down
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  Speaker 1: and what it's for and why that's an important issue
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  Speaker 1: for you?
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  Speaker 2: So Hillcrest is a local placement center, and that's really
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  Speaker 2: important that kids be able to stay locally, that their
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  Speaker 2: families are here. And Hillcrest was shut down in 2023
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  Speaker 2: when Judge Bloom became the administrative judge, and it was
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  Speaker 2: shut down after one of the staff members had an
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  Speaker 2: inappropriate relationship with a youth there. And what boggles my
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  Speaker 2: mind is if you took an analogous situation, if you
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  Speaker 2: had a school and a teacher had an inappropriate relationship,
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  Speaker 2: you would never shut down the school. You'd fire the teacher, right?
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  Speaker 2: And the school would stay open. And so Hillcrest was
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  Speaker 2: shut down, and it's my understanding that the youth who
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  Speaker 2: were there either had to go back to detention to 2020,
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  Speaker 2: and some of them may have gone, and I'm not
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  Speaker 2: sure about this, but may have had to go to DYS.
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  Speaker 2: But I know that they went back to 2020, which
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  Speaker 2: is not an ideal placement. Hillcrest was a much better
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  Speaker 2: placement where they could actually– it was more like a
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  Speaker 2: residential setting instead of a detention setting. And so it's
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  Speaker 2: been shut down for that long, and now they're looking
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  Speaker 2: at reopening it with, I think, cooperation with Talbert House.
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  Speaker 2: So why it's been shut down for that long as
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  Speaker 2: an alternative to detention or to other placements, I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: But that's a really good question. And the budget, why
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  Speaker 2: the budget, Hillcrest used to be a third of the
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court budget. And so why the juvenile court budget
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  Speaker 2: has continued to expand the way that it has without
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  Speaker 2: operating Hillcrest is, I think, another really important question.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like to know where the dollars went.
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  Speaker 2: Magistrate.
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  Speaker 1: Got Susan looking on the phone here looking for juvenilecourt.com.
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  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I suppose the current
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  Speaker 1: juvenile court under Carrie Bloom is being operated on. the
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  Speaker 1: fact that I think they just believe requiring juveniles to
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  Speaker 1: actually participate and go through the criminal justice system because
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  Speaker 1: they have been caught committing crimes is sort of bad
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  Speaker 1: for that person. Oh my God, they're going to be
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  Speaker 1: scarred for life. Oh my God, we can't do this
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  Speaker 1: to them. Let's treat them with kid gloves. Let's get
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  Speaker 1: them out back on the street. That, And you pointed
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  Speaker 1: out kind of on your stop the revolving door point
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  Speaker 1: on your website, you know, young offenders cycle through the
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  Speaker 1: system without meaningful accountability, which is one thing, but also support.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you said you'll enforce the law fairly. You know,
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  Speaker 1: everybody gets equal accountability, support the victims, but help young
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  Speaker 1: people return to the right path before mistakes become lifelong patterns.
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  Speaker 1: They ignore the reality that treating juveniles harshly or holding
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  Speaker 1: them accountable can turn that kid around. Magistrate, look, I
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  Speaker 1: used to be a libertarian little guy, a little libertarian
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  Speaker 1: I am, and I used to say out loud, I
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  Speaker 1: do not believe in criminalizing self-abuse, referring to drug use.
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  Speaker 1: If you're dumb enough, you want to use drugs, then
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  Speaker 1: you're going to suffer the consequences. But that takes out
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  Speaker 1: of the equation the idea that getting someone through the
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  Speaker 1: criminal justice system might get them into drug court where
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  Speaker 1: they can get counseling and help and hopefully get out
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  Speaker 1: of the vicious cycle of drug abuse. Same thing for
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  Speaker 1: the juvenile. You're doing the juvenile a disservice because most
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  Speaker 1: of these kids, or a lot of them, I presume,
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  Speaker 1: come from broken families where they're not going to get
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  Speaker 1: the kind of support or, in my case, a spanking
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  Speaker 1: from the old man because they broke the rules. It's
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  Speaker 1: just broken to look at it that way.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. And that's what kids need sometimes. They need that intervention.
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  Speaker 2: They need that structure, and they need a stop. They
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  Speaker 2: need something to stop and to break that pattern so
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  Speaker 2: that they don't continue into that pattern of lifelong criminal behavior.
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  Speaker 2: And it's tragic and it's unfortunate, but that's what juvenile
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  Speaker 2: court is there for. And I really, again– I think
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  Speaker 2: that what we're doing is such a disservice, not just
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  Speaker 2: to the community and public safety, but to these kids,
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  Speaker 2: to the victims. And often the victims are other are
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  Speaker 2: their kids. You know, the 16 year old who's accused
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  Speaker 2: of purposefully murdering, you know, that was a 14 year old.
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  Speaker 2: That was another child. Yes. And so we're seeing children victims.
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  Speaker 2: And what did we do to try to intervene with
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  Speaker 2: that 16 year old? we're doing a disservice to all
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  Speaker 2: of these children.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and Christopher Smith is fond of coming on this
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  Speaker 1: program and talking about quite often these are black-on-black crimes,
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  Speaker 1: and I think some of the opposition to having young
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  Speaker 1: black children in the juvenile court justice system maybe gives
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  Speaker 1: a racial taint or a bad image, but the victims
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  Speaker 1: are quite often, if not mostly, black residents or black
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  Speaker 1: people in the various communities. I mean, you're not helping
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  Speaker 1: a community out by letting a dangerous kid back on
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  Speaker 1: the street either.
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  Speaker 2: No, we're not. And it's tragic. It is.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I wish you all the best. Lucan for JuvenileCourt.com.
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  Speaker 1: Help her out. Read about her campaign and realize that, yes,
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  Speaker 1: we have a better alternative than the current Judge Bloom
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  Speaker 1: with control of the juvenile courts. Let's help the kids
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  Speaker 1: out at the same time. Vote for Susan Lucan. Susan,
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  Speaker 1: it's been a real pleasure having you back on the show.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, I really appreciate it. And I'm so glad that
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  Speaker 2: this is over with and we're getting back to the issues.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, exactly. And anyway, it was as inadvertent as it
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  Speaker 1: could possibly be. So I didn't pick up on it
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  Speaker 1: and I licensed the practice law still after all this time.
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  Speaker 1: Neither did I.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't even realize it until I read the complaint.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm just, again, I am so glad that the
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  Speaker 2: panel saw it for what it was and just dismissed it. Yeah. Well,
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  Speaker 2: I was.
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  Speaker 1: A litigation attorney, and I know when I've been in
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  Speaker 1: front of magistrates, I guarantee you that I referred to
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  Speaker 1: them a judge when I was in court. They didn't
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  Speaker 1: correct me.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, it happens all the time. It happens all the time.
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  Speaker 2: It does.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sorry the morning show was the source of the
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  Speaker 1: problem and having to deal with that, but fortunately it's
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  Speaker 1: behind us. It's ridiculous, and yes. Focus on the issues.
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  Speaker 1: And when you do that, you will conclude, as I
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  Speaker 1: have and so many other people have, that Susan Lucan
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  Speaker 1: is right for juvenile court here in Hamilton County. Hope
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  Speaker 1: to talk to you again real soon, and I wish
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  Speaker 1: you the best on the campaign trail.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, Brian. I appreciate it so much. Anytime.
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  Speaker 1: It's 820 right now, 55 KRC, the talk station. Phone
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  Speaker 1: lines are open. No judge in a napalm.