How Ohio is failing to stop drug smuggling and overdose deaths in state prisons
Drug-related prison rule violations doubled in Ohio, from 2020 to 2024. It's a problem that leaders say is representative of the greater communities we all live in, but the outside world isn't subject to the same controls that incarcerated people are supposed to be subject to.
A year-long investigation by journalists with the Marshall Project Cleveland and the Columbus Dispatch has revealed the alarming extent to which Ohio prison officials are failing at stopping drugs from being smuggled inside, and how those drugs are leading to deaths of incarcerated people.
On the "Sound of Ideas" on Monday, we talk with those journalists and hear from some of their interviewees, including people who are currently serving sentences for their roles in Ohio's prison drug trade.
Guests:
- Doug Livingston, Staff Writer, Marshall Project Cleveland
- Laura Bischoff, Ohio Politics and State Government Reporter, Columbus Dispatch
- Alex Krotulski, Ph.D., Director of Toxicology & Chemistry, Center for Forensic Science Research and Education
How prison gerrymandering impacts voting districts and what rights incarcerated people have when it comes to voting
Voting rights experts say people who are incarcerated have been incorrectly represented by their governments for decades due to a practice called "prison gerrymandering," by which the Census counts individuals as residents of correctional facilities, rather than their homes prior to incarceration.
Research shows this tends to boost the political power of districts that contain prisons, often in rural areas, and decrease the political power of urban communities and communities of color.
On the "Sound of Ideas" on Monday, we dive into the issue of prison gerrymandering and voting rights for incarcerated people in the latest installment of our "Law of The Land" series.
Guests:
- Emilia Sykes, Democrat, U.S. Representative for Ohio's 13th District
- Kareem Crayton, the Brennan Center for Justice's Vice President for Washington, D.C.
