You may have heard about Ohio’s Issue 1. Are you as unclear about it as everyone else? You are not alone. As Ohioans go to the polls, we will indeed see this proposed Constitutional Amendment on our ballots—Issue 1—which asks voters to amend the Ohio Constitution to reform the state’s criminal justice system.
In its Janus v. AFSCME decision this past June, the Supreme Court of the United States held that it violated the First Amendment for states to force their employees to subsidize the speech of labor unions. Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, speaks to members of the Federalist Society about key issues that have arisen in the wake of Janus, and shares his thinking on how labor relations are poised to change in the near future.
For many Ohioans, getting out of debt is a serious and seemingly impossible effort. The bills keep coming and the interest rates keep piling up. It seems like no matter how hard they try, they can never get ahead of the bills. And this isn’t just a problem facing the poor, it could easily happen to any one of us. In fact, Ohioans have an average of $5,583 in credit card debt—more than 10 percent of the median household income.
Buckeye’s Robert Alt discusses a few cases that follow on the Janus ruling with Caleb Brown on Cato's Daily Podcast.
This season Serial has come to Cleveland to take a deeper look at a typical criminal justice system. Throughout the podcast series, The Buckeye Institute will look at the issues raised and what Ohio can do to fix some of those issues in a blog series, Justice in Cleveland’s Justice System. In the second episode, we are introduced to a problem in the Cuyahoga County courthouse which permeates courthouses across the state – access to treatment for those suffering from addiction and mental health issues.
In The Columbus Dispatch, Buckeye’s Daniel J. Dew looks at the need to fix Ohio broken cash bail system, wiring, “Daily headlines confirm that America’s criminal-justice system needs improvement. Less reported — but even more significant — is voter appetite for common-sense measures to fix a broken system of unnecessary pretrial detention and associated abuses of money bail.”
In The Plain Dealer, Buckeye’s Greg Lawson looks at Medicaid's pharmaceutical drug program and pharmacy benefits managers writing, “As Medicaid glowers over the state's annual budget and its costs and expenses continue to escalate, state policymakers routinely – and rightly – look for responsible ways to curb those costs in order to preserve other spending priorities without jeopardizing Ohio's fiscal future. Unfortunately, some proposed Medicaid remedies threaten to do more harm than good for Ohio.”
The wildly popular podcast, Serial, has come to Cleveland to take a deeper look at a typical criminal justice system. Throughout the series, The Buckeye Institute will look at the issues raised and what Ohio can do to fix some of those issues. In Episode 1, we look at mens rea and bail reform.
Issue 1 and its criminal justice reform measures would move Ohio in the right direction on a road paved with good intentions concerning issues such as drug possession, criminal sentencing, and mental health treatment. Unfortunately, Issue 1 proponents have chosen the wrong vehicle to take us where we need to go, and that well-intended, well-paved road may not offer as smooth a ride as many of its advocates claim.
Through our work at The Buckeye Institute, we fight for policies that expand and protect our freedoms, defend free speech from those who attempt to silence diverse opinions, reign in government power and overreach, and empower citizens to follow their dreams. And what better way to celebrate Constitution Day!
