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Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Are We Getting the Real Story on the Jail Surge?
Posted by Michael Earl Patton
Photo courtesy of here.
To justify the building of a big, new jail, Hamilton County commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper often mention the age of the Queensgate, Reading Road, and Turning Point facilities and how they are inadequate or even “falling down.” A reading of the county’s own Voorhis Report shows that they are not relating the situation accurately. The Cincinnati Beacon would like to thank Nate Livingston for pointing out that their own report relates how the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detentions (BAD) inspected and passed all three of these facilities in all 63 categories. Only the relatively new Justice Center failed to pass in all categories.
And the reason why the Justice Center did not pass is very relevant to the debate surrounding the new jail. BAD warned Hamilton County that the Justice Center is operating over capacity and that it must reduce the number of prisoners housed there. The Justice Center was designed for 848 prisoners and through double-bunking now can house 1,240. Queensgate has a capacity of 822, Reading Road a capacity of 150, Turning Point a capacity of 52, and Butler County can house 400 under contract with Hamilton County. These four would be eliminated if the new jail is built. The new jail would have a capacity of 1,800.
Right now Hamilton County has a capacity of 2,664 jail beds. If the new jail is built and the four facilities named above are eliminated, the capacity would be 3,040 beds. But if the Justice Center is reduced to 848 beds as Ohio insists, then the capacity is only 2,648 beds, or 16 beds fewer than we currently operate.
What can we infer from this? One possibility is that Portune and Pepper are exaggerating the over-crowding problem and that they expect the jail population to be going down soon. Although many who have investigated the jail situation believe that the jail “over-crowding” problem is largely self-inflicted, this does not appear to be Portune’s and Pepper’s opinion.
Another possibility is that they are exaggerating the condition of the older facilities and intend to use one or more of them to house the additional prisoners. Or Hamilton County could continue sending prisoners to Butler. This possibility is supported by BAD’s findings that the older facilities are adequate. But this possibility is not supported by the statements of Mssrs. Portune and Pepper.
A third possibility is that they intend to build a bigger jail than 1,800 beds, or to construct an addition. This possibility is indeed supported by Mr. Portune’s repeated statements that he has been told that the new jail is too small.
The only firm conclusion is that the county voters, after almost a year of the debate over a new jail, still have to dig deeply to find the relevant information over the jail situation.
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05 Jun 2007 at 12:03 pm | #
The County’s own jail consultant —Gail Elias of the Voorhis Group—told the Commissioners that one thing that may happen is that if a new jail is built that the Ohio Bureau of Adult Corrections may stop allowing double bunking at the Justice Center. If that happens, the result would be that the County would spend $750 million plus on this plan and not add a single jail space
05 Jun 2007 at 12:06 pm | #
Or maybe it’s just so they can continue to make their HUGE profits (percentage wise) on selling more prisoners things like, toothpaste, combs, deodorant, shampoo, etc? Wouldn’t want to use tax $ for essential everyday supplies now would we?
05 Jun 2007 at 01:25 pm | #
Hey, you mean Queensgate isn’t crumbling apart from years of prisoners peeing on the walls like one of your visitors claimed here recently? Well, I’ll be…and here I thought…
05 Jun 2007 at 03:46 pm | #
Of course we’re not getting all of the details! This thing has been a sham from the beginning. I don’t care how much number crunching and analysis you do, NONE OF IT makes a bit a sense. None of the numbers associated with this thing, from the actual cost to the number of beds needed to real criminals, aren’t adding up. The point that they have gone over the voters head and took such drastic measures indicates that there’s MUCH MUCH more to this than they are saying.
05 Jun 2007 at 03:49 pm | #
The Vooris Report also didn’t state the need to send inmates to Butler County under a racist sheriff… now where in the heck was Nate Livingston then… O I forgot it was his buddy Heimlich that was heading it all…
Nate Livingston did nothing and since then has done nothing until now when Portune and Pepper are involved.
