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Ohio lawmakers sponsored nearly 100 bills creating crimes or increasing criminal penalties during the last two-year session, according to a new report from the ACLU of Ohio.

(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Nearly 100 bills introduced during the last Ohio legislative session would have sent more people to the state's overcrowded jails and prisons, according to a report released Thursday.

The ACLU of Ohio report identified 91 bills out of 1,004 introduced in 2015 and 2016 that would have created new crimes, increased sentences for existing crimes or expanded existing law to new persons. Sixteen of them passed and became law.

Another 17 bills have already been introduced since this session began in January.

"The Statehouse-to-prison pipeline is truly a bipartisan issue," the ACLU's Gary Daniels said at a news conference. "We don't see a lot of bipartisanship across the street but on this issue -- oh my goodness."

State prisons were built to house 38,579 inmates, but in February they housed about 51,300 inmates, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Overcrowding and rising prison costs have, in part, encouraged the Ohio General Assembly to move away from a "tough-on-crime" mentality in recent years. Lawmakers have passed reforms such as encouraging alternative sentencing programs and allowing more offenders to seal criminal records.

Daniels said the report shows legislators aren't addressing Ohio's overcrowded prison problem on the front end. Daniels said many of the bills were rushed through to a full chamber vote.

A spokesman for House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger said the issue is more complicated than any report is able to indicate.

The report

The report included bills widely known to create or enhance penalties, such as Goddard's Law, which created a felony offense for knowingly harming a pet. But it also highlighted lesser known instances, such as the transportation budget bill that increased penalties for unlicensed driving school instructors or a bill that makes fixing an agricultural weighing machine without registering with the state punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

All three were enacted into law.

Daniels said laws that enacted tougher penalties after multiple offenses were excluded from the report.

He urged lawmakers to stop introducing these kinds of bills until a state panel this year releases its recommendations for overhauling Ohio's criminal code. Lawmakers in 2015 created the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee, a panel of legislators, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and prison officials, to simplify state laws.

Criticism



Barry Wilford of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said many legislators introduce bills that widely impose a mandatory sentence based on one incident. Wilford said these bills are often marked by being named after the victim or victim's family to whom the lawmaker lent a sympathetic ear.

"Here comes Annie's law, Laura's law, Marsy's law, Judy's law and soon we'll have a whole sorority of victims enshrined in the Ohio criminal code," Wilford said.

Kari Bloom, legislative liaison for the Ohio Public Defender, said the volume of the bills introduced can be seen as a reflection of state values.

"[Lawmakers] are saying that introducing criminal justice bills, increasing sentencing, increasing mandatory sentences and making more actions and activities crimes is something that we care about and that our legislators are dedicated to doing," Bloom said.

Legislators' response

Representatives can introduce any legislation they want. Rosenberger spokesman Brad Miller said the number of bills introduced is not the best measure of their accomplishments.

"To take a hard line and say there must not be or should be zero bills introduced that would strengthen penalties is not feasible and likely not a responsible stance to take on its face," Miller said.

Miller said lawmakers have been trying to find ways to rehabilitate offenders instead of putting them behind bars where their situation might not get better. For example, new laws passed in the last session grant immunity to people who report drug overdoses and bar public employers from including questions on a job applications about an applicants criminal background.

A spokesman for Senate President Larry Obhof said all criminal justice bills will receive a thorough discussion while keeping the work of the reform and recodification committee in mind.

"We've made it clear that our intent is to be smart on crime," spokesman John Fortney said. "That means keep the worst violent offenders in prison, while giving non-violent offenders the opportunity to turn their lives around."

Mobile readers, click here to read the report.