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The Cincinnati Beacon
Falsehoods Unbound! Bronson’s Jail Piece in the Enquirer
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Posted by Michael Earl Patton
Sunday’s jail story and opinion by Peter Bronson was obviously written by someone who did not understand the issue and who was relying on only the pro-jail side for information. Besides portraying the jail as the preferred place for many mentally ill and African-Americans, some of the “facts” reported in a sidebar are wrong. One number, the “14,000” early releases since 2004, Sheriff Leis knows to be wildly wrong but often repeats it or a similar number in an apparent attempt to scare voters. Another, the $33 cost per taxpayer, is fudged. Other data are also wrong.
First, the sidebar says that the new jail will be built in Mount Washington. Though this probably just shows the paper’s lack of knowledge, do we know for sure what the actual case is? After all, the old Kahn’s site in Camp Washington, which had been talked about as the jail site, is probably contaminated and maybe a new jail site has been selected.
Now for the number of early releases. The actual number for 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 through March 12 is 720 total, most of whom are women. It is not 14,000. I was at the commissioners’ meeting on September 10 where Sheriff Leis reviewed the numbers with Commissioner Pat DeWine. He knows what they are. The “14,000” is the number of so-called “process-only’s,” which is the number of non-violent arrestees who are released on their own recognizance due to a temporary lack of jail beds. For over a year—ever since the county has been sending inmates to Butler County—there have been NO male “process-only’s.” Every male arrestee has been kept in jail unless and until he makes bail. Only some non-violent female arrestees have been released on their own recognizance due to a lack of jail beds for females. And, as Mr. Bronson’s piece pointed out, there was room for the woman from Batavia who was arrested for drug possession. Clearly we are not releasing dangerous criminals back onto the streets for lack of room.
The cost of “$33 per taxpayer” for the jail tax is fudged. A one-half cent sales tax for the two stadiums brought in just over $64 million in 2006. A one-half cent sales tax for the jail would do the same. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 845,303 people in Hamilton County in 2000 (it also estimates that the population has dropped since then, but let’s use the higher number). Sixty-four million divided by 845,303 yields about $75 per person. How do we get to $33 per taxpayer ?
The only way to do it is 1) to say everyone, including all the children, is a Hamilton County taxpayer, and 2) to say that most of the sales taxes in Hamilton County, 56% in fact, are paid by out-of-county residents. Since so many people are leaving Hamilton County for adjacent counties and those counties are building their own shopping centers, this simply does not seem credible now and would be an absolutely unbelievable assertion for the future.
Mr. Bronson also asserts “On a typical day, maximum security male inmates use nearly 1,200 beds, compared to about 450 for minimum security. Medium and maximum inmates together fill three beds for every non-violent drunk driver or mentally ill vagrant. And many of those beds are in the decaying, unsafe Queensgate - a converted warehouse built 107 years ago.”
This all comes down to how one defines maximum, medium, and minimum security inmates. Per the Enquirer’s own analysis last year (published July 30, 2006), 52% of the inmates were there for felony charges and 48% for misdemeanor charges. Apparently a lot of those arrested for misdemeanor charges are classified as medium or even maximum security risks.
Further, there has not been any study which has found that Queensgate is unsafe. The Sheriff will not allow independent media to see the facility, and even the Enquirer was not allowed to take pictures (July 15, 2007 Enquirer). If Queensgate were truly unsafe, then why not let the public see it?
Finally, Mr, Bronson quotes Commissioner Pepper as saying there is a “horrible 70 percent recidivism rate” which has offenders back in jail every 22 days. What’s this? Every 22 days ? There is no way this can be true. That would mean that the average offender is jailed 16 times per year. And then one has to ask for what is a person arrested so many times? Jaywalking? Spitting on the sidewalk? Loitering? Throwing a cigarette butt on the ground? If the arrests were for serious offenses, like armed robbery, then go ahead, keep them locked up once they are convicted. But don’t throw out numbers like this just to scare the voters.
Unfortunately, such editorials do nothing to actually educate the voters on this issue. They also show that The Enquirer needs to do more fact-checking before weighing in on such important topics. Is it any wonder that Nate Livingston filed an election complaint against them?
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