Municipal courts: Release of inmates has huge impact

The long-term effect: Most criminals will not serve their sentences.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's called catch and release.
The fishing term has been used by police to describe what happens to suspects arrested then let go within hours of booking.
The practice of releasing most newly arrested people began about two years ago when a federal judge concluded the overcrowded jail violated inmates' constitutional rights. Generally only those charged with violent crimes have stayed in jail to await trial. Inmates charged with lesser crimes are released pending trial. The catch-and-release system has also affected who serves their sentences. Most men and women sentenced for misdemeanor crimes still owe their jail time.
In 2006, more than 3,000 men and women arrested in Mahoning County were not held at the jail, according to sheriff's department records.
The lower courts in Mahoning County were most affected by the release of inmates. Lower courts include municipal courts in Youngstown, Campbell and Struthers and Mahoning County Area Courts in Sebring, Canfield, Boardman and Austintown.
Until the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in December 2006 that municipal judges' orders had to be followed, the common pleas judges' jail-release order rendered their municipal peers powerless, in their minds.
Community impact
Youngstown Municipal Court Judges Robert A. Douglas Jr., Robert P. Milich and Elizabeth A. Kobly said the federal lawsuit and release order has had a profound impact on the community.
"The inability of this county to fund and effectively manage its governmental functions tarred the community's reputation and put its citizens at risk. As a result, public safety has been in jeopardy and the crime rate was exacerbated," the judges wrote. "Many victims of crime have been continually subjected to repeat criminal behavior due to defendants' being released immediately after being arrested or sentenced."
New crimes were committed, in part, the judges said, because their orders were not honored.
"An intermediate and long-term effect of this breakdown is that most people released will never serve their sentences -- therefore no consequence for their criminal behavior," the judges said. "The YMC and its judges were rendered powerless and ineffective."
Defendants, meanwhile, have continuously failed to appear in court, not complied with court orders and demonstrated disrespect for the courts, they said. The situation resulted in multiple resetting of hearings and costly time consumption for citizens and officials, they said.
Comparisons
Laura McLaughlin, Youngstown Municipal Court administrator, provided a snapshot in time that illustrates the judges' dilemma:
From Oct. 1, 2004, through March 31, 2005, before the jail-release order, there were 1,203 misdemeanor charges filed and 478 people who failed to appear in court. From Oct. 1, 2005, through March 31, 2006, during the release order, there were 1,185 charges filed and 780 people who failed to appear.
"We would like to see us getting a fair amount of the beds in the county jail. I don't think we'd be that much of a burden for them," Judge James R. Lanzo, of Struthers Municipal Court, said of county officials. He added that the jail bed needs of his court would fluctuate from month to month.
Lanzo noted that first- and second-time drunken drivers can serve their minimum sentences in Struthers City Jail, which, like the Campbell city lockup, can house prisoners for up to 12 days. Those with additional DUI offenses would have to be lodged in the county jail, he said, noting that the minimum sentence for a third-time DUI is 30 days.
Youngstown is the only Mahoning County community that pays as a government entity to house prisoners in the county jail. County Prosecutor Paul Gains has proposed that Campbell and Struthers should also pay for their misdemeanor prisoners.
Lanzo said: "I think we've already paid by giving the county our taxes. I don't think we should have to pay again."