Prisoners' Rights

On April 9, 2013 the ACLU of Ohio released a timeline to state legislators and the public chronicling the first 18-months in the life of Lake Erie Correctional Institution (LaECI), the nation’s first prison sold to a for-profit company.

The timeline tells the story of a facility that has rapidly become unsafe for inmates, employees, and the surrounding community.

Click here for more information.

The Constitution prohibits courts from jailing those who can’t afford to pay their fines.

So does Ohio law.

Our courts are doing it anyway.

Click here to learn more.

In the 2011-2012 session, legislators passed sentencing reform legislation, a good first step in criminal justice reform. However, Ohio prisons are still at 128% capacity. In a recent article, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Mohr predicted that overcrowding could rise to 154.1%, if the department were to take a 10% budget cut[1].

The ACLU of Ohio recommends the following policy changes which will reduce the prison population:

• Increase the number of earned credit opportunities for eligible inmates.[2]
• Increase diversion of low-level non-violent offenders into substance abuse and mental health programs.
• Release aging state prisoners who pose no substantial public safety threat through age-based parole programs.
• Increase educational and rehabilitative programming in prison to jumpstart the reentry process and ensure lower recidivism rates.

The ACLU of Ohio has also advocated for expanding earned credit, which refers to the ability of incarcerated people to earn time off their sentence for successfully participating in vocational, educational, and/or rehabilitative programs. Earned credit was virtually eliminated in Ohio during the late 1990s because of a push for ‘truth in sentencing.’

In 2011, Ohio passed House Bill 86, which expanded the use of earned credit in the state. The proposal was modeled after other states that reaped cost savings from earned credit; however, Ohio’s program was modest in comparison.

Incarcerating a person simply because he or she cannot afford to pay court costs and fines is prohibited by state law and unconstitutional. The ACLU of Ohio has questioned one Erie County judge about his practice of jailing defendants who cannot or do not pay fines or fees, and has also spoken out against pay-to-stay jail schemes in Summit County, Monroe County, and Franklin County.

In October 2010, the ACLU released “In For A Penny”, a startling new report that profiles five states — including Ohio — that imprison people because they cannot pay fines. The report highlights the negative consequences for budgets and public safety, noting that jailing one person for 30 days costs more than $1500, causes disruptions in employment, and can contribute to recidivism.

In April 2011, the ACLU of Ohio released “Prisons for Profit: A look at prison privatization“. The report examines the problems faced by other states when they have privatized their prisons system. While yielding little cost savings, privatization poses substantial security and financial risks in communities that have housed them.

The ACLU also expressed concern that private prisons could undermine other needed criminal justice reforms by decreasing educational programming and not prioritizing reducing the inmate population.

In August 2011, the state announced that it would sell and privatize Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut to Corrections Corporation of America. This marked the first time a state has sold a prison to a private company. In early 2012, CCA sent a letter to 48 states offering to purchase other prisons, while claiming the sale of the Lake Erie facility was ‘seamless.’ The ACLU challenged some of CCA’s assertions about the sale.

Learn more about Prisoners’ Rights at the ACLU national website.