Criminal Justice Reform

In 2018, Stand Up for Ohio and our partners will redefine the criminal justice system by passing a ballot initiative that will reinvest millions of dollars from prisons to drug treatment and community-based recovery programs. We will organize across urban, suburban, and rural communities impacted by the War on Drugs, and we will expand the electorate to include more people of color, low income people, and young people directly impacted by a broken criminal justice system.

The constitutional amendment that our coalition is proposing to voters would do four things:

1. Reclassify drug possession felonies as misdemeanors, because people struggling with addiction need treatment, not prison. All current drug trafficking felonies would remain felonies. The amendment would allow the reclassification to be done retroactively.

2. Cut-off the probation-to-prison pipeline. The amendment would prohibit prison sentences as punishment for probation rule infractions that are not new crimes.

3. Incentivize personal rehabilitation in prison. The amendment would expand the ability of current inmates to earn reductions in their sentences by participating in rehabilitation programs and classes while in prison.

4. Invest savings in community health. The first three reforms will safely and significantly shrink the prison population. The amendment will then redirect the savings into local treatment and support programs for youths and adults.

Economic Justice in Ohio

Stand Up and our partners envision a long-term economic justice organizing campaign that puts families first and ensures good jobs for all Ohioans through a coordinated set of strategies over the next few electoral cycles.