DEPC event on "Criminal Justice Reform in Ohio" and original resources on "Drug Sentencing Reform in Ohio"

I am very excited that next week the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC) at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is hosting a virtual panel discussion, titled "Where Do We Go From Here?: Criminal Justice Reform in Ohio" at 2pm on February 24, 2021.  Here is the description and run down of the exciting event:

Ohio has a long history of criminal justice reform and drug sentencing reform, and yet few can be pleased that Ohio still has the 12th highest incarceration rate in the country and one of the highest rates of overdose deaths. With the passage of HB1 and the failure of SB3 at the end of 2020, many are left wondering what can and cannot be achieved through legislative reforms in Ohio.  Please join us for a discussion of Ohio’s recent reform history, what we might expect in the near future, and how research and experience in other states can inform reform efforts in the Buckeye State.

Panelists

Speakers:
Sara Andrews, executive director of the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist at the ACLU of Ohio
Micah Derry, state director for the Ohio chapter of Americans for Prosperity
Andrew Geisler, legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute
Kyle Strickland, deputy director of race and democracy at the Roosevelt Institute and senior legal analyst at Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

Moderator:
Douglas A. Berman, executive director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center

I am also quite pleased to note that the link in the above description takes folks to this original resource page titled "Drug Sentencing Reform in Ohio."  Here is some of the discussion and resources to be found at that page:

Since 2014, seven states have enacted reforms that have defelonized low-level drug offenses: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.  In late 2020, the Ohio House of Representatives opted not to join this growing list by declining a vote on Senate Bill 3 which sought to reclassify some low-level drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.  Its origins can be traced back to the ambitious, but ultimately failed, 2018 Issue 1 ballot initiative.  The constitutional amendment initiative included language aimed at reclassifying as misdemeanors those offenses related to drug possession and use, prohibiting courts from sending people back to prison for non-criminal probation violation, and reallocating savings created from lowering prison populations toward drug treatment services.  Like SB3, Issue 1 was vehemently opposed by judges and prosecutors around the state.

Though SB3 stalled, an array of other criminal justice reforms were enacted in the last General Assembly of 2020, including House Bill 1.  HB1 allows more wrongdoers to potentially benefit from alternative dispositions and record sealing. Some argued that the passage of HB1 addressed sufficiently some of the concerns driving support for SB3....

In addition to organizing [the Feb 24 panel] event, DEPC has gathered a variety of other resources to aid in understanding the complex evolution of criminal justice and drug sentencing reforms in Ohio, including a visualization of Ohio incarceration rates and a timeline of Ohio reforms since 2010.  Please see below for commentaries and writings on current and past drug sentencing reform efforts in Ohio, DEPC’s prior events focused on Ohio’s criminal justice reforms, and research aimed at answering some of the most important questions raised by proponents and opponents alike.

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