05 Jun 2007 at 05:15 pm | #
First, Nate is comparing apples to organges. The Justice Center has to meet totally different standards than the other facilites. The standards prescribed are based on the date of construction of the facility. Standards at the other facilites are MUCH lower than for the Justice Center.
This has been one of my stances regarding a new facility having better conditions.
As to commissary funds - ohio law requires all the profits be spent on inmate programs. Do I believe Leis is complying with this ? no. Will the new jail oversight be able to address this? yes.
I did a report on the inmate calling contract for the Justice Center a year or so ago and found that families of inmates were being overcharged by the contractor and was able to get an across the board reduction in the costs to families to talk to their loved ones.
As to the analysis of a net zero gain in beds - hmmm - does that mean the NAACP will stop opposing the jail plan, because obviously it must be all about programming, services, etc.
(LOL)
05 Jun 2007 at 05:21 pm | #
I would like to thank The Cincinnati Beacon for writing this story. The best way to defeat our opponents is by giving the voters good, solid information.
There is a good possibility that even if the taxpayers build a big, new, fancy 1,800-bed jail, Portune, Pepper, and Leis will claim we still have an overcrowding problem. Their solution? Have the taxpayers build ANOTHER new jail. (Maybe they’ll tell us we need to close the Justice Center. After all, isn’t Portune already claiming it is too old and inadequate?)
How is it that so-called progressives can see that George Bush uses his never-ending war on terror to fleece the treasury and pay off his war-profiteering buddies, but they can’t see that Portune, Pepper, Leis, et al. are using the never-ending war on crime/drugs as their excuse to maintain power and pay off their jail-profiteering friends? (Did we ever find out who is in line to get the concrete contract?)
Politicians employ different versions of the same congame to stay in power—create an enemy; scare the public by telling them that the enemy is after them; convince them that the enemy has created a crisis situation; tell them you have the solution; but NEVER SOLVE THE PROBLEM. For Leis, there will never be enough jail spaces to solve the problem; for Portune and Pepper, there will never be enough tax dollars to solve it.
Suppose I am right. Can’t you just see Portune, Pepper, Leis, and supporters of the jail saying, “well, nobody ever said we wouldn’t need another new jail. You people should’ve asked about this and its not our fault if you didn’t. Plus, its not our fault; its the fault of the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detentions and those liberal federal judges who don’t want double-bunking. Besides, we don’t have time to dwell in the past, we have to move forward. So, shut up and just build us another new jail.”
If I am wrong, and Portune and Pepper are such heroes, why don’t they pledge, in writing, that the County won’t ask for more beds for at least 25 years. Why don’t they stake their political careers on this and promise to resign their positions on the Commission if this new jail is not large enough to solve the so-called overcrowding problem?
05 Jun 2007 at 05:43 pm | #
Nate Livingston wrote: There is a good possibility that even if the taxpayers build a big, new, fancy 1,800-bed jail, Portune, Pepper, and Leis will claim we still have an overcrowding problem.
All they need to do to CREATE an overcrowding program is round up some homeless. Quote from the Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless recent report:
“A year-long study of 53 homeless people who were arrested six or more times a year shows it cost Hamilton County $4.2 million to house them in jail.”
The full Enquirer article can be found here:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS01/705160401/-1/all
The entire Coalition report is here:
http://www.cincihomeless.org/content/downloads/Criminalization_of_Homeless_Individuals_in_Cincinnati.pdf
05 Jun 2007 at 06:05 pm | #
Peter
Cincinnati Beacon readers can see what you are trying to do. Since you can’t argue your point or defend Portune’s inaccurate relating of the jail facilities situation, you want to change the subject to the Butler County Sheriff or to me. It won’t work.
If the Butler County Sheriff is a racist, why did your buddy Todd Portune agree to send people to his jail? What kind of a sick individual would do such a thing? And why hasn’t David Pepper demanded that they be moved to another facility? Considering that his daddy is the mastermind behind the FREEDOM Center, if things are as you describe them, shouldn’t David have already taken steps to lead these people on a modern-day version of the Underground Railroad?
