Photo courtesy of here.

by No Jail Tax Pac

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis and County Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper have called upon us to vote to add 800 news beds to the county jail to be financed by a regressive sales tax that we don’t want. The NAACP led a successful campaign this summer that also involved CPA, COAST, ACORN, the Libertarian Party and the Green Party. We succeeded in keeping Leis, Portune and Pepper from foisting this jail on us and now have the right to vote on the jail tax in the coming November election.

Most Hamilton County voters have already rejected an earlier version of this jail plan put forward by Leis, former Commissioner Phil Heimlich and supported by Todd Portune. They will reject this one too. Those few remaining supporters of the plan stick with it either out of confusion or misplaced loyalties.

CONFUSIONS

What are the confusions?

People confuse the County Jail with the State Prison. People say: Don’t we have to jail the criminals, murderers, rapists and robbers? No, we don’t jail them, we imprison them. People who are convicted of serious crimes don’t go to jail, they go to prison. Most people in jail are either awaiting trial or serving short terms of a few days or at most a few weeks for misdemeanors.

People confuse the number of people being jailed with the need for a new jail. If you use the jail as a motel for the poor, the mentally ill, and drug addicts then do you need a new jail. The problem is that we are jailing the homeless, the mentally ill, and people with substance abuse problems. Thanks to an idea that David Pepper first introduced when he was on the Cincinnati City Council, we jail people for possession of small amounts of marijuana, one of the most severe laws in the country. We also have people who could be released on bond while awaiting trial but have to spend the night because of the lack of a night court.

People confuse the window dressing of Pepper and Portune with real reform. After Heimlich’s jail was defeated last year, Pepper and Portune decided to refurbish it and present it to the public again, this time with some poorly defined or vague social services. Under the new plan substance abusers would get treatment in jail. Do we want to have to put people in jail to treat them? Most prisoners in jail are there for too short a time for substance abuse programs to help them. We don’t need treatment in jail; we need treatment in the communities to keep people out of jail.

People confuse one tax with another. Leis, Pepper and Portune want to finance this jail with a regressive sales tax. Sales taxes fall most heavily on working people and the poor. Portune voted to end taxes on financial transactions and stock options—taxes on the rich—and now wants to tax the poor to build the jail. We may need to raise taxes on property for schools, the elderly and mental health, but we do not need to raise taxes on the purchases of working people and the poor.

MISPLACED LOYALTIES

People are also supporting the Leis, Pepper, Portune plan out of misplaced loyalties. Many people have a lot of respect for Todd Portune because he has been willing at times in the past to act as a voice for community programs and issues. Others want to see “liberal” Democrats in power rather than conservative Republicans. While those may be good motives, we think the sentiment is misplaced. This is not a “liberal” or “progressive” jail plan.

Pepper and Portune are increasing the budget, the prestige and the power of Sheriff Simon Leis who no one thinks is a liberal.

Cincinnati citizens, especially its African American citizens, fought long and hard to win the Collaborative Agreement that sets out guidelines for local police. The Leis, Pepper, Portune proposal undermines the Collaborative Agreement since Sheriff’s patrols in Cincinnati are not subject to it.

Leis long-time record, Pepper’s support for the marijuana ordinance and Portune’s vote for the Leis-Heimlich jail proposal last fall show that there is nothing liberal about this group’s attitude toward crime.

If Leis, Pepper and Portune had had a democratic spirit, they wouldn’t have voted two to one on the County Commission to force this jail on the public. They would have had the courage and conviction to come to the people and explain their point of view and ask for our support. If they were progressive they wouldn’t be talking about raising sales taxes to pay for a jail, they would be talking about raising taxes on business and the wealthy to pay for education, mental health, family counseling, and jobs programs.

We Don’t Have to Take This Jail

Some people say they will vote for the Leis-Pepper-Portune proposal because “we will have a new jail forced on us anyway” and “this is about the best we can get.” We don’t believe that for a minute. We have already shown that the citizens of Hamilton County are intelligent, persistent, and fighters. We won the Collaborative Agreement to control the Cincinnati Police Department. We defeated the anti-GLBT city ordinance. We saw through confusing tactics and ended smoking in all bars and restaurants. We defeated the jail tax. And we’ll do it again.

Nationally the jail population has been growing. In 2005 the national jail population was 747,529. By midyear 2006 this had grown to 766,010. According to the Department of Justice, on June 30, 2006 there were 2,245,189 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails. Most progressive and liberals and even some conservatives agree that we as a nation incarcerate too many people. Hamilton County is a good place to start to say no to the expansion of the jails of the prison-industrial-complex.

In Cincinnati and Hamilton we have a mind-set that leads us to see crime as dealt with solely by police and jails. The view is too narrow. We have to look at how and why our society generates crime and creates criminals. We have to stop that process and that will be done by changing our society. A progressive program to fight crime doesn’t just talk about police and jails; it emphasizes education, social programs, the creation of jobs, union organization, racial equality, and respect for all.

Think globally act locally! Say no to Jail expansion!

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