Indiscriminate Shackling of Children in Juvenile Courts

On July 1, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court implemented a rule that ends Ohio’s policy of indiscriminately shackling children in Ohio’s juvenile courts. Instead, children can only be shackled in court when they pose a significant risk of harm or escape. Before the adoption of the rule, certain youth who came before juvenile courts were routinely and indiscriminately shackled – including handcuffs, belly chains, and ankle cuffs. Shackling is harmful; it can impair the ability of youth to communicate and participate in his or her defense, be traumatic, and cause psychological harm. With the adoption of the rule, Ohio joins over 20 jurisdictions have stopped indiscriminate shackling with no increase in safety and security threats after changing their policies.JJC worked with other partners to help affect this change, including submitting a comment to the Court that included input from Ohio youth .