Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline

Ohio’s General Assembly has a serious mass incarceration problem. Each year, legislators of both parties introduce laws that create new crimes or extend the scope of existing laws and lengthen prison and jail sentences. This is the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline.

alt" "

Ohio’s General Assembly has a serious mass incarceration problem. Each year, legislators of both parties introduce laws that create new crimes or extend the scope of existing laws and lengthen prison and jail sentences. This is the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline.

The sweeping expansion of criminal law into peoples’ lives should concern elected officials in both parties. Our jails and prisons are overflowing, somewhere around 115% capacity. Considered alone, many criminal sentencing bills may sound innocuous. Individually, few add significantly to the prison population. But, together, year after year, the lawmaking practice of ceaselessly inventing new crimes and longer sentences causes the tide of imprisonment to rise. It’s mass incarceration by a thousand cuts. Even when crime falls, imprisonment does not. And Ohio families, communities, and taxpayers are bearing the brunt of our growing criminal justice system.

Graph of the past 10 years of STPP reports

The ACLU of Ohio has been monitoring the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline for the past ten years. In the most recent General Assembly, 7.5% of bills introduced, in either the House or Senate, creates a new crime or expands sentences.

Chart showing The 135th OGA introduced bill breakdown

Download Ohio's Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline: 135th General Assembly (2023-2024) and our Quick Look below.

Documents

The Latest

Publication
Photo of ohio statehouse on left, prisoner walking down an empty prison hallway on the right

Ohio's Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline 135th General Assembly (2023-2024)

Ohio’s General Assembly has a serious mass incarceration problem. Each year, legislators of both parties introduce laws that create new crimes or extend the scope of existing laws and lengthen prison and jail sentences. This is the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline.
Publication
Photo of ohio statehouse on left, prisoner walking down an empty prison hallway on the right

Ohio's Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline - 135th General Assembly (2023-2024) - A Quick Look

A one page overview of Ohio's Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline 135th General Assembly (2023-2024).
Publication
The Ohio Statehouse with a sunny day on the left side and prisoner walking down an empty prison hallway on the right side

Ohio's Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline - 134th General Assembly (2021-2022)

Ohio’s General Assembly has a serious mass incarceration problem. Each year, legislators of both parties introduce laws that create new crimes or extend the scope of existing laws and lengthen prison and jail sentences. This is the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline.
Publication
Ohio Statehouse with a navy and white color overlay, with rips on the corners exposing a prison cell and a pipeline

Ohio’s Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline: 133rd General Assembly (2019-2020)

Ohio’s General Assembly has a serious mass incarceration problem. Each year, legislators of both parties introduce laws that create new crimes or extend the scope of existing laws and lengthen prison and jail sentences. This is the Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline.