Cleveland Plain Dealer: Time for Ohio’s ‘Next Step’ on criminal justice reform: John Eklund and Sean O’Brien
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And thankfully, the people of Ohio agree with us. At our hearing on Senate Bill 3, we learned of a new poll commissioned by the bipartisan Justice Action Network that shows an overwhelming 87 percent of voters support sentencing reforms for low-level, nonviolent offenders. More specifically, when asked if people found in possession of small amounts of drugs, many of whom are addicts, should be diverted into treatment rather than prison, 80 percent of respondents approved, including 80 percent of women respondents and 82 percent of independent voters.
This massive support for reforming how we treat drug offenders is a credit to the bipartisan coalition, from progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to the conservative activists at FreedomWorks, that linked arms in Ohio to pass ban-the-box legislation for government jobs, increased access to record-sealing, and even expanded community-based alternatives to prison.