Latest / Brian Thomas / Susan Luken for Juvenile Court

Transcript

Susan Luken for Juvenile Court · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Got choices. Elections have matter seriously. You need to find
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  Speaker 1: out about your judicial elections too. Most most people don't
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  Speaker 1: have experience with you with the court system. It's difficult
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  Speaker 1: because you know, if you're voting by party, the candidates
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  Speaker 1: aren't listed, are ord although if they are endorsed, will
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  Speaker 1: appear on your party's blue or pink slip as the
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  Speaker 1: case may be. One of the candidates running for juvenile
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  Speaker 1: let's see here it's a juvenile court judge and the
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  Speaker 1: website Lucan l u k E M four that's the
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  Speaker 1: word for juvenile court dot com. Is we're you going
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  Speaker 1: to final the information about Susan Lucan, who's joining the
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  Speaker 1: program this morning to talk about her run for judge. Welcome,
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  Speaker 1: Magistrate Lucan. It's a pleasure to have you on today.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Brian having No, it's.
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  Speaker 1: Really my pleasure. In two thousand and six you were
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  Speaker 1: let's see here you left private practice and congratulations you
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  Speaker 1: two are a double bearcat. I was an undergrad at
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  Speaker 1: uc and also want under yay double bearcat. So that's
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  Speaker 1: you graduated from u See College of Law, my alma mater.
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  Speaker 1: In two thousand and two you went over to Dinsmore
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  Speaker 1: and Shoal, which speaks volumes about your your law school performance.
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  Speaker 1: Congratulations being a member of Law Review. Okay, I went
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  Speaker 1: moot court anyway, so you got called the public service.
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  Speaker 1: So you left private practice and started working with Hamilton
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  Speaker 1: County Kurts Courts is a law court. But then you
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  Speaker 1: moved on to being a port of magistrate. So let's
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  Speaker 1: talk about your background. Why being a magistrate is such
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful stepping stone of becoming a juvenile court judge.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I love that. So I started out
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  Speaker 2: actually in juvenile court, and I started off as a
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  Speaker 2: delinquency magistrate. It was it was separated a little bit
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  Speaker 2: differently than I loved that job. It was one of
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  Speaker 2: my favorite jobs. So we did delinquency and child custody
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  Speaker 2: and did that for a while. That was actually the
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  Speaker 2: time when Tracy Hunter that that whole debacle sort have happened,
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  Speaker 2: and I was recruited to come over to the Court
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  Speaker 2: of common Places in a minute, and I did that
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  Speaker 2: for a number of years, and that was actually a
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  Speaker 2: great and it's really important for juvenile court because juvenile
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  Speaker 2: court actually also runs a detention have a clerk's office too,
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  Speaker 2: So it's really important because they also have a huge budget.
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  Speaker 2: And that's a whole other topic maybe for another time.
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  Speaker 2: Then I went back to juvenile Court for a second
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  Speaker 2: period this time and was working under Mourrissa Powers and
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  Speaker 2: again love that job. And then I will may Court
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  Speaker 2: both as a magistrate and as a court administrator. And
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  Speaker 2: so now as a magistrate and a cour administrator in
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  Speaker 2: probate Court, I do both adoptions andal health socket and
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  Speaker 2: we're working every day to really get you know, people
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  Speaker 2: treatment and bring safe and stable, you know, just bring
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  Speaker 2: in a stability to people's lives. I love the foster
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  Speaker 2: to adopt cases because I get to see what it's
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  Speaker 2: court and then you know, other end just bring stability
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  Speaker 2: to these children. They're just amazing stories. So I really
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  Speaker 2: love join that well.
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  Speaker 1: I can understand certainly how rewarding it is to help
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  Speaker 1: some juvenile maybe get out of the path, this sort
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  Speaker 1: of maybe criminal path they happen to be on. And
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  Speaker 1: let's face it, nothing but problems with the juveniles these days.
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  Speaker 1: And I got to ask you sort of point blank,
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  Speaker 1: what the hell is wrong with kids these days? It
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  Speaker 1: just seems to me more and more violent actions by
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  Speaker 1: young people who you never mean. You know, maybe I'm
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  Speaker 1: just revealing my age, Magistrate lookan, but you never heard
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  Speaker 1: of the level of violence and out of control behavior
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  Speaker 1: when I was a younger person. Maybe it's the internet,
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  Speaker 1: we just get these things reported on us, but these
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  Speaker 1: street takeovers, young people, you know, engaging in gun crimes,
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  Speaker 1: which seemed to be that it didn't happen very much,
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  Speaker 1: not that long ago. Since you've been so involved with
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  Speaker 1: juveniles these days, can you trace it to anything in particular?
