Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute released its newest policy brief, Evidence-Based Sentencing Reform: The Right Policy for Ohio, which outlines the significant strides the policies in Senate Bill 3 take in making Ohio’s drug-sentencing laws more effective, flexible, and just.  

“Patterned after the Recodification Committee’s recommendations and underlying empirical research, Senate Bill 3 restores sentencing flexibility so that judges can secure just results for every defendant under the unique facts and circumstances of each case,” wrote Andrew J. Geisler, a legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute’s Legal Center, the author of Evidence-Based Sentencing Reform: The Right Policy for Ohio. “The recommended reforms will help ensure that Ohio treats those caught in the cycle of addiction fairly, while holding those in the business of selling drugs accountable for their actions.”

In the brief, Geisler outlines how the policies in Senate Bill 3 reform Ohio’s drug-sentencing laws without making it easier to traffic drugs by designating three categories of drug trafficking offenses: major trafficking, aggravated trafficking, and trafficking. Geisler goes on to point out that Senate Bill 3 largely mirrors the Recodification Committee’s recommendations to ensure that defendants with underlying addiction issues get the treatment they need.

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