Latest / Brian Thomas / Brian with Magistrate Susan Luken 10/9/2026

Transcript

Brian with Magistrate Susan Luken 10/9/2026 · Brian Thomas

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's 8.05 at 55KRC, the talk station. Happy, happy Friday.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I hope you have great plans for the weekend. On
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the heels earlier of Judge Chris McDowell being in the studio,
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  Speaker 1: I have on the phone probably the greatest selection or
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  Speaker 1: choice she made, Magistrate Susan Lucan on the phone. Because
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  Speaker 1: Magistrate Lucan, honestly, if you're sitting across from me in
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  Speaker 1: the studio, I'd probably get a little bit flustered, I'll
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  Speaker 1: be honest with you. Anyway, get over to lucan4juvenilecourt. com, and
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: every time I have you on, I get a text
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  Speaker 1: from my retired military career man, Steve, good morning. I
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  Speaker 1: know you're out there listening. He's a big fan of
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  Speaker 1: yours too, Judge Lukin, or Magistrate Lukin. You're running for
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  Speaker 1: juvenile court judge. McDowell, Judge McDowell said, yeah, we need
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  Speaker 1: to do something about the juvenile court justice system. Notably,
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  Speaker 1: we need to replace Judge Bloom. This is an off-air
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  Speaker 1: conversation I had with him. I'm not revealing anything he
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't say out loud since judges apparently are allowed to
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  Speaker 1: issue endorsements now with some limitations. But Magistrate Bloom's a
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  Speaker 1: real problem for the juvenile court system. And I note
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  Speaker 1: from a comment that he made, I've heard this many times,
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  Speaker 1: The Juvenile Youth Center, isn't that where these unruly arrested
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  Speaker 1: juveniles are supposed to go after the police pick them up?
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  Speaker 2: That's correct, yes. Yeah, good morning, Brian.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Just thought I'd tear this morning. Magistrate Lugan.
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  Speaker 1: But he described it as empty. I mean, can you
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  Speaker 1: fill in the blanks on why that space is empty
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  Speaker 1: and what is wrong right now that you on the
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  Speaker 1: bench will correct, please?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so a lot of youth are taken there and
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  Speaker 2: they're turned away. And so they don't stay, and very often,
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  Speaker 2: even when they do stay, when they are detained, so
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  Speaker 2: there's a list of offenses, and the intake clerk can decide, hey,
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  Speaker 2: we're not going to keep them. And even when they
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  Speaker 2: do stay at that arraignment, very often, they're not detained.
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  Speaker 2: And so that's one of the problems, and that's what's
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  Speaker 2: called the revolving door. And what we're seeing is because
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  Speaker 2: of this judicial policy or philosophy or ideology that Even
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  Speaker 2: even youth who are picking up violent offenses, repeat offenses,
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  Speaker 2: offenses with with firearms now. And this is something that
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  Speaker 2: just didn't happen when I was in juvenile court. They're
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  Speaker 2: not being held and they're going out and they're picking
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  Speaker 2: up more serious charges. And, you know, we've talked about
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  Speaker 2: this before. We see the headlines and the kind of
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  Speaker 2: offenses that these youth are committing are just outrageous.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I always try to make a defense for, and
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  Speaker 1: I did this with Judge McDowell on getting, I used
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  Speaker 1: to not believe in criminalizing drug use because that's self-abuse
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  Speaker 1: and the state shouldn't have anything to do with what
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  Speaker 1: we do to our own bodies. But no, I've pivoted
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  Speaker 1: from that because if you want to be compassionate and
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  Speaker 1: if you want to do something, you need to intervene
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  Speaker 1: in that addict's life and get them into treatment. By
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  Speaker 1: offering treatment as an alternative to incarceration, I think they
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  Speaker 1: get to clean up at least some people or at
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  Speaker 1: least try. Otherwise, they're going to be back on the
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  Speaker 1: streets committing more crimes, get more drugs. So there's a
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  Speaker 1: compassion level. for involving people in the criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 1: And I think an easy parallel can be drawn that
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  Speaker 1: with the juveniles who are out committing crimes at such
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  Speaker 1: a young age, obviously they are in need of some
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  Speaker 1: measure of rehabilitation.
