Too often lives are defined by a single
mistake. This is a story about human
compassion, redemption, and common sense
solutions to complex public policy
issues. It is a story about changing
outdated, unjust, and arbitrary laws at
the state level. The Buckeye Institute is
endeavoring to fix a broken criminal
justice system, law by law — and it is
succeeding. This small think-tank in Ohio
has been relentless in its quest to
protect the rights of the accused and to
save Ohio taxpayers millions of dollars.
Buckeye's efforts have blazed a trail to
reverse Ohio's growth trend in
incarceration by shrinking the state's
prison population to below 50,000,
dramatically slashing the recidivism
rate from 40 to 27 percent, reducing prison
admissions by nearly 10 percent
expanding opportunities for thousands of
people leaving prison, and redirecting
40 million dollars to Ohio
communities for the treatment of
addiction and mental health issues. As a
result,
Ohio's prison admissions rate has now
hit a 27 year low. The Buckeye
Institute's innovative policy victories
are ensuring that prosperity and
opportunity are available to all Ohioans, who are now much freer and less
likely to become inadvertently ensnared
by the criminal justice system.
