Bar Insider
The Way Ahead on
Criminal Justice Reform in Ohio BY DAVID LELAND
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and racial disparities pervade the justice system. Individuals of color are vastly overrepresented in both number of arrests and time behind bars. Ohio’s criminal justice system hasn’t fared any better. If Ohio were a country, it would incarcerate at a higher rate than any other in the world, and Black Ohioans— approximately 14 percent of Ohio’s population— comprise nearly 50 percent of Ohio’s total prison
population. Ohio law also has hundreds of “collateral sanctions”—legal handicaps imposed on former inmates—that make it exceedingly difficult for former inmates to get jobs, housing, education and other essential needs. This structure often leads to a cycle of poverty and hardship, causing those who’ve been incarcerated to be far more likely to be re-incarcerated and, ultimately, to have their lives shaped by their interactions with the state. Spurred by that stark reality, Ohio’s leadership has finally made criminal justice reform a top priority. As the Ranking Member of the Ohio House Criminal
14 | Columbus Bar L aw yers Quarterly Spring 2021