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  Speaker 2: Right, right. And the purpose of the juvenile system is rehabilitation,
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  Speaker 2: but you can't have rehabilitation without accountability. And that's what's
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  Speaker 2: missing right now in the juvenile system is our consequences
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  Speaker 2: and accountability. And you have to have some kind of
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  Speaker 2: meaningful intervention. And that's what's missing in the system. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: That's a sad thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. And so judge McDowell and I have, we've been
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  Speaker 2: to events this week and we, you know, we're on
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  Speaker 2: the campaign trail all the time, along with the judge,
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  Speaker 2: be a dink, a locker, my boss, judge Ted Winkler. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we've talked about some of the events that
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  Speaker 2: have been happening recently and it's, it's just, it's mind boggling.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that we may have talked about this
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  Speaker 2: the last time I was on the show. But it
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  Speaker 2: ought to be a wake-up call to everybody when we
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  Speaker 2: have a major university like the University of Cincinnati taking
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  Speaker 2: such drastic measures to shut down blocks at a time
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  Speaker 2: just to keep students safe. And, you know, we've seen
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  Speaker 2: what happened after that. You know, they did that because
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  Speaker 2: of shootings. And after that, there was a double murder.
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  Speaker 2: A juvenile was charged with that. And then just recently...
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  Speaker 2: We had that horrible incident where we've had now four
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  Speaker 2: juveniles charged with aggravated robbery and that horrible incident where
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  Speaker 2: that was videotaped. We can't even have students walking near
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  Speaker 2: campus to go out to get a meal without fearing
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  Speaker 2: for their safety. This is something that is just, to me,
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  Speaker 2: has become a level of unacceptability. Our Cincinnati Enquirer came
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  Speaker 2: out with an article saying that homicides are down. Clearly,
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  Speaker 2: shootings aren't down. Clearly, juvenile violence isn't down. And I really,
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  Speaker 2: truly believe that this is because juveniles in our community
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  Speaker 2: understand that there are no consequences and there's no accountability
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  Speaker 2: in the system. And that's a huge problem. And we've
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  Speaker 2: talked about this before. That is not doing anything to
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  Speaker 2: serve those youth.
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  Speaker 1: No, it's not, and that goes back to my compassion point.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes even the idea of criminal justice, it sounds terrible.
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  Speaker 1: You can't subject this young person to the criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 1: They're going to get a record. It's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a black spot or a stain on their record forever. No,
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  Speaker 1: this is going to prevent them from becoming adult criminal
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  Speaker 1: where their eyes get open. Assuming they're in front of
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  Speaker 1: a judge who believes in being difficult on crime or
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  Speaker 1: at least meeting out an appropriate punishment for whatever criminal
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  Speaker 1: activity brought them into the criminal justice system as an adult,
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be a lot worse than how they
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  Speaker 1: were treated in the juvenile court system, so a bit
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  Speaker 1: surprised probably they'll be when they become adults.
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  Speaker 2: Right, exactly. You know, and this is having an effect
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  Speaker 2: far beyond just what's going on in the juvenile system, too.
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  Speaker 2: Josh Gerth, who is the Hamilton County Republican chair, was
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  Speaker 2: talking to some business owners at the banks, and they
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  Speaker 2: They had told him that they have lost over $ 50
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  Speaker 2: million over the last couple of years because of the
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  Speaker 2: general lawlessness and disorder that's going on down at the banks.
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  Speaker 2: And a lot of that, as you know, is being
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  Speaker 2: caused by some of the youth, you know, some of
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  Speaker 2: the issues that are going on surrounding that problem down
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  Speaker 2: at the banks. So this is affecting our community in
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  Speaker 2: such a way, you know, just beyond the way that
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  Speaker 2: it's affecting youth and families.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and, you know.
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  Speaker 2: It's having a tremendous impact.
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  Speaker 1: It's got to have a tremendous impact. Magistrate Lucan, that
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  Speaker 1: beatdown that we witnessed on video outside of UC, up
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  Speaker 1: on Short Vine, was viewed by the nation. It made
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  Speaker 1: headlines on national news outlets. Nice poster child for the
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  Speaker 1: University of Cincinnati.
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  Speaker 2: I know. It's a double bearcat, right? Can you imagine?
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  Speaker 1: I would.
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  Speaker 2: I would struggle. I would struggle to send a child
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  Speaker 2: to UC after that. I can't even imagine how that's
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  Speaker 2: going to impact enrollment.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm sure it'll have a profound impact on enrollment.
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  Speaker 1: I certainly, you know, at this point in my life,
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  Speaker 1: when I was a young man, I chose to go
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  Speaker 1: to the University of Cincinnati. I think my parents were
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  Speaker 1: very happy about that. They made no argument. And, of course,
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  Speaker 1: since they were paying for college education, it was far
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  Speaker 1: more affordable than some other school I might have chosen.
