The Alliance for Safety and Justice urged judges and prosecutors in Ohio to help Gov. Mike DeWine prevent the spread of COVID-19 by taking action within their authority to reduce incarceration in state prisons. Sentencing judges in Ohio have the authority to initiate judicial release proceedings that can result in the release of people being held in state prisons who pose no substantial public safety risk. Ohio recently became the home of the country’s largest Coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 2,000 cases at the Marion Correctional Institution, a state prison in Marion.

During the conference, members of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, a national network of over 42,000 crime survivors will urge support for the #StopTheSpread Action Plan that aligns with their priorities of prevention, rehabilitation, trauma recovery over more spending on over-incarceration. 

The Alliance for Safety and Justice released a fact sheet highlighting new data revealing the dramatic spread of COVID-19 throughout jails and prisons across the country, as well as solutions to stem its proliferation. According to recent data compiled by The New York Times, eight of the nation’s top 10 largest Coronavirus outbreaks are jails or prisons, with two Ohio prisons taking the top two spots.