Ohio just joined a waive of other states that have recently reduced some of the long prison sentences that were a hallmark of the nation’s war on drugs. House Bill 86 rolls back much of the tough-on-crime attitude that has dominated Ohio state government for decades, and has resulted in a prison system with a nearly $2 billion biennial budget. States are not getting soft on crime, but rather are hoping to reduce prison costs. These expenditures have grown dramatically in recent decades. The bill is designed to curb the expense, and to steer more of the available law-enforcement resources towards the hardened criminals.
Our state prison system is bursting at the seams with 51,000 inmates in a prison system designed to hold 38,000 inmates. It is estimated that over the next four years, the system will exceed capacity by 40%, thus the need for prison reform. This bill is designed to make greater use of community based corrections programs, and to give inmates more opportunity to reduce their sentences through job training, education and drug treatment.
Some of the newly added provisions loosen up restrictions on obtaining judicial release (early release) for prisoners serving long sentences. The Department of Corrections will now also have to justify why it is keeping inmates 65 years or older. Under the new law, inmates that have completed certain programing will receive “certificates of achievement and employability.” This should help them obtain gainful employment upon release. The certificates are intended to shield potential employers from liability if they hire ex-offenders. The bill also creates an instant diversion program for shoplifters.
House Bill 86 gives the state more options when determining penalties for parolees who fail to report, creates new sentencing alternatives for those who fail to pay child support, and further aims to create treatment options in lieu of prison terms. This bill reinstates a version of the old “good time” provision–allowing for inmates who have served at least 80% of their sentences to be released. It also allows Judges to send low-level felons to halfway houses rather than sentencing them to year-long prison terms.
The bill follows the lead of the Federal Sentencing Commission, in that is equalizes penalties for possession of crack-cocaine and powder cocaine. The penalties for possession of crack cocaine have been lessened to match possessing similar amounts of power cocaine. Conversely, the penalties for trafficking powder cocaine have been increased to match crack peddling crimes. This amendment is long overdue, as the old law created a sentencing disparity based on socioeconomic strata and other factors otherwise not relevant to sentencing.
New categories were created for offenses involving marijuana trafficking and shorter mandatory prison terms are provided for marijuana offenses. The bill further provides that Intervention in Lieu of Conviction (“ILC”) be afforded to those charged with certain theft or nonsupport offenses. Currently, ILC is a diversion program available to offenders whose drug and/or alcohol usage was a factor leading to their offense. This bill also allows ILC for those offenders whose mental illness or retardation contributed to their criminal behavior.
Juvenile justice advocates hailed the passage of House Bill 86. Leaders in the House of Representatives amended the bill to include provisions that will give judges more discretion to determine which youth should be prosecuted as adults, and to expand nonincarceration options for youth.
This bill neither applies to inmates serving life sentences, nor does it apply to inmates doing time on various enumerated crimes of violence. It does, however, provide offenders that are serving a sentence for 1st or 2nd degree felonies, to be placed under parole supervision with GPS monitoring.
While there are opponents of this bill who claim that it is putting felons on the street just to save money, the bill is intended for those that really don’t need to sit in prison, and that would benefit more from community diversion programs. Republican legislator Lynn Slaby, a former judge and prosecutor, stated that if he was “wearing my prosecutor’s hat, I’d say, ‘No, don’t vote for it. We want to lock them all up and throw away the key.’” But as a legislator, he said he was happy to vote for the bill “because it accomplishes so much.” It is estimated that House Bill 86 will save $78 million per year on prison costs.
Bottom Line: In the age of widespread political acrimony and deadlock, this is a shining example of Republicans and Democrats working together to create much needed reforms. Necessity really does appear to be the mother of invention. Kudos to the Ohio General Assembly.
Leave A Comment