NO JAIL TAX!
VOTE NO ON ISSUE 27 in HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO!

NEWS & ARTICLES:

Has It All Come Down to a Jail?: Cincinnati Six Years After the Killings and the Riots. Dan La Botz, Counterpunch. 10/05/07.

Want Less Crime? Vote No on the Jail Tax (Issue 27) — Thomas A. Dutton, The Cincinnati Beacon, 10/01/07.

No Jail Beds, but Treatment Beds — Mike Shryock, The Cincinnati Beacon, 09/28/07.

A Jail We Don't Need and a Tax We Don't Want — No Jail Tax PAC, The Cincinnati Beacon, 09/17/07.

No Justice, No Jail — Dan La Botz, Troublemaker's Journal, CityBeat, 5/23/2007.

Hey Todd Portune! Why A Regressive Sales Tax to Imprison More Blacks? — The Dean of Cincinnati, The Cincinnati Beacon, 5/23/2007.

Towards a Brave New Jail — Michael Earl Patton, The Cincinnati Beacon, 4/16/2007.

Debate over jail demands careful look at big picture. Cincinnati Enquirer. Thurs., June 29, 2006.
Editorial by Ann Marie Tracey, prof. of legal studies at Xavier University & retired Hamilton County Common Pleas judge.
Quote: "We also know from studies that for the periods examined, much of the Hamilton County Justice Center population largely consisted of people who were awaiting trial on bonds of $1,000 or less. This does not mean they were locked up because they presented a threat to the community. Rather, it means that they were facing a minor charge and they could not afford to post the $100 down payment on a bond to earn release. (We found this fell more heavily on women; while women posted bail for their boyfriends, the reverse was not true.)"

Politics Extra: Baptist ministers: No jail tax. Cincinnati Enquirer. Mon. Nov. 6, 2006.
Excerpt: State Representative Tyrone K. Yates said... "Regarding the view of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Cincinnati and Vicinity, I agree with their recommendation to vote No on Issue 12. The jail plan was poorly constructed and placed before the voters without the necessary level of public discussion and public consensus. I would urge you to vote No on Issue 12 and we should revisit the need in a more thoughtful way over the next year. There is a need to replace the temporary Queensgate facility but I am uncertain, given Prosecutor Deters's pandering and demogaugery for Commissioner Heimlich, that we as citizens are getting all of the necessary facts upon which to make an informed decision. Further, no public hearings were held beyond three despite the broad public interest in such an important question. The property tax rollback feature of the jail sales tax increase is absolutely irresponsible and warrants rejection."

Porkopolis: Political Deception Isn't Counted as a Crime. CityBeat. Wed. Nov. 1, 2006.
Excerpt: "It's a lie," Shryock said. "It's manipulation. This card they're sending out -- it's complete distortions, insinuating that they're having to turn away serial killers. Most people don't know it's full of petty criminals." Barb Wolf agreed. The documentary filmmaker and activist was recently arrested for participating in an anti-war sit-in. The women she was locked up with were there for such petty offenses as not paying jaywalking tickets, Wolf said.

Group opposes tax and new jail. Cincinnati Post. Tues., Oct. 31, 2006.
Excerpt: La Botz said the current jail could provide better mental health and educational programs, and the county could add a night court that would process defendants and release them on bond, relieving some of the glut of inmates held there. He said his group also thinks the sales tax, which falls disproportionately on people with lower incomes, is by its nature unfair. "It is the worst way to fund something like this," he said. Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens, who is chairing a pro-tax group with Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, said the tax increase is not unfair. He said since most crime occurs in low-income neighborhoods, and so it's fair that residents of those areas bear more of the cost proportionate to their income. "If you are poor, you are going to pay more. That is true with everything you do in life."

PAC: Take jail issue off ballot. Cincinnati Enquirer. Mon., Oct. 30, 2006.
Excerpt: A group opposing a proposed Hamilton County sales tax increase to build a new jail is asking that the issue be taken off the Nov. 7 ballot. The group, No Jail Tax PAC, complains that the ballot language for Issue 12 is vague and doesn’t specify that proceeds from the proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase will pay for a new jail – and Prosecutor Joe Deters believes they have a point. "I’m not entirely happy with the language, either. It is kind of vague," Deters, one of three co-chairs pushing for passage of Issue 12, said today.