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  Speaker 1: Have you learned something throughout your experience working with you
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  Speaker 1: when I was over the years.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's Trent. That is so true. And
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you when I first started in juvenile court
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  Speaker 2: in twenty eleven, it was nothing like it is now.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, the way that they were running things
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  Speaker 2: was a little bit different and it did need to change.
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  Speaker 2: Things have changed, but you know, and I'm not sure
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  Speaker 2: I think in twenty twenty there was really a change,
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  Speaker 2: and there is definitely has been just a stick and
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  Speaker 2: just a surge and violence and just disorder and violence
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  Speaker 2: has just his just resen That is just just crazy.
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  Speaker 2: And I think Ken Kober really hit the nail on
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  Speaker 2: the head last summer in twenty twenty five, and I
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  Speaker 2: think it was about July. He said that in his
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  Speaker 2: twenty five years he had never seen anything like that.
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  Speaker 2: He said it was out of control. We have kids
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  Speaker 2: who are stealing cars to steal guns and then they're
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  Speaker 2: shooting each other. And what this matters and how this
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  Speaker 2: impacts juvenile court is what's been going on. And this
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  Speaker 2: really starts in twenty twenty three. And what's happening is
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  Speaker 2: that when these kids are picked up, they go to
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court and they're either released at detention or at
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  Speaker 2: their first fearing. And so these are kids who they
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  Speaker 2: have and this never happened when I was at juvenile court.
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  Speaker 2: They have, really they have. They have serious charges, right,
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  Speaker 2: so they have violent charges, sometimes with gun charges, and
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  Speaker 2: they're not being held and so there's not bond in
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  Speaker 2: juvenile court because all kids are presumed intigen right, So
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  Speaker 2: they're either held or they're really sometimes with the MU
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  Speaker 2: but they're not being held and they're going out. They're
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  Speaker 2: picking them charges or Godford that's sometimes more serious charges
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  Speaker 2: and they're still not being held. So there's no accountability
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  Speaker 2: in the system. And these kids aren't stupid, right, No,
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  Speaker 2: they know that there's no account of they know that
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  Speaker 2: they can keep doing it, and it's just had devastating
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  Speaker 2: consequences for our community and for these kids. Ah, can
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  Speaker 2: I judge you?
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  Speaker 1: That's I was hoping that you would say that it
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  Speaker 1: has obviously devastated the community generally speaking, but the kids
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  Speaker 1: because I wrote down this soft on crime approach that
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  Speaker 1: we seem to have embraced over the past ten years
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  Speaker 1: or however long, that as a result of these kids
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  Speaker 1: becoming so wise that hell, I'm not going to get caught.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: It's like that song from a If you're under eighteen,
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  Speaker 1: you aren't going to be doing any time. They kind
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  Speaker 1: of they have become aware of this. It can't be
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  Speaker 1: good for them, the individuals who are engaging this activity.
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  Speaker 1: To me, it's like passing a kid out of the
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  Speaker 1: fourth grade into the fifth when they haven't mastered the
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  Speaker 1: skills of fourth grade. You're sending them on in a
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  Speaker 1: no man's lay without the necessary They need punishment, they
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  Speaker 1: need discipline. They need to come to understanding that there
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  Speaker 1: is a societal cost that is that must be paid
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  Speaker 1: for their crime.
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  Speaker 2: Right, they need an intervention. Right, we have to stop it.
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  Speaker 2: They need an intervention. And if there's not an appropriate intervention,
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  Speaker 2: but it's there's nothing in the way to keep them
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  Speaker 2: from a lifelong pattern of crime. So talking to Leah
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  Speaker 2: big Coloca the other day, who before becoming a judge,
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  Speaker 2: she the time is a juvenile prosecutor, and she had
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  Speaker 2: someone on her docket who is now going to end
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  Speaker 2: up going to adult prison, who she saw all the
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  Speaker 2: time in juvenile court. And you know, this is what's happening.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, the city of Cincinnati had a report
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  Speaker 2: that they did last year in twenty twenty five. And
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  Speaker 2: one of the other things that I find frustrating is
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  Speaker 2: that we have some public officials whoers saying crime is down,
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  Speaker 2: crimes down, and you can do anything you want with statistics,
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  Speaker 2: you know that. But even the Inquirer said, I think
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  Speaker 2: in the beginning of the year in January that youth
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  Speaker 2: shootings remained stubbornly high. Well, I don't know how you
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  Speaker 2: feel about shootings, Brian, but I think they're a problem. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: and yeah, especially when they're committed by youth who tend
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  Speaker 2: to be you know, a lot more volatile and not
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  Speaker 2: quite as rational as adults. You know, they're much more impulsive.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, when you have shootings, and you have
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  Speaker 2: these street takeovers, and you have youth, you know, still
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  Speaker 2: engaging this. So the City of Cincinnati did this report
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  Speaker 2: on youth violence, disorder and shootings back in twenty twenty five,
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  Speaker 2: and they recognize that in twenty twenty three there was
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  Speaker 2: a surge and you know, violent offenses committed by youth.
