Friday, September 21, 2007

Letter to CityBeat:  Jail Tax!

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Linda Newman, an activist with Cincinnati Progressive Action and the No Jail Tax PAC, recently published a letter to the editor in CityBeat.  She desired to have it posted here, too, for reaching the maximum number of readers with her concerns.

Kevin Osborne’s summary of positions on the jail tax issue in Hamilton County (City Beat: 9/12/2007), ended with Commissioner Pepper’s claim that “This is the only plan that addresses recidivism.” This should not be the last word in City Beat about the jail tax.  What plan?  For months now, a brochure and a power-point have been up on the Hamilton County government web site, with a promise to develop a more detailed plan.  It’s a plan to have a plan.

The details we do know that can be gleaned from the brochure, power-point and statements made by Pepper, Portune and Sheriff Leis, include jail expansion; housing still more federal prisoners; requiring video arraignments and video visits at the proposed, more- distant new jail; closing treatment facilities and moving treatment into the new jail; and adding money to Sheriff Leis’ budget for more militaristic sheriff’s patrols in Over The Rhine and other Cincinnati areas.  The counter-argument offered by Pepper and Portune seems to be ‘This will happen anyway.  Trust us, we’re democrats, and so with the money we raise beyond what it costs to do those objectionable things, we’ll do something good too.  And by the way, if the tax doesn’t pass, there will be “severe cuts” (Portune, quoted in article) to build this jail.’

The last time Hamilton County voters passed a sales tax in response to an ultimatum, the stadium tax was passed, and it seems that many now regret that vote.  Commissioner Portune has been the one liberal light in local politics for some years, and has done significant good trying to ameliorate the area’s attacks on the poor.  But this doesn’t mean he’s not wrong about jail expansion and this jail tax.

City Beat could do the electorate a huge service by investigating and reporting the numbers behind arrests and jail occupancy in Hamilton County today.  How many arrests for vagrancy and homelessness?(1) How many for jay-walking?  How many for spitting on the sidewalk?  And how many arrests have been caused by Cincinnati’s ridiculous marijuana ordinance?  How many of these arrests are made by sheriff’s patrols and not Cincinnati Police?

This chilling fact was reported in the Vera Institute of Justice’s Assessment, a report commissioned by Hamilton County:(2) In 2004 81% of total ‘jail bed days’ were occupied by those between booking and court review, while this figure was only 37% in 1999.  These are people who should be out on bail, but can’t afford a minimal ($100?) bond.  Is the Hamilton County jail really the Hamilton County Poorhouse?  Why not alleviate this alleged over-crowing problem by first not warehousing the poor, and second, by guaranteeing a speedy trial for those who are arrested?  And does that require more jail beds or instead, more public defenders and judges?

Only with such an assessment of how the system currently operates, can the voters reasonably decide if they really want to give the same government more money to do more of the same.

Linda Newman
Activist with Cincinnati Progressive Action and No Jail Tax PAC ( http://nojailtax.org)

1) See “Criminalization of Homeless Individuals in Cincinnati”, a study by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless:  http://cincihomeless.org/content/downloads/Criminalization_of_Homeless_Individuals_in_Cincinnati.pdf

2) See http://www.hamiltoncountyohio.gov/administrator/bsi/jail/D%20-%20Vera%20Assessment.pdf , p 15, paragraph 3

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Janis says:
21 Sep 2007  at  02:25 pm | #

According to the study conducted by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless cited above, during the 4 months of the study an average of 5.68% of the daily jail population was homeless.  Using the average daily population figure of 2059 provided by the county (most recent 2004) that means that approximately 117 homeless people are jailed daily.  Of the crimes the homeless are charged with, 72% are misdemeanors and minor misdemeanors. 

The report further cites that the cost of providing supportive housing for the homeless is almost half of the cost of jailing them.  Having access to a bathroom, a place to sleep, and a place to sit during the day would reduce the incidences of indecent exposure, public urination, and vagrancy.

Nowhere in the proposed “comprehensive” plan can I find what portion of the tax supposedly earmarked for treatment services would go toward reducing the recidivism of the crimes of sitting in the park because you don’t have a living room or of having to go to the bathroom where there are none available.

says:
22 Sep 2007  at  05:14 pm | #

If there were no jails, there’d be no recidivism.
If we had vigilantism rather than government-funded “justice,” punishments would more likely be either death or no punishment at all (which is to say, tolerance.)
By the way, death has no recidivism.

Anon says:
25 Sep 2007  at  12:36 am | #

OK Gallaher, how about this scenerio (and I pray that it never happens to you or yours):

Someone breaks into your house, beats you badly and rapes your wife and daughter. What punishment should this person be subject to? How tolerant would you feel of this person?

says:
25 Sep 2007  at  06:04 pm | #

Anon 3,
Are our heads only hat racks?
Do we learn from traumatic personal experiences only?
According to what passes for thinking in your head, there are no atheists in foxholes.

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