News & Commentary

In Ohio, we have a problem with prison overcrowding. As a recent Department of Justice Report shows, Ohio's prison population ranks sixth among all states. Last year, Ohio only managed to reduce its prison population by 0.4%, which is exactly 210 people. In a state that currently locks up 11,854 more people than our prisons and jails are designed to house, that reduction is in no way adequate. Why does Ohio continue to have this problem? Why have our prisons been overcrowded for more than a decade? One factor is enhanced sentencing bills appearing in the Statehouse. Making a Tough Problem Harder to Solve According to a recent report by the ACLU of Ohio, the Ohio legislature continues to introduce bills that enhance criminal sentences, create new crimes, and extend the scope of current laws to cover new people and situations. These are bills that aim to incarcerate more people for longer periods of time. This legislative session alone, our representatives have introduced 54 new bills that will send more Ohioans to prison or jail.

“There are so many other factors. There are so many other consequences. It’s not even just about the retribution portion of being incarcerated. There is so much after the fact to deal with and to just try to get things together.”
– Michael W. Geauga County

Pay-to-stay fees bring an avalanche of financial, mental, and emotional stress for people after their release from jail. Michael W. of Geauga County depicts his struggles with these debts.
“I was doing pretty well and my credit score was high for my age, but once this occurred, I had lawyer fees. I had to pay thousands of dollars to take care of this and went into debt. When I got out I had to take care of myself, but I didn’t have anything anymore.
“I’m up to here in my eyeballs and then I get these emails saying ‘your credit score is dropping, your credit score is dropping.’
“I’ve looked into declaring bankruptcy, but it costs money to even do that. I’m kind of stuck for right now, just barely getting by. I think, if I can get the $700 together then I can declare bankruptcy and all the debt can be just gone and it can finally be off my shoulders. But right now I’m looking at, like, on top of the thousand that I owe them, I’ve got another $20,000 on my cards. And most of it was just lawyers.
“I had been couch surfing for about a month. My parents couldn’t handle me. My girlfriend, fiancé couldn’t handle me. It was like, I still don’t know.
“I used to have dreams that I was back in there. And I couldn’t stay at my parents place anyways because I slept in the basement and its cinder block walls. I’d wake up and think I was in jail again and I’d lose it. I couldn’t deal with it.”
Michael’s story is one of many. The details may vary but the common thread of disruption and struggle are the same.

Expectations Versus Reality

Many of us expect formerly incarcerated people to resume normal lives after serving time in jail. But this assumption neglects the need for continual support to reintegrate successfully. Adding debt onto a person who may already be struggling to succeed is a recipe for failure. These fees don’t add up either, providing very little in terms

Belle Likover and Piper Kerman

Piper Kerman, ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Chris Link,
and ACLU of Ohio Board President Jack Guttenberg

"Women and girls in prison suffer with mental health
and substance abuse issues at much higher rates than men."

Piper Kerman, Development Manager Jocelyn Rosnick, Belle Likover,
Associate Development Director Mary LaVigne-Butler

While it is not a presidential election year, this November 3 might be the most important day you will ever cast your ballot in Ohio. And no, we are not talking about marijuana. We are talking about the very important, but sadly unexciting, issue of redrawing state legislative districts to be fairer. You Can Have a Direct Impact on Elections Redrawing legislative districts, redistricting, gerrymandering—whatever you call it—this is the first time in over 40 years that we the people will be able to vote on a major overhaul that has a chance to make a difference in how Ohio’s state legislators are elected to office.