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  Speaker 2: But the others to recognized too, was that that there
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  Speaker 2: was a percent in create in victims of youth with shootings.
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  Speaker 2: And so not only are youth committing these offenses, but
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  Speaker 2: a lot of the victimization, a lot of the victims
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  Speaker 2: or other youth. So protecting and not intervening were Yeah, exactly,
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  Speaker 2: by not intervening, we're not protecting the other youth in
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  Speaker 2: our community, and we're not protecting our community. And so
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  Speaker 2: I think right now we're just doing a real disservice.
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  Speaker 2: And I can't tell you when I tell people that
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  Speaker 2: I used to be a magistrate in juvenile court, or
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  Speaker 2: that even when I was considering running, or now that
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  Speaker 2: I'm running, how many people have reached out to me
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  Speaker 2: who were either victims or their children were victims, and
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  Speaker 2: they're thanking me for what I'm doing. So I'm really
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  Speaker 2: getting a tremendous amount of support.
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  Speaker 1: I am so calm, I just so happy to hear that.
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  Speaker 2: Really it's about it.
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  Speaker 1: Lucan f o R. Lucanford Juvenile Court dot com. You
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  Speaker 1: can learn all about Susan Lucan currently magistrates you'd like
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  Speaker 1: to be a juvenile court judge and it sounds like
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  Speaker 1: a fantastic idea to me, Susan Lucan paus from I
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  Speaker 1: would like to bring it back after this brief break
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  Speaker 1: to ask you because a lot of screaming and yelling
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  Speaker 1: among the general community about wait a minute, we need
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  Speaker 1: to hold parents accountable. They don't care where their kid
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  Speaker 1: is at two o'clock in the morning out up pass curfew,
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  Speaker 1: and they don't care when the person gets erected in
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  Speaker 1: other words, elsted. In other words, they start screaming out
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  Speaker 1: at the system for interfering with little Johnny and boy
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  Speaker 1: he could never do anything wrong. Can parents, in any way,
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  Speaker 1: shape or form be held a de talk station Lucan
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  Speaker 1: fr Juvenile Court dot com where you find Susan Locan
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  Speaker 1: currently magistrate running for juvenile court judge here in Hamilton
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  Speaker 1: County and this is her this is her sweet spot
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  Speaker 1: obviously with her background and you can learn more about
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  Speaker 1: the the thumbnails scutch she gave us this morning. She
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  Speaker 1: has been integrally involved with the juvenile juveniles generally speaking,
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  Speaker 1: in the area for a long time, she pointed out.
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  Speaker 1: It's her passion. Sounds like she's got some great understanding.
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  Speaker 1: It's one thing, Magistrate Lucan, if the system has decided
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  Speaker 1: to pursue some sort of modern theory of criminal justice
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  Speaker 1: and not hold these violent offenders, even though their youths
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  Speaker 1: are quite violent, not holding them accountable, not punishing them,
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  Speaker 1: not setting them on the right path, but kind of
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  Speaker 1: sending them through the revolving door of justice just because
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  Speaker 1: they're kids. We can't do this to kids. We don't
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  Speaker 1: want to give kids a record. Well, it's one thing
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  Speaker 1: if the system is doing that, but what are the parents.
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  Speaker 1: If the parents are also joining the fund, they don't
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  Speaker 1: want to take care of or they don't want to
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  Speaker 1: care about where their children are at night, the fact
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  Speaker 1: that some kid could be out at two o'clock in
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  Speaker 1: the morning and some person at home doesn't really care.
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  Speaker 1: And if they get involved in the criminal justice system,
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  Speaker 1: the mom and dad or wonder the two or whoever
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  Speaker 1: the supposed guardian is a screaming at the system for
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  Speaker 1: bothering to prosecute their young people. This just makes it worse.
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  Speaker 1: Can parents, guardians, legal guardians be held accountable when the
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  Speaker 1: young people commit crimes? Judge, do you have any say
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  Speaker 1: on that? Or is that an advisory opinion?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think it's I think it's depends and
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  Speaker 2: it's I think it's limited, and I think it's been
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  Speaker 2: under utilized, and I think that you know, that's a
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  Speaker 2: really good question for somebody like Mike Odiozo so who's
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  Speaker 2: at one of our state reps, and it's like, hey,
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  Speaker 2: is there something's the thing more that we can do?