Now, if you are done with this foolishness, can we please get back to the subject. Please tell me you can do better than this.
05 Jun 2007 at 06:13 pm | #
Nate - I think you might be a total ass.
The commissioners have staked their careers on this, idiot.
And you claim to have analyzed the report, but you miss key criteria.
Did you ever think that the holistic plan includes reducing the mentally ill, minor offenders, homeless, etc. from the rolls of the jail and that with those reductions (can they say it any plainer) and the new facility, programs, etc—- that the immediate jail crisis will be averted and the long term prognosis, with the reformations, will solve alot of the complaints we all agree on.
Sorry Nate, I don’t like to pick on the handicapped, but you, the NAACP and alot of people seem to have their heads up their collective butts—and all are too arrogant and proud to admit they are wrong.
You may win the battle, but you’re losing the war, baby. Stop manipulating facts and talk truth.
05 Jun 2007 at 08:00 pm | #
So, you admit there is a net zero gain in beds. You acknowledge that the Portune/Pepper plan does nothing to resolve the alleged crisis in jail overcrowding. You know that they will be back in no time flat claiming to need more jail space. This is funny to you?
The sales tax is the most regressive tax imaginable. It disproportionately impacts the poor and the young. These people are being asked to pay for programming and services for criminals. This is funny to you?
Portune and Pepper think it makes sense to require someone to get involved with the criminal justice system before they can receive social services and other programs. This gives people an incentive to commit crime. You think this is funny!?
The people of Hamilton County overwhelmingly rejected an increase in the sales tax to pay for a new jail. Portune and Pepper are attempting to impose the tax against our wishes. You think this is funny?
There is nothing funny about what Todd Portune and David Pepper are doing.
05 Jun 2007 at 09:12 pm | #
The Ohio Administrative Code section 5120:1-8-04 covers housing of inmates. I may have missed it, but I didn’t see anything that said older facilities were permitted to house inmates in more crowded conditions than newer ones.
In any event, the buildings of Queensgate, Reading Road, and Turning Point are older than the Justice Center building, but their use as jail facilities is more recent.
The point of the article is two-fold: One, that according to the Bureau of Adult Detention, the facility about which they are most concerned is the Justice Center. Two, that that concern will still exist even if the new jail is built, which would mean that even more jail cells would probably be built in short order.
06 Jun 2007 at 12:04 am | #
MEP - I’m sure of the differences in standards (I’ve been working a jail issue for a few months and it came up in my research)[But by all means, if my memory is wrong, please correct me]
These BAD reports suck anyway because they are not all inclusive and comprehensive - the auditing procedures being used don’t even meet requirements of the Federal SIngle Audit Act that permits us to get federal monies for criminal justice. - but that’s another story. The reality (part of my research) is that conditions at the jail are in violation of law in a number of areas (some so obvious, but not even in the Voorhis report) but I can’t release while jail issue is pending because Leis would use it to sue the county and I’d be cutting off my nose to spite my face—I want the programming that gets these low level offenders our of jail, not just help create beds for them to sleep in)
What BAD says about the double occupancy is merely recommendations after the courts set the number - that’s the LEGAL number of occupants, not the standard nor optimal number (Good lawyers spent alot of money challenging the JC using the BAD criteria on behalf of inmate conditions and lost their butts)The decision stands. Unfnortunately
Ideally, if the program is implemented, the number of offenders who need services not incarceration will be eliminated or reduced and the JC will be able to go back to the BAD number of occupants per design.
Of course, if we kill the jail plan - all we get is more beds.
