HB 5 – Support Record Sealing, Oppose Mandatory Minimums & Racial Inequity

I am writing to urge a cautious and principled approach to House Bill 5. While the bill contains vital reforms for record sealing that I strongly support, it also includes sentencing mandates that threaten the fairness of our justice system. I ask that you advocate for the following changes: - Protect the Second Chance Provisions: The expansion of expungement and record-sealing is a common-sense way to help Ohioans return to the workforce. These provisions should be protected and, if possible, expanded. - Oppose New Mandatory Minimums: Mandatory add-on sentences for repeat offenders ignore the nuances of individual cases. Research shows that these mandates do not deter crime more effectively than judicial discretion; they simply increase the cost to taxpayers and the length of incarceration. - Address Systemic Inequity: We must acknowledge that repeat offender labels are often a byproduct of systemic disparities in policing. By mandating longer sentences based on criminal history alone, HB 5 will disproportionately harm Black and Brown communities. Ohio should move toward a justice system that evaluates people as individuals, not as statistics in a rigid formula. - Avert a Capacity Crisis: With Ohio’s prisons already over capacity, adding mandatory years to sentences based on outdated fiscal projections is a recipe for a budgetary and humanitarian crisis. I look to your leadership to ensure that Ohio does not trade away the civil rights of its citizens in exchange for "tough on crime" rhetoric that data shows does not work. Please work to remove the mandatory sentencing increases from HB 5.