Three-strikes bill considered by legislature

The bill would apply after conviction of a third high-level felony.

COLUMBUS (AP) — A bill that would give judges the authority to imprison three-time felons for twice as long as current law allows began hearings this week in the Ohio Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tim Grendell, a suburban Cleveland Republican, also would permit judges to impose the maximum sentence upon defendants convicted of a second felony.

Currently, a judge typically hands down the shortest sentence under guidelines the Legislature approved in 1995.

The bill would allow a maximum sentence of 20 years instead of 10 years for a person convicted of a third high-level felony, but not sentenced to death or to life in prison.

Grendell said Friday that he got tired of reading about repeat offenders in the decisions written by his wife, Diane, an appeals judge in Northeast Ohio. He said judges, prosecutors and others have expressed frustration over criminals’ getting subsequent sentences similar to those handed down for their original crimes.

“We’ve had a lot of complaints from constituents about repeat criminals and a feeling they are not getting a severe enough penalty to deter them,” Tim Grendell said.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction reported that the state housed 49,839 inmates in October. A department analysis says that could jump to another 40,000-50,000 inmates over the next 10 years should the bill pass, The Plain Dealer reported on Friday. Ohio’s prisons are designed to hold 37,610 beds.

Critics say the bill is unnecessarily punitive, focuses on nonviolent offenders and could disproportionately affect blacks.

However, Grendell said that’s not his intention.

“There’s nothing racially intended with this legislation,” he said. “It simply makes one discrimination: A first-time offender is entitled to the benefit of the doubt, and a repeat offender shouldn’t be entitled to that benefit.”

More than 20 states and the federal government have three-strikes laws, according to the Justice Policy Institute.

David Diroll, director of the Ohio Sentencing Commission, said he has not taken a position on the bill but said it should not target nonviolent offenders.

“The strike zone is too wide,” Diroll said. “As a result, we might end up with a geriatric ward of burglars and robbers who are in prison years beyond when they are a threat to society.”

Grendell said he’s open to discussing nonviolent offenders. He hopes to send the bill to the House by year’s end.

“If you’re a law-and-order person, you’re going to love this bill. If you’re a ... person who cries for criminals, you’re going to hate this bill,” he said.