The prison system has failed Americans — or at least according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who as the head of the Department of Justice found that too many Americans are locked up for non-violent crimes.
In August, Holder laid out the framework for his plan to reduce the number of those incarcerated in federal prisons, particularly those charged with non-gang related drug crimes; however, most Americans incarcerated for those crimes are housed in state and local facilities, such as the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail.
“I would say it’s definitely a different way of doing things,” said Jeremy Tolson, warden at the jail. “Changes need to be made, to be honest.”
Holder is hopeful his plan will spread to the state and local level of correctional facilities, something that Tolson said would have a large effect on the jail’s population because they are dealing mainly with misdemeanors.
Ohio has seen prison reform recently.
Legislation in 2011 changed the sentencing structure for fourth- and fifth-degree felonies, which include low-level thefts as well as a variety of drug charges. The changes allowed for these offenders to be sent to local facilities instead of a state penitentiary.
Holder — who said Ohio has been one of the most progressive states — viewed those changes positively, but the cost of added prisoners at the local level had a major effect on area governments.
“Money is tighter at the local level jails,” Tolson said. The Southeast Ohio Regional Jail is one of only four regional jails in the state, meaning it receives funding from the five counties it serves.
“Our numbers are very high,” he said. “Right now we’re at the top of our capacity. I think that Ohio should be one of the most aggressive in this subject because we have one of the top incarceration rates in the country.”
State Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, said in retrospect, he recognizes the state reforms put a strain at the local level.
“In a lot of ways local (entities) are going to pick up the tabs and not see any reimbursement from the state,” said Gentile, whose district includes part of Athens County. “I think that is the only downside of the reform. I don’t think it’s fair to expect those costs to be passed down to counties and local governments that can’t afford them.”
U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus, said educating the public on the effects of drugs is the only real solution to the growing number of prison inmates.
“Unfortunately, in my district, we’re losing young kids and young adults and even older adults to heroin overdoses every single week and it’s really sad,” said Stivers, whose district includes Athens County.
Though there’s hope of trickle-down effects from Holder’s new policies — and with recent reforms at the state — Tolson said he doesn’t see prison populations dropping any time soon.
And even though he recognizes the system should be reformed, Tolson admits illegal drugs are a growing problem.
“I’ve been in this business for 16 years now,” he said. “When I started the populations were a lot lower. We were not dealing with the amount of drugs we are dealing with now. We’re dealing with a lot more serious offenders, with more serious drug problems than what we were 16 years ago.”
The past four or five years have brought many heroin and pain-pill related problems to the area, Tolson said, adding that drugs lead to the vast majority of more serious violent and property crimes in the area.
“They robbed some place to get the money to get the drugs ... Drugs motivate most everything,” he said. “I mean I grew up in this area, too. I can recall in high school never seeing half the stuff these kids are seeing in school nowadays. It’s scary.”
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