Westside Republicans Mix Partisan Politics with Allegedly Non-Partisan Ballot Issues The Cincinnati Beacon. Fri. Oct. 20, 2006.
Quote: "Some would have us believe that Issue 12 (the alleged Jail Tax ballot initiative) is a non-partisan issue. But why does Phil Heimlich and his friends keep making partisan campaign events in connection with Issue 12? Is Issue 12 a non-partisan ballot measure, or just a campaign talking point for Team Heimlich?"

Deciding the Issues CityBeat Wed., Oct. 18, 2006. Staff Editorial.
Quote: "Commissioner Phil Heimlich has pegged his flagging re-election campaign to the jail construction issue, so much so that voters are facing a rushed and desperate plan funded by the worst possible source -- a sales tax increase. It's the most regressive tax of all, hitting low-income people with the same sales tax as upper income people when, of course, people of means are able to absorb the additional tax in their daily lives. With the property tax rollback on top, the new jail will be disproportionately funded by those who don't own their own homes and those who make less money than the average county resident -- the very definition of unfairness. <...> Like with Issue 3, we say vote no."

Does a Yes on Issue 12 Really Mean a New Jail? The Cincinnati Beacon. Mon. Oct. 16, 2006.
Quote: "Several people have noticed that the wording of Issue 12, commonly known as the "jail tax" issue, actually says nothing about a new jail. Instead it says that the additional sales tax shall be used "for the purpose of supporting criminal and administrative justice services." Now that’s a little vague, and while it certainly would allow a new jail to be built with the money, it doesn’t mandate it. What’s going on?"

Grassroots Group Opposes Jail Tax Hike WKRC Channel 12 Cincinnati. Article with video. Thurs., Oct. 5, 2006.
Quote (from Mike Shryock, No Jail Tax PAC): "Most of the people in there are non-violent offenders with alcohol and drug addiction problems. It would be cheaper and more effective to stick people in good treatment programs instead."

Crime and Killings, Jails and Justice. CityBeat. Wed., Sept. 27, 2006.
Quote: "We don't need this new jail. We have four jails and enough beds now, if properly administered. The jails are full of people who don't belong there. Full of people who are mentally ill. Full of people with drug and alcohol problems who would be better treated in appropriate facilities. Full of people who have not been convicted of a crime, awaiting trial, but who can't get out on bail. Full of people being held overnight who can't get out because we have no night court."

Homicide rate 15th in U.S. Cincinnati Enquirer. Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Quote: "One of the more confounding issues for Cincinnati police has been a homicide rate out of proportion to the overall crime rate. Overall crime has turned the corner since 2001 and is declining."

Hamilton County jail hearing brings county residents to their feet Community Press. Thursday, August 17, 2006.
Quote: "Oakley resident Michael Patton vehemently opposed the new jail proposal, and questioned the policies and procedures of the county's jail system. He handed out fliers that stated, by his calculations, the cost of the new jail would be $280,000 per bed. "We already have the highest incarceration rate in Ohio ... and that was before we started sending inmates to Butler County," Patton said. Corinne Gutjahr, 77, of Cincinnati, said the county should focus more on modifying the jail's practices and procedures rather than the number of beds in a new facility."

What's behind the proposed tax hike? CityBeat Wed., Aug. 2, 2006.
Quote: "Although some offenders are being released early, including 266 inmates last year alone, all are non-violent offenders, statistics show. No murderer, rapist or even anyone convicted of assault has been let go early due to a lack of space."

Dealing with repeat offenders: 2 men show the burden of small-time criminals. Cincinnati Enquirer. Sunday, July 30, 2006.
Quote: "As Hamilton County officials talk about building a new jail, it's not the murderers and rapists and bank robbers they want to keep locked up. Only about half the jail space is used to lock up felons pending trial or waiting to be sent to an upstate prison. The problem is misdemeanor offenders."

Jail Funding Proves Taxing Cincinnati Enquirer. Sunday, July 30, 2006.
Quote: "But after a task force recommended Thursday that Hamilton County build an 1,800-bed jail, the big issue is how to pay for it."

Task Force Agrees on Jail Cincinnati Enquirer. Friday, July 28, 2006.
Quote: "[Commissioner] Portune has suggested raising the sales tax a half-cent for just four years. Doing that, Portune said, would save $187 million in financing costs." [Issue 12 on the Nov. ballot will raise the sales tax for 10 years.]

Experts Support Sheriff's Plan for Jail Cincinnati Enquirer. Saturday, July 22, 2006.

DeWine jail group recommends 1,800 beds Thursday, July 27, 2006.