Oh, Nate, I’m laughing at you and your followers,not the issues. I’ve been working very hard on these issues for a couple years not just complaining about it. And the reason these people who shouldn’t be in jail are in jail is because the community will NOT support stand alone programming for them (despicable, I know, but reality)so the programming has been paired with the demand for beds. You know, give and take, compromise,—- the way things get done in the real world. But at least I don’t compromise my principles by going in kahoots with the likes of COAST. (Believe me, they’re laughing their butt slapping behinds off over their little alliance - )
06 Jun 2007 at 08:11 am | #
Here’s the section from the Ohio Administrative Code,5120:1-8-04, where it covers the minimum number of square feet per prisoner. It says nothing about jails in older buildings as compared to relatively new buildings. Also note that it goes by the square footage per prisoner, not some overall number.
I think you need to be specific as to where the jails are in violation of the law, else the new jail, if built, will probably also be in violation.
As for new programs, the amounts proposed are small compared to the overall dollar amount raised. The details are about as sketchy as when the stadiums were built (also with a 1/2 cent sales tax increase) and we were told how they would re-invigorate downtown and help create winning football and baseball teams.
I remember that time well. COAST wasn’t around, but some of their members certainly were and they were fighting the stadium deals. They were publicly questioning the numbers given out by the commissioners and the stadium backers. The pro-stadium people would counter with a bunch of promises. Well, looking back at it now, who was right?
06 Jun 2007 at 01:38 pm | #
Comparing the stadium deal with a need to provide a statutory requirement are two different things, though. Ohio legislators actually passed a law to allow the stadiums to be built because the deal was inconsistent with Ohio law.
I don’t have time to cite the administrative law to support my contentions so I’ll take the easy way out - the federal courts, who interpret administrative and statutory law - ruled the JC can have 1200 inmates, clearly contradicting the law stated. They’re using the same administrative law I researched.
But, MEP, here’s the problem - all you’re doing is building a case for Leis. Everything your side is hanging their hats on only supports Leis, not the need to get the disadvantaged who shouldn’t be inthe system, out of the system.
We can and will get a new jail - the only thing on theline here is whether we will get the services to resolve the issues we both agree need to be resolved.
That’s why I don’t understand the support for a referendum, especially by the NAACP.
Let me tell you why Leis will sue now when he didn’t before - he could care less about the impact on a Democratic Board - the Republican Party would love to force the Dems to make cuts to all these social service programs in order to build a jail. That way they aren’t the bad guys - the Dems are.
06 Jun 2007 at 04:02 pm | #
anon2000, your name calling shows how your emotions rather than reason are directing your angry rants.
It’s the rich white County Commissioners that are so arrogant that they pushed their regressive jail tax on the people. For you to refer to the NAACP membership as handicapped and having “their heads up their collective butts” is not only arrogant, but borderline racist. Obviously Portune and Pepper think their smarter than the African American community and know whats best for them.
Not only will we win the battle but we will win the war against the ruling class that continues to enslave our peoples mind, bodies and souls.
The fact is that Leis/Lindner/Pepper/Portune plan is so bad that they’ve known all along it couldn’t pass a vote from the public.
Pull your head out of Todd Portune’s ass and let the people vote.
06 Jun 2007 at 06:18 pm | #
Anon2000
And what, exactly, are the Commissioners statutorily required to provide that they haven’t already? And how will the Portune/Pepper/Leis/Deters/Lindner/CBC plan help them provide whatever it is that you and Simon Leis claim they haven’t provided when, as we’ve already established, the plan results in a net zero gain in beds!?
We’ve done the research and now know that Todd has been lying about the condition of the county’s jail facilities. The County doesn’t HAVE TO close down the Queensgate jail—which again was found in compliance with 62 out of 62 standards reviewed during the Ohio Department on Rehabilitation and Correction’s most recent inspection—or any of the jail facilities; they WANT TO close it down. Why? Because they want something newer. It is wasteful and fiscally irresponsible for the County to close Queensgate and spend our tax dollars to build a new jail when there is nothing wrong with Queensgate!
Of course, we know you jail hawks keep insisting we buy your line of crap about the promised social services and programs being able to work right in this proposed new jail. We aren’t stupid. We know you are lying. We know you can’t support this claim with any evidence. So, we reject it.
