The Buckeye Institute Calls on Ohio Supreme Court to Enact an Emergency Bail Reform Rule
May 05, 2020Columbus, OH – In a new policy memo, Policy Solutions for the Pandemic: Bail Reform Will Keep Our Communities Safer (see full text below or download a PDF), The Buckeye Institute calls on the Ohio Supreme Court to enact a temporary bail reform rule to take immediate effect that includes a presumption against cash bail and provisions that ensure judges base pretrial detention decisions on a defendant’s threat to the community and risk of non-appearance for trial. The General Assembly should then make the court’s emergency rule permanent.
“Although the Ohio Supreme Court’s proposed bail reform rule will take effect on July 1—absent action from the General Assembly—the unique health risks that COVID-19 presents to jails, makes waiting until July 1 imprudent,” said Andrew J. Geisler, legal fellow with The Buckeye Institute’s Legal Center. “During this pandemic, the court should enact an emergency bail reform rule to make our jails safer and our communities more secure. The General Assembly should then make the court’s emergency rule permanent in the interests of justice and public safety.”
Ohio has adopted many of Buckeye’s policy recommendations to boost the state’s health care system and support Ohio’s workers, small businesses, and economy including:
- Increasing telehealth access and monitoring;
- Extending universal recognition of out-of-state medical licenses to nurses;
- Permitting pharmacists to test for COVID-19;
- Enlisting medical and nursing students to support doctors and nurses fighting COVID-19;
- Beginning to eliminate unnecessary budget commitments;
- Instituting a hiring freeze in state government; and
- Allowing establishments with an existing liquor permit to sell and deliver alcohol on carryout menus.
The Buckeye Institute’s policy solutions that policymakers can take to ensure Ohio and the country are ready to fight and recover from the pandemic can be found at: www.BuckeyeInstitute.org/Policy-Solutions-for-the-Pandemic.
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Policy Solutions for the Pandemic
Bail Reform Will Keep Our Communities Safer
By Andrew J. Geisler
May 5, 2020
The Buckeye Institute’s Recommendation
The Ohio Supreme Court’s proposed bail reform rule will take effect on July 1, 2020, absent action from the General Assembly. The rule takes steps in the right direction, but it can be improved. Given the unique health risks that COVID-19 presents to jails, waiting until July 1 is imprudent and the court should enact a temporary bail reform rule to take immediate effect under Ohio’s emergency rulemaking provision. The emergency rule should include a presumption against cash bail and provisions that ensure that judges base pretrial detention decisions on a defendant’s threat to the community and risk of non-appearance for trial. When the General Assembly reconvenes, it should then make these important policy changes permanent.
Background
As we explained in 2017, Ohio’s overreliance on cash bail does not make our communities safer. Instead, cash bail creates a two-tiered system in which the wealthy pay their way out of pre-trial detention regardless of the risk they pose to public safety and those without the means to post even nominal bail sit in jail until trial.
Jails struggle to employ adequate social distancing during the current pandemic, and risk exacerbating a public health crisis for inmates and the public at-large. The Ohio Supreme Court should enact emergency bail reform to better care for Ohio’s communities and the approximately 19,000 Ohioans in jail. An emergency rule from the Ohio Supreme Court and permanent reforms by the General Assembly should include: a presumption against cash bail; only allow judges to consider the risk of a defendant’s non-appearance if the court imposes cash bail; ensure greater use of validated risk assessment tools; make ability-to-pay determinations transparent; and authorize pretrial detention for defendants who pose a threat to the community.
The economic side effects of the COVID-19 shutdown will cost Ohio significant tax revenue. The proposed bail reforms will help save Ohio money as it tightens its fiscal belt and tries to recover. The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center estimates, for example, that bail reform could save the state $67 million per year because jail beds cost taxpayers almost $65 per day, whereas supervised release only costs $5 per day.
Conclusion
During this pandemic, the Ohio Supreme Court should enact an emergency bail reform rule to make our jails safer and our communities more secure. The General Assembly should then make the court’s emergency rule permanent in the interests of justice and public safety.
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