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Sentencing Law and Policy
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“Senate Bill 288: Implications for the Criminal Justice System in Ohio”

By Douglas Berman

5c6b0de4-6844-41cd-9cf1-5a126056ff96The title of this post is the title of this notable new webinar scheduled for next week (April 12 starting at 12noon), which has been organized by Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  Here is a bit of the backstory and the panel lineup:

Over the last decade, the Ohio General Assembly has expanded the eligibility criteria for record sealing on several occasions.  The passage of the criminal justice omnibus Senate Bill 288, signed into law by Governor DeWine in January 2023, continues this trend by further expanding eligibility and, for the first time ever, allowing for prosecutor-initiated record sealing on behalf of individuals with certain types of offenses.  Other long-fought-for reforms in SB 288 include, but are not limited to, expansion of expungement provisions, increasing the maximum amount of earned credit for persons in prison, and a host of other provisions modifying crimes and corrections law in Ohio.

Join the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center for a multi-panel event on Ohio Senate Bill 288 that will bring together criminal justice experts and advocates for a discussion of some of the key provisions of SB288 and their likely impact as well as the opportunities and challenges of government-initiated record sealing, and its likely adoption by Ohio prosecutors.

Panel 1: Understanding SB288: Key Provisions and Likely Impacts

noon – 1:10 p.m.

  • Louis Tobin, Executive Director, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association
  • Senator Nathan Manning, Ohio 13th Senate District
  • Alex Jones, Criminal Justice Counsel, Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
  • Jocelyn Rosnick, Policy Director, ACLU of Ohio
  • Kevin Werner, Policy Director, Ohio Justice & Policy Center
  • Douglas A. Berman, Newton D. Baker-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law; Executive Director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (moderator)
     

Panel 2: Prosecutor Initiated Record Sealing

1:15 – 2:30 p.m. 

  • Mark Griffin, Law Director, City of Cleveland
  • Tori Edwards, Legal Department Staff Attorney, Franklin County Municipal Court
  • Pam Lattimore, Senior Director for Research Development, Division for Applied Justice Research,  RTI International
  • Sara Andrews, Executive Director, Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission (moderator)

More details and a simple registation form can be found at this link.