Current:Home > FinanceOhio law allowing longer prison stays for bad behavior behind bars upheld by state’s high court-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Ohio law allowing longer prison stays for bad behavior behind bars upheld by state’s high court
View Date:2024-12-23 22:59:23
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A law allowing prison officials to extend certain incarcerated people’s time behind bars does not violate the state constitution, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision Wednesday.
The 2019 law, challenged by two imprisoned men in January, lets Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction argue that the parole board should keep some felony offenders in prison past the minimums of their sentence ranges due to bad behavior or because there are signs they have not been rehabilitated.
The measure was named for Reagan Tokes, a college student abducted, raped and murdered by a man on parole in 2017.
Other news Head of US cybersecurity agency sees progress on election security, with more work needed for 2024 The head of the nation’s cybersecurity agency says efforts to protect the nation’s election systems have grown exponentially since the 2016 presidential election, but more is needed to defend the integrity and resiliency of the election process ahead of next year’s vote. A campaign to ask Ohio voters to legalize recreational marijuana falls short -- for now A proposal to legalize adult use of marijuana in Ohio has fallen just short of the signatures needed to make the November ballot. Ohio voters will decide on abortion access in November ballot Ohio voters will decide this fall whether the right to an abortion should be added to the state constitution. Ohio officer put on paid leave amid probe into police dog attack on surrendering truck driver An Ohio police officer has been put on leave while he’s investigated for releasing his police dog on a surrendering truck driver, even after state troopers told the officer to hold the dog back.Christopher Hacker, who is serving time for aggravated burglary, and Danan Simmons Jr., previously sentenced on weapon and drug charges, argued that the law violates the constitutionally outlined separation of powers between the judicial branch, which issues sentences, and the executive branch, which includes the prisons department.
Additionally, the provision doesn’t give offenders adequate notice of what could land them in hot water while incarcerated and infringes on their constitutional right to a fair trial, Hacker and Simmons argued.
But the high court’s conservative majority disagreed, writing that the two men did not prove the law can never be fairly — and therefore constitutionally — applied under any circumstances.
The law also does not violate any separation of powers, as Ohio’s prisons department must still work within the confines of a maximum sentence range laid out by the courts, according to Justice Joseph Deters.
But Deters left the door open for the law to be challenged if it’s found to be applied in an unconstitutional manner in specific cases.
Justice Jennifer Brunner however, agreed with the argument by Hacker and Simmons that the provision allows prison officials to act as prosecutors, judges and juries when such responsibilities belong to the judicial branch under Ohio’s constitution.
Prisoners are also left with little to no means to challenge the prisons department allegations that they have misbehaved, Brunner contended for the high court’s minority.
___
Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
veryGood! (74836)
Related
- Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
- All in: Drugmakers say yes, they'll negotiate with Medicare on price, so reluctantly
- Elon Musk is being sued for libel for accusing a man of having neo-Nazi links
- BET Hip-Hop Awards 2023: DJ Spinderella, DaBaby, Fat Joe, Coi Leray, more walk red carpet
- ‘I got my life back.’ Veterans with PTSD making progress thanks to service dog program
- Grizzly bear kills couple and their dog at Banff National Park in Canada
- Jamie Lynn Spears Reacts to Her Dancing With the Stars Elimination
- Judy Blume, James Patterson and other authors are helping PEN America open Florida office
- US Open finalist Taylor Fritz talks League of Legends, why he hated tennis and how he copied Sampras
- NFL power rankings Week 5: Bills, Cowboys rise after resounding wins
Ranking
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 9 drawing: Jackpot rises to $92 million
- There are now 2 vaccines to slash the frightful toll of malaria
- Rachel Zegler Fiercely Defends Taylor Swift From Cruel Commentary Amid Travis Kelce Romance
- Iowa starting quarterback Cade McNamara out for rest of 2023 season with ACL injury
- Hill House Home’s Once-A-Year Sale Is Here: Get 30% off Everything & up to 75% off Luxury Dresses
- Valerie Bertinelli re-wears her 'fat clothes' from weight loss ad: 'Never felt more beautiful'
- NCAA begins process of making NIL rules changes on its own
- ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat sues over expulsion and House rules that temporarily silenced him
Recommendation
-
Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
-
Homeless 25-year-old Topeka man arrested in rape and killing of 5-year-old girl
-
New Mexico attorney general has charged a police officer in the shooting death of a Black man
-
Ford lays off 330 more factory workers because of UAW strike expansion
-
Some women are stockpiling Plan B and abortion pills. Here's what experts have to say.
-
Child care programs just lost thousands of federal dollars. Families and providers scramble to cope
-
Meta proposes charging monthly fee for ad-free Instagram and Facebook in Europe
-
Washington National Cathedral unveils new stained glass windows with racial justice theme