Ohio's prison population is expected to rise 20 percent in the next year. As the prison population reaches nearly 50,000 inmates, it is time for the system to be re-evaluated. The tough on crime stance adopted by Ohio and many other states has created a major problem, one that needs to be fixed.
The projected growth makes Ohio the 16th highest of all 50 states. There are several factors that have led to this crisis. Ten years ago, Ohio eliminated time off sentences for good behavior and the possibility of parole for many convicts. Couple that with the three strikes laws, and you have a recipe for one crowded jail house.
What is even more disturbing about this trend in Ohio is the number of women being sent to prison. While men outnumber the women nearly 14 to 1, female prison populations are increasing faster than the men. The hardest hit areas are rural counties such as Warren, Licking and Scioto. Women usually are incarcerated for drug and theft crimes ' crimes that can be treated with counseling or drug treatment. Women tend to have shorter sentences and are less likely to return to prison than men.
It's no coincidence that in a state with one of the highest costs of higher education and the unequal system of public-school funding, more people are committing crimes and heading to jail. It costs roughly $67 per day and $24,500 a year to keep a person in prison ' all taxpayer money. It would cost less and save more people from prison time to reduce the cost of higher education or to just fix the unconstitutional public-school funding.
In the United States, there are roughly 1.7 million people in prisons ' 1 in 178 Americans. It is the highest of any nation in the world. Clearly, using longer and tougher sentences does not work to deter first-time criminals, nor does it reduce the rate of repeat offenders.
There must be better solutions to simply locking someone up, and it is terrible to think Ohio is right there in the top 20. The state government can turn the trend around. We are not asking for the state government to become soft on crime, but rather smarter about punishment. Throwing somebody behind bars is not the solution in all cases, and it is about time Ohio realized it.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Post executive editors.
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