Cuyahoga County Juvenile Judge Alison Floyd has backed away from a court order forcing juvenile victims in several sexual assault cases to take polygraph examinations.
Floyd had ordered three juveniles to take the exams earlier this year after she found the teen boys accused of attacking them delinquent — the juvenile court equivalent of guilty.
Victims, sexual assault advocates and prosecutors all objected. None of the victims complied with the order to take the tests.
In a brief filed in one of the cases, prosecutors accused Floyd of trying to “re-investigate the case.”
Floyd admitted in a recent journal entry that she has “limited jurisdiction over a victim or witness” and that she had no authority over the victim after she made the decision to find the accused youth delinquent.
The judge explained in the same entry that she had ordered the polygraphs of the victim and her attacker after considering the “significant discrepancy” in the stories both youths told. Floyd said she wanted to “verify his truthfulness to determine an appropriate treatment services and an appropriate victim and community safety plan.”
Floyd has not commented publicly on the orders or fully explained her rationale.
But her actions drew outrage from victim advocates and activists across the country, as national news sources, feminist blogs and women’s rights websites carried the story.
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Article courtesy cleveland.com
