The Ohio Supreme Court [official website]ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that courts cannot use prior juvenile charges to enhance the sentence of an adult criminal offender. In a 4-3 decision, the court held that using prior juvenile charges to enhance sentencing for adult criminals is unconstitutional and “fundamentally unfair.” The majority relied primarily upon two arguments. First, juvenile cases are handled in civil court and are therefore meant to help children avoid a life of crime, while criminal cases for adults are meant to punish the wrongdoer and provide retribution to society. Second, juvenile proceedings do not grant children a right to a jury trial. The dissent argued that a portion of Ohio’s criminal code clarified this issue, allowing courts to use earlier juvenile convictions to enhance an adult criminal’s sentence.

This case is the most recent in a series of attempts to reform the criminal justice system, a campaign spearheaded by President Barack Obama. Last year US President Barack Obama spoke at the NAACP Annual Convention and urged [JURIST report] Congress to reform the criminal justice system by enacting legislation that would enforce criminal laws fairly and reduce sentencing disparities. Earlier that week Obama commuted the sentences [JURIST report] of 46 drug offenders in what he said was part of an effort by his administration to remedy the unfairness of the criminal justice system. In 2014 the US Department of Justice announced support for reducing the sentences of nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons after the US Supreme Court relaxed [JURIST reports] sentencing guidelines on drug dealers earlier that year. In 2013 the American Civil Liberties Union published a study [JURIST report] finding that 3,278 Americans are currently serving life sentences without parole for nonviolent offenses.