Letter to Ohio Senate Supporting Pretrial Reform
November 30, 2021
| The Honorable Matt Huffman President of the Senate Statehouse 1 Capitol Square 2nd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 |
The Honorable Jay Hottinger President Pro Tempore of the Senate Senate Building 1 Capitol Square 1st Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
| The Honorable Kirk Schuring Majority Leader and Member Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square 2nd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
The Honorable Kenny Yuko Senate Minority Leader Statehouse 1 Capitol Square 3rd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
| The Honorable Nathan H. Manning Chair Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square Ground Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
The Honorable Rob McColley Senate Majority Whip and Vice Chair Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square 2nd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
| The Honorable Cecil Thomas Ranking Member Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square Ground Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
The Honorable Niraj Antani Member Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square Ground Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
| The Honorable Teresa Fedor Member Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square Ground Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
The Honorable Theresa Gavarone Member Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Building 1 Capitol Square 2nd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 = |
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Dear Members of the Ohio Senate,
CEO Action for Racial Equity is a Fellowship of over 100 companies that mobilizes a community of business leaders with diverse expertise across multiple industries and geographies to advance public policy in four key areas — healthcare, education, economic empowerment and public safety. Its mission is to identify, develop and promote scalable and sustainable public policies and corporate engagement strategies that will address systemic racism, social injustice and improve societal well-being.
One of our key priorities is decriminalizing poverty. Simply, this means confronting the aspects of our justice system that hurt low-income and working-class communities, not because they have committed a crime, but because they lack the means to afford judicial costs. We believe that a person’s inability to pay fines, fees or bail should never be the sole reason for incarceration and the justice system should not disproportionately punish those experiencing poverty.
We applaud your consideration of meaningful bail reform to help decriminalize poverty and look forward to the passage of Senate Bill 182, Make Bail Changes.
Our businesses prosper where there are thriving communities, but most importantly, as business leaders we have a responsibility to our employees and customers to help make sure that they live and work in safe, prosperous, and healthy communities. Many policies around fines, fees and cash bail impact all races, but exacerbate challenges already faced by low-income families, a category of people data consistently shows is over-represented by Black Americans.
Pretrial equity is more than a criminal justice issue; it’s also an economic issue that impacts Ohioans and the business community. Modernizing pretrial policies by passing Senate Bill 182, Make Bail Changes, will have an immediate impact in Ohio because it will:
- Promote liberty, protect employment, keep families safe, and uphold Americans’ rights to due process and equal protection under the law.
- Contribute to the state’s ability to build a more sustainable workforce and economy.
- Help with reconciling gaps in economic equity that have historically limited full participation in the economy.
CEO Action for Racial Equity is committed to working with lawmakers across the aisle to enact policies that bring equity to our justice system. Thank you for your leadership in advancing this legislation.
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Sincerely,
CEO Action for Racial Equity
