Ohio

News Article The Crime Report February 4, 2014

Reforming the NYPD---Beyond Stop and Frisk

In this article, Justice Strategies' Director, Judy Greene discusses: the realities behind, now-again NYC Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton's ComStat and "broken windows" approach to crime control; the City's challenge to implement real reform after a US Court of Appeals upheld a Federal District Court ruling finding the NYPD's stop-and-frisk campaign an unconstitutional police practice; and, her call on Commissioner Bratton to embrace more collaborative policing practices finding success in the cities of Seattle, WA and Cincinnati, OH.

News Article

Number of women prisoners climbs in Ohio, bucking downward trend among men

Women's prison population growth outstripped growth in the men's population in every state during the past 27 years. A different trend has emerged since the end of 1999. Women continue to be disproportionately impacted in states where overall growth rates remain high. But among states that experienced little or no prison population growth, a large majority saw growth rates for female prisoners fall below rates for males.

Women led the growth trend in 29 of 30 states where the total prison population (male and female) rose by 10 percent or more over the last half-decade. The opposite was true of states that experienced slower growth or a net decline in their total prison population: 13 of 20 saw their male prison population rise more quickly, or decline more slowly, than their female population.

Ohio has proven a major exception to the rule. Between 1999 and 2004 the state's male prison population fell by 5.4 percent while the number of women behind state prison bars shot up by 12 percent. The growth in Ohio's female prison population should be cause for particular concern because of the unique strains on children or families that can result from the incarceration of mothers. Read more »

News Article

Ohio combines sentencing reform and community corrections to rein in prison budget

Ohio provides a remarkable example of policy reforms and investments in community-based alternative programs can yield correctional cost savings. State policymakers have managed to reduce the state's prison population by more than 5,000, allowing closure of two prisons, and saving taxpayers more than $65 million a year.

One Midwestern state provides a remarkable example of how comprehensive policy reforms and substantial investments in community-based alternative programs can, over time, yield huge correctional cost savings. In 1996 Ohio legislators embraced "truth-in-sentencing" when they enacted Senate Bill 2. They abolished parole release and established a system of flat sentences. They also provided a system of sentencing guidance for judges grounded on basic principles which are developed and enforced by appellate review. Read more »

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