It is a rare circumstance when a judge writes a letter to the editor concerning a statewide issue. It is even rarer when five judges do this. Five Wood County judges – Common Pleas Judges Reeve Kelsey, Alan Mayberry and Matthew Reger along with Bowling Green and Perrysburg Municipal Court Judges Mark Reddin and Molly Mack – want to ensure every citizen in Wood County makes an informed decision when voting this fall.
All five of us urge citizens to vote NO on ISSUE 1, a state constitutional amendment that will destroy years of progress on the opioid epidemic and make Ohio a magnet for drug dealers. Our arguments against this issue are numerous but here are the top five reasons to vote no:
1. This is a Constitutional amendment that cannot be changed. In the last 25 years the drug epidemic has changed significantly taking many different forms. We have no idea what the emergent drug will be in a year, 5 years, or even 10 years from now. Policy changes, given the specificity of Issue 1,would take years and substantial resources to adjust and could not be completed in time to address the nuance of the changing dangerous drug situation.
2. The opioid epidemic and dangerous drugs addiction are both a health care and criminal justice issue. Issue 1 tries to pigeonhole drug addiction as exclusively a health care matter. But in doing so the proponents ignore the necessity of compelling treatment for those unwilling or unmotivated to engage. Issue 1 eliminates a court’s ability to incarcerate people who are using drugs that could kill them. Many people who find themselves in a system that is seeking to help them would find themselves with neither help nor assistance.
3. Issue 1 would effectively eliminate drug courts, intervention in lieu of conviction, and other programs meant to assist drug addicted individuals. Ohio has spent significant resources in time and money creating specialized courts, dockets, and programs to address the drug epidemic. These programs are making inroads in helping courts be more nuanced in dealing with the specific needs of each defendant who is drug dependent. Issue 1 will eliminate all of this progress.
4. The proposed savings that Issue 1 would bring are illusory at best. The Office of Budget in Management recently released a report concluding that “the proposed amendment would not produce significant savings to the state and could (depending on interpretation) actually increase costs to the state by tens of millions of dollars. For local governments, the proposed amendment would add costs that likely would not be covered by potentially available appropriations”.
5. There are real dangers to our community inpassing Issue 1. Issue 1 would allow for the 25% reduction of sentences of a large number of felony offenses – other than drug charges – without any kind of local review by a judge. Issue 1 would allow the possession of dangerous drugs with the potential to kill thousands to carry only misdemeanor penalties.
As judges we know the realities of the opioid epidemic and are daily trying to address it effectively. If Issue 1 passes all of our efforts to protect the community while rehabilitating the drug addicted offender will be lost with no reasonable way to address this crisis or the next drug crisis that will hit us in the future.Issue 1 is bad for Ohio, bad for Wood County, and bad for all of our communities.
Please vote NO on Issue 1.
Sincerely,
Judge Reeve Kelsey
Judge Alan Mayberry
Judge Matthew Reger
Judge Mark Reddin
Judge Molly Mack
Posted by: admin on October 23, 2018.