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  Speaker 2: And I'm also someone who does not believe in judicial activism,
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  Speaker 2: So I think that that's something that really could talk
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  Speaker 2: to our state legislatures about, because is there anything that
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  Speaker 2: we can do. So in the first part of the segment,
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  Speaker 2: I had mentioned too that that City of Cincinnati report
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  Speaker 2: on Youth Islands disorder and shootings, and one of the
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  Speaker 2: things that I believe was noted in that work is
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  Speaker 2: that one of the things that we're starting to see
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  Speaker 2: now is not just disinterested parents who aren't doing enough
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  Speaker 2: to parent, but what we're saying now or we see
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  Speaker 2: parents that are act engaging in you know, like fighting
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  Speaker 2: with ors, like participating and encouraging kids to fight. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: so obviously parents could be prosecuted now too, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: this is taking bad parenting to a whole new level.
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  Speaker 2: So it really has you know, when you would ask
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  Speaker 2: at the beginning of the segment, you know, what do
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  Speaker 2: I think might be the cause of some of this?
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  Speaker 2: And like I said, I think it really started in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty, you know, I don't I don't know. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if you know COVID was part of it.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know, if you know, we really had a
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  Speaker 2: change in the judiciary in twenty twenty, and we had
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  Speaker 2: it at the adult level, you know, in fell in
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  Speaker 2: the court, and you know, we've had a lot of changes,
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  Speaker 2: so you know, I'm I'm not sure exactly what cause was,
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  Speaker 2: but we've been a dramatic I think changed into ways.
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  Speaker 1: And like I said, are you suggesting maybe maybe I'm
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  Speaker 1: hearing something Susan Lucan for Juvenile Court judge. Is it
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  Speaker 1: that the parents, as well as at least many in
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  Speaker 1: elected capacity, have embraced this whole notion that the system
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  Speaker 1: is inherently corrupt and racist and biased, and therefore there's
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  Speaker 1: no way that young Johnny, even though he's wielding a handgun,
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  Speaker 1: can be held responsible for himself because it's society's fault
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  Speaker 1: for his crimes.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure that there are I'm sure that there are
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  Speaker 2: people who feel that way. I'm sure that there are
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  Speaker 2: people who believe that and may.
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  Speaker 1: Have it bled over into into and invested the judicial
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  Speaker 1: system here in Hamilton County. It certainly seems to be
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  Speaker 1: Brian Thomas's perception of that. You don't need to share
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  Speaker 1: my feelings on that judge you are running for juvenile
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  Speaker 1: court judge in Hamilton County. I wouldn't want to send
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  Speaker 1: you off on the wrong path running as this is
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  Speaker 1: ultimately question Republican or Domocrat, which provides my listeners some
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  Speaker 1: presumably at least based on history and circumstances, some guidance
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  Speaker 1: as to whether you are a judicial activist or maybe
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  Speaker 1: someone who is more someone who just interprets the law.
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  Speaker 1: Go ahead and set us on the right path.
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  Speaker 2: Season Yeah, so I am not a judicial activist. I
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  Speaker 2: believe in interpreting the law. I believe in the powers
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  Speaker 2: and that judges need to stay in their lane. Well,
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  Speaker 2: I believe we all need to stay in our own
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  Speaker 2: lane in terms of separation of powers. I am running
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  Speaker 2: as a Republican, so I will be on the primary
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  Speaker 2: ballot as a Republican. I'll be the only Republican running
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  Speaker 2: for Hamilton County Junile Court. But I think you've explained
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  Speaker 2: to your listeners these are at the trial level. They
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  Speaker 2: are nonpartisan races, and so when you see these ballots
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  Speaker 2: in November, you will not see a party designation on
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: the ballot. So it's really important to get your sample ballot.
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  Speaker 2: And so in Hamilton County, the Republican Party typically doesn't
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  Speaker 2: endorse until after the primary. Endorsements have not come out yet,
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  Speaker 2: so you're not going to see those for a little while.
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  Speaker 2: Party leaderships and transition right now, so you may not
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  Speaker 2: see endorsements till a little bit later in May, possibly
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  Speaker 2: not until early June. So look for those. Yeah, so
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  Speaker 2: those those are going to come out I think a
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  Speaker 2: little bit later.
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  Speaker 1: But the important component is you're not You're not running
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  Speaker 1: a pose. It's you and on into November and we
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  Speaker 1: can then vote for Susan lookin for juvenile court judge.
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  Speaker 1: That's what we're all.
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  Speaker 2: I would love to have your appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you and I are going to be talking before
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  Speaker 1: the November election again because I like what I'm hearing
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  Speaker 1: Susan Lookan, and I think you get the right concept.
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  Speaker 1: And of course your long term involvement with juveniles makes
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: you an ideal candidate for Juvenile Court judge in Hamilton County,
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  Speaker 1: So head on over, folks, look in for Juvenile Court
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  Speaker 1: dot com. Susan. It's been a real pleasure having you
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  Speaker 1: on the show. I wish you the best of luck
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  Speaker 1: and we'll talk again before November for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Brian, I really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: My absolute pleasure. Take care of yourself, have a wonderful week.
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  Speaker 1: It's take fifty five. You didn't get a chance in
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  Speaker 1: Christopher's