Your thinking is confused. This, perhaps, explains why you can’t understand the NAACP’s position (a position shared by many thinking people, including me).
Mr. Patton’s facts go to the root of your arguments and blows them to shreds. Since a federal court ruled that the Justice Center can have 1200 inmates there is no danger of Leis going back to court and forcing the County to end double-celling. And since there is nothing wrong with the county’s other jail facilities, the Commissioners have, indeed, done done what they were required to do by statute: provide adequate jail space. Should Leis ever bring suit, he will lose because neither the law or the facts are on his side.
Democrats have become a political party full of punks and cowards. Democrats are so afraid they’ll lose a fight; they just cave in and give up. Just listen to yourself—you’ve already conceeded that Leis is going to get a new jail no matter what, so you’d rather bend over like a bitch instead of stand up like a man (and like Republicans have done for 20+ years) and tell Leis: “HELL NO WE AREN’T BUILDING A NEW JAIL BECAUSE WE DON’T NEED IT.”
To cover up for your cowardice, Democrats like to act like they are outsmarting someone. Here, you’d like us to believe that Portune and Pepper are smarter than Leis and everyone else pushing this jail tax. Portune and Pepper have outfoxed old Simon Leis and got millions of dollars in funding for social programs. Well, (1) it doesn’t make sense to have everyone pay the tax then limit the programming to criminals or accused criminals; (2) to use a regressive sales tax to pay for the criminals’ social service programs is morally reprehensible; and (3) if Portune’s and Pepper’s true aim is to get a package of social services they should (a) be up front about it and quit trying to trick the public—now, that would be heroic, (b) make everyone sacrifice by including taxes on property and income—this can be worked out with the cities.
If the sales tax is not repealed, the Commissioners will end the contract with Butler County, Leis will close Queensgate, then he’ll start complaining that the new jail is too small and overcrowded (there are no new beds once you close Queensgate and stop sending inmates to Butler County). When he demands another new jail (or a massive jail expansion) the Commissioners will cry foul and pretend to be broke. Ah, but Leis has been around a long time. He is no fool. “You Commissioners have the money. Use the sales tax!!!” And, that, anon2000, is called checkmate!
06 Jun 2007 at 06:41 pm | #
Anyone else notice that this anon2000 is a lot like the person David Pepper had trolling blogs for him when he ran for Mayor. (I think the guy called himself Dr. Peters or something like that.) Anyway, we whipped David and his team then, and we can do it again.
They also let Peter “The Smoke Eater” Deane come out to play. At least this time around we aren’t being subjected to his awful poetry!
06 Jun 2007 at 09:01 pm | #
Livingston, you forgot several other groups who will endure a negative impact on this jail sales tax. The largest segment is the elderly.
And it is the elderly who go out to vote with punctuality. Not the poor. It’s the old folks. The easiest prey for the criminal element in this city.
So, stop marginalizing & alienating the people you really need in the anti-jail sale tax effort.
06 Jun 2007 at 09:17 pm | #
You guys kill me…. LOL
Go get your petitions signed, hurry, Finney is waiting.
07 Jun 2007 at 05:25 am | #
Anon 19: The quote you cite is almost verbatim something written previously by Todd Portune.
07 Jun 2007 at 05:26 am | #
Find it here:
http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com/index.php/content/comments/statement_of_commissioner_todd_portune_on_the_heimlich_jail_tax/
07 Jun 2007 at 06:05 am | #
Anon 19
Please forgive me if my failure to mention the elderly in my list of people who endure a negative impact from a regressive sales tax made you feel alienated or marginalized. I apologize. That wasn’t my intention.
07 Jun 2007 at 06:09 am | #
Anon2000
We have killed your “arguments” and your spirit. We know you aren’t laughing; you are crying. You are sad because Leis is waiting on his new jail and the millions of dollars he was promised by Portune and Portune won’t be able to deliver.