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  Speaker 1: But I wanted to go there. Never once... magistrate lucan
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  Speaker 1: did fear of being attacked a victim being a victim
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  Speaker 1: of a crime ever crossed my mind i used to
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  Speaker 1: walk across campus at three o'clock in the morning now
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  Speaker 1: granted i'm a guy but not very you know i'm
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  Speaker 1: not like six five and you know 240 pounds i'm
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  Speaker 1: a little guy and none of my fraternity brothers none
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  Speaker 1: of the people i went to school with ever were
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  Speaker 1: victims of crime and nor do i remember any of
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  Speaker 1: the women that i interacted with in college being victims
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  Speaker 1: of crime so i'm sure it happened But it wasn't
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  Speaker 1: well known if it did. Now, there's no way in
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  Speaker 1: hell I would have chosen the universities, as good as
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  Speaker 1: my education was for both undergrad and law school.
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  Speaker 2: Right. And it's a fun university. But, you know, when
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  Speaker 2: we were there, the university wasn't shutting down blocks at
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  Speaker 2: the time because it couldn't keep students safe. And this
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  Speaker 2: needs to be a wake-up call to everyone. No matter
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  Speaker 2: what the headlines are in the Enquirer, when Art Major
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  Speaker 2: university is shutting down blocks at a time because it
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  Speaker 2: can't keep students safe. This needs to be a wake-up
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  Speaker 2: call to everybody that there's a problem in our town.
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  Speaker 1: Now, is it your understanding that a lot of the
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  Speaker 1: crime that we're hearing about around the University of Cincinnati
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  Speaker 1: that we experience by the students there, are they juveniles
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  Speaker 1: committing those crimes or are they adults? Or both, I presume.
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  Speaker 1: I presume.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's both, but the reality is that we've
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  Speaker 2: had juveniles charged with some of the more serious crimes
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  Speaker 2: that have happened around the university.
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  Speaker 1: Like possession of firearms?
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  Speaker 2: Right. The double murder that happened just in August, that
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  Speaker 2: was a juvenile that was charged with that. That juvenile
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  Speaker 2: was also charged in connection with another double shooting that
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  Speaker 2: happened in Coleraine Township.
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  Speaker 1: Lucan for juvenilecourt.com is where you can find all about
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  Speaker 1: Judge Lucan, why she definitely needs our vote in November.
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  Speaker 1: Or do it today. Go ahead and early vote. See,
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  Speaker 1: I did it. I reminded people.
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  Speaker 2: That's great. Early voting is up.
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  Speaker 1: Early voting is up.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: Get over there today. Get it done. And take a locker.
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  Speaker 1: And we can get on the list of all the
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  Speaker 1: judges we should be looking for, like McDowell.
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  Speaker 2: And Winkler, yes.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, and Winkler. Now, your background... just makes you an
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  Speaker 1: ideal candidate for the juvenile court bench. Why don't you
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  Speaker 1: let my listeners know about your background and experience and
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  Speaker 1: why you're so right for this job?
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  Speaker 2: Sure, sure. So I'm currently a probate court magistrate. I
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  Speaker 2: do the mental health docket. I do adoptions, which I
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  Speaker 2: love doing the adoptions. I have to plug his name again.
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  Speaker 2: I work for Judge Ralph Winkler. He's on the ballot
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  Speaker 2: this year, too. He's been a judge for a long time.
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  Speaker 2: He's our adoption judge, does a great job. I was
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  Speaker 2: a juvenile court magistrate in 2011 and in 2021. So
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  Speaker 2: I have been on the bench as a magistrate for
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  Speaker 2: over five years, almost six years. I have over 13
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  Speaker 2: years of experience also as a court administrator. That's really
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  Speaker 2: important because just... court also runs a detention center and
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: a clerk's office. They are supposed to open Hillcrest, which
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  Speaker 2: is a local placement center in January. Juvenile court has
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  Speaker 2: almost a $ 40 million budget and 350 employees. It's really important.
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  Speaker 2: This race is really important because there are two juvenile
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  Speaker 2: court judges. I am running against a very liberal Democrat,
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  Speaker 2: a very liberal judge who sets the policy for that
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  Speaker 2: court as the administrative judge. If we're victorious in November,
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  Speaker 2: and I believe that we will be, we can really
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  Speaker 2: change the course of juvenile court and juvenile crime in
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  Speaker 2: Hamilton County. The other judge right now is a Republican.
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  Speaker 2: We will then have two Republican judges running juvenile court,
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  Speaker 2: and we really can make a difference.
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  Speaker 1: Well, in terms of.
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  Speaker 2: I really appreciate your voter support.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Your listener support and the voter support.
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  Speaker 1: Well, in terms of setting policy, that would also... Policy
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  Speaker 1: regarding bail and probation as well. And I understand, like,
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  Speaker 1: I'll say every single one, painting with a broad brush,
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  Speaker 1: but the vast majority of juveniles under the Bloom administration
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  Speaker 1: are just outright let out. They're just processed and released, correct?
