FACTS About Incarceration

• The United States is the number one incarcerator of people, more than the Union of South Africa, the former USSR, and China.
• Ohio spends twice as much to incarcerate an offender than it does to educate a child.
• Cost of incarceration? Ohio spends about $16,000 per inmate per year.
• Death row inmates in many states are not isolated and are allowed to have contact visits. Not true in Ohio.
• The majority of sex offenders were once victims of sex abuse. Without treatment, 35 percent repeat their offense within three years. With treatment, only 15 percent are likely to re-offend.
• Ohio's prison overcrowding problem is the fifth largest in the nation. Ohio plans to open seven new prisons by 1999, even though 25 percent of those currently incarcerated could benefit from less expensive alternatives.
• Ohio's new criminal sentencing act gives first time offenders a break, but the Ohio Parole Board is giving first time offenders sentenced under the old law extensive sentences.