Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute issued the following statement from Daniel J. Dew, legal fellow with Buckeye’s Legal Center, on the policies in Senate Bill 3, which would safely reduce Ohio’s prison population by ensuring those suffering from addiction receive the treatment they need.

“Today, the Ohio Senate, led by President Larry Obhof, Senator John Eklund, and Senator Sean O’Brien unveiled their bill which would go a long way to safely reducing Ohio’s prison population by ensuring those suffering from addiction receive treatment instead of a prison cell.

“We are excited to see that the policies proposed in Senate Bill 3 closely align with recommendations made by the Recodification Committee—recommendations that The Buckeye Institute has long advocated for. By reclassifying low-level drug possession crimes as misdemeanors, judges will retain the tools necessary to get people into treatment without sending them to prison, which is critical to good outcomes for those suffering from addiction, their families, and their communities.”

Senate Bill 3 would overhaul Ohio’s drug sentencing laws, including the reclassification of low-level possession crimes to misdemeanors. The bill would also expand treatment in lieu of conviction options and close loopholes that allow a person to have his probation revoked for non-criminal technical violations of probation, such as being late to curfew or missing a check-in.

The proposal closely mirrors recommendations made by the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee, which brought together practitioners from every aspect of criminal justice to make suggestions to revise Ohio’s criminal code. A leader in the area of criminal justice reform, The Buckeye Institute’s Daniel J. Dew worked with the committee’s chairman, Judge Fred Pepple, and his staff to provide research and support on key reforms including sentencing reform.

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