cash bail
Ohio House codifies TikTok ban, bail provisions first offered by Senate
While Ohio House lawmakers decided to press pause on the most contentious proposal up for a floor vote — a bill that would force outing of LGBTQ+ K-12 students — they signed off Wednesday on a proposal codifying court rules for setting bail and another banning TikTok from government devises. In both cases, lawmakers stepped in […]
Ohio Senate approves emergency measure to codify bail rules
The Ohio Senate has approved a measure codifying court rules that govern how judges set bond. The step comes after a clause in last year’s cash bail amendment eliminated the courts’ ability to set its own rules. Senate President Matt Huffman hinted this may not be the last time lawmakers take a more active hand […]
Last year’s cash bail amendment from lawmakers put Ohio’s entire pretrial release system in jeopardy
The cash bail amendment last year brought by Ohio lawmakers and approved in November directing judges to weigh public safety when setting cash bail inadvertently undermined the state’s entire bail system. Effectively every legal interest — prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, the Ohio Bar Association, sheriffs, and the ACLU — agree on the proper course of […]
How Ohio’s criminal justice system will be changed by Issue 1
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. With the vast majority of ballots counted, voters in Ohio overwhelmingly chose to approve a […]
Issue 1: Voters to decide whether judges would be required to consider public safety in setting bail
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Issue 1 on Ohio’s 2022 general election ballot will allow voters to determine if […]
Health Policy Institute of Ohio argues cash bail bad for community health
Researchers with the Health Policy Institute of Ohio are raising concerns about the health impacts of cash bail. This November voters will decide on a measure that could place greater emphasis on the practice. Issue 1 would direct judges in Ohio to weigh public safety when setting the dollar amount for bail. They already take […]
Opponents line up against bail reform as cash bail gets cleared for the ballot
The Ohio House and Senate approved a measure to send a cash bail proposal to the ballot. The resolution, which orders judges to consider public safety when setting the monetary provisions of bail, will come before voters in November as a proposed constitutional amendment. Meanwhile, opponents lined up against a different, wide-ranging bail reform measure […]
Bail reformers call on familiar evidence to advocate against reliance on cash bail
The day after Ohio House leaders put the brakes on cash bail-centric legislation, a different, long-simmering bail reform measure got it’s third hearing in committee. The measures offer alternative approaches to protecting public safety, and their supporters are invoking some of the same cases to make their point. When the proponents of the cash bail […]
House leaders press pause on cash bail provisions
A proposal directing judges to consider public safety when setting cash bail is in limbo after House leaders backtracked on holding a floor vote. The provisions — one statutory and one meant for the ballot — faltered because some Republican members want to see a broader bail reform measure pass alongside them. “There was discussion […]
Politicking the ballot: How gerrymandering controls which issues go to voters
An old game in politics revolves around putting certain issues on the ballot to energize certain voters to the polls during key elections. This isn’t special to any particular political party; it’s been used by Democrats and Republicans alike in various states around the country for many decades. Perhaps the most infamous iteration of it […]