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  Speaker 2: Correct. Yeah, so there's no bail. There's no bond in
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court. So... Juveniles are either detained or they're held,
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  Speaker 2: and they could be released with some conditions such as
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  Speaker 2: electronic monitoring, but there's no bail in juvenile court or
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  Speaker 2: there's no bail available for juveniles. And the administrative judge
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  Speaker 2: sets policies for magistrates who make those determinations at those
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  Speaker 2: arraignment hearings. And that's why this is so important, because
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  Speaker 2: magistrates do a lot of the work. And so that
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  Speaker 2: administrative judge sets the policies for the court. And that's why,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when you had a magistrate who told a juvenile,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: and this comment was so outrageous it made the paper,
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  Speaker 2: that sometimes it's okay to run from the police. It's
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  Speaker 2: really important when you have an administrative judge who's setting
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  Speaker 2: the policy and sort of the philosophy for the court
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  Speaker 2: that you have the right judge in place.
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  Speaker 1: That's downright nefarious, that recommendation to that juvenile. I I'm
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  Speaker 1: in a state of disbelief. I did not see that reported.
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  Speaker 1: But then again, I can't stay on top of everything.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a couple of years ago. And that
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  Speaker 2: was understandably really upsetting to law enforcement because you can
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  Speaker 2: just imagine how dangerous that is for both children and
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  Speaker 2: for law enforcement.
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  Speaker 1: It seems to be the type of policy embraced by
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  Speaker 1: the current administration there, notably Judge Bloom, who we need
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  Speaker 1: to get rid of and vote for Magistrate Lucan. Any
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: final parting words, why we need to vote for you,
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  Speaker 1: other than the obvious, which you stated already? Any other
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: problems you've identified which are driving you to want this
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  Speaker 1: particular position, magistrate-looking?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there have been some problems with the diversion program, too,
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  Speaker 2: or the unofficial docket. And law enforcement has really been,
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  Speaker 2: I think, upset, rightfully so, about that. There have been...
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  Speaker 2: Issues with cases involving firearms. When I was there as
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  Speaker 2: a magistrate, all of those cases went to the judge's docket.
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  Speaker 2: When I'm elected, that will be happening again. Those more
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  Speaker 2: serious cases need to go to the judge's docket instead
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  Speaker 2: of being heard by magistrates. The unofficial docket or the
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  Speaker 2: diversion docket, that process will become transparent and victims will
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  Speaker 2: certainly have a voice again in juvenile court. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Unofficial docket? Where did that concept even come from?
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  Speaker 2: So the unofficial docket is very similar to diversion, and
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  Speaker 2: diversion absolutely has a place in juvenile court. First time, low-level,
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  Speaker 2: non-violent offenses. Everybody, you know, kids deserve a second chance,
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  Speaker 2: but you have to have victims and law enforcement also
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  Speaker 2: have a voice in that process. And the process needs
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  Speaker 2: to be There needs to be a policy and a
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  Speaker 2: procedure for that process that needs to be understood. And
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  Speaker 2: there's a place for that. There have been some issues
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  Speaker 2: surrounding that process and a lot of questions about how
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: that process is playing out and the way that cases
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  Speaker 2: are being handled through that. There have been some allegations
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  Speaker 2: about victims and law enforcement not being part.
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  Speaker 1: Of that process.
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  Speaker 2: And then questions about repeat offenders going through that process
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  Speaker 2: and about cases, what's been happening with cases. And certain cases,
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  Speaker 2: including cases involving violent offenses, being placed on that diversion
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: docket and the appropriateness of that. So that's something that,
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  Speaker 2: if I'm elected, we'll take a close look at.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: That's her. It's Judge or Magistrate Susan Lukin. And it's lukinforjuvenilecourt.com.
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  Speaker 1: The website's there. Learn all about her, her background, why
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: she's so qualified, and maybe even help her out. It's
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: not too late to help you out, is it, Judge
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: or Magistrate Lukin?
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: No, not at all.
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  Speaker 1: Donate.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Certainly not. Yeah, go to the website. We can definitely
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: use volunteers. And please vote. Vote all the way down
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: the ticket. You can vote early. You can vote the
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: day of election, whatever it is, whatever your preference is.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: But please go out and vote.
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  Speaker 1: You got my check, didn't you?
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Yes, I did.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just making sure. Yes, we did. Thank you. See,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: I put my money where my mouth is. I'm asking
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: you to donate. I did it. Why not? LukeandFordJuvenileCourt.com. I
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: wish you all the best. If we don't get a
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  Speaker 1: chance to talk, and you're welcome to come back, Magistrate Luke,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: and I wish you all the best, and can't encourage
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: my listeners enough to cast a vote your way.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I'd love to. Thanks, Brian.