Bill allows judges to double sentences on 3-time felons

Bill allows judges to double sentences on 3-time felons

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A bill that would give judges the authority to imprison three-time felons for twice as long as current law allows began hearings this week in the Ohio Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tim Grendell, a suburban Cleveland Republican, also would permit judges to impose the maximum sentence upon defendants convicted of a second felony.

Currently, a judge typically hands down the shortest sentence under guidelines the Legislature approved in 1995.

Grendell's bill would allow increased sentences for three-time felons. For example, a person convicted of a high-level felony, but not sentenced to death or to life in prison, could face a maximum sentence of 20 years instead of 10 years.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction reported that the state housed 49,839 inmates in October. A department analysis says that could jump to another 40,000-50,000 inmates over the next 10 years should the bill pass, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported on Friday. Ohio's prisons are designed to hold 37,610 beds.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OH_REPEAT_FELONS_OHOL-?SITE=WBNSTV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

...Not all felonies are alike...

I would certainly like this to be the case for the 3-time felon that broke into my house and stole all of my stuff...

as its an option, when it get to be mandatory then the problems start.

...drug possession versus assault as an example...

Let's assume the burlar is 25 years old. Let's assume his life expectancy is 60 in prison. And we know that it costs more than $30,000 per year to keep him in custody. 35 x 30,000. That's nearly a million bucks in your tax dollars, for house burglary.

America can't incarcerate its way out of its crime problem. Your burglar is probably an addict. Diverting addicts to treatment early on would lower America's crime.

It's called "front-loading the system" -- spending money to keep people OUT of prison and contributing to society. It's cheaper.

I'm not the only one paying for him to be in prison either...

It was estimated about twenty years ago that by 2050 the number of incarcerated people in America would equal the number of free people, and the free people would be enslaved to keeping the others in custody.

I'm saying that diversion from the criminal justice system through investment in education, drug treatment, job training, etc., is cheaper and better for America than the prison-industrial complex.

And most criminal justice experts agree. It's those who make billions off the industry (even corporations like Frito-Lay) who push draconian laws. I've been to the industry product show. I know how it is.

I have no problem with prison for violent offenders but how many are in prison for marijuana?

We have serious problems n this country and locking everybody up doesn't seem to be working.

dime-bag Joe for nothing...His lauded "tent-city" is full of small time personal possession type stuff...

Peace

I wish we'd move drug related offenses to treatment, sexual assaults to a separate facility, mental illness to their own facility, and then be left with just the handful of true criminals that this type of law would apply to.

I'd rather have sentencing be the purview of the judges, not legislators.
The Professor

just voted to address the hideous disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine by RAISING THE PENALTIES for powder. How fucking backward are these people?

And how's that prison budget coming, Buckeyes?