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National group spells out criminal justice policy reforms that could help Ohio [1]
['Susan Tebben', 'More From Author', '- December']
Date: 2023-12-05
A national group studying criminal justice reform had specific recommendations for Ohio in it’s latest proposal to reform the prison and criminal justice systems.
The Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based advocacy group focused on national reforms to legal systems and pushing for alternatives to prison stints, released “winnable criminal justice reforms” for 2024, which they say are “high-impact policy ideas for state legislators and advocates who are looking to reform their criminal justice system without making it bigger.”
The list is meant to be a guide directly for lawmakers to make changes in policy, with “straightforward solutions that would have the greatest impacts on reducing incarceration and ameliorating harms experienced by those with a conviction history, without further investments in the carceral system,” according to Sarah Staudt, policy and advocacy director at the PPI.
The list also includes “reforms that have gained momentum in recent years,” with some measures that have already passed in some states.
In Ohio, changing the way substance abuse is addressed could also bring better outcomes for state residents, the report stated, putting its support behind measures legalizing marijuana.
Ohio’s Issue 2 was mentioned as part of legislation that could be used as a solution to “the drug war,” which uses arrests and incarceration to try to stem substance abuse.
Though the future of the recreational marijuana initiated statute passed by a majority of Ohio voters in the November general election is still yet to be seen as the General Assembly debates changes, the Prison Policy Initiative suggested it could be a starting line for even more significant changes to drug laws.
“(States) can also make progress towards legalizing and regulating other drugs by taking the first step of deciminalizing them – making arrest and incarceration not an option or a less common option for drug charges,” according to the report.
When it comes to Ohio, other policy initiatives focused on reducing financial burdens for those trying to get out of the system, including probation fees and driver’s license suspensions due to outstanding debt.
Eliminating suspensions of driver’s licenses for nonpayment of fines and fees, along with those for previous drug convictions, could help Ohioans get back on their feet and supporting themselves in a way that removing access to transportation can’t do, according to the report.
“License suspension prevents people from earning the money they need to pay their fines and fees, undercuts their ability to support themselves and forces law enforcement to waste time stopping, citing and arresting people for driving on a suspended license,” the report stated.
Data from the Prison Policy Initiative found that more than 49,000 license suspensions happen every year for “non-driving drug convictions,” and the suspensions “disproportionately impact low-income communities and waste government resources and time.”
Just this year, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles suspended almost 200,000 licenses over outstanding debt, but a license amnesty program passed by the legislature in 2020 had saved more Ohioans more than $136 million.
Though the Ohio Poverty Law Center stood by the amnesty program, they also said more could be done, including reducing reinstatement fees, expanding the program, and doing just what the PPI recommended: eliminating the suspensions based on unpaid fines and fees.
The PPI also recommended eliminating prohibitive monthly probation fees, something that can be changed through legislation to either eliminate the fees or require hearings on the ability to pay.
Ohio charges up to $50 in monthly supervision fees, despite the fact that 62% of the population serving probation sentences make less than $20,000 per year, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The group said they have sent the list to more than 600 lawmakers in all 50 states “who have shown a commitment to reducing the number of people behind bars in their state and making the criminal legal system more just and equitable,” according to press release announcing the